Fourteen days is the classic grand tour of Morocco — the itinerary you take when a week feels too short and you want to understand the whole country, not just the famous squares. It is the trip that strings together the northern blue town of Chefchaouen, the ancient medina of Fes, the dunes of the Sahara, the red city of Marrakech and the easy Atlantic pace of Essaouira.
This 14-day Morocco itinerary runs as a big counter-clockwise loop starting and ending at the coast, and it assumes you arrive at Casablanca's Mohammed V airport, which has the most international connections. From there it moves north to Rabat and Chefchaouen, east to Fes, south across the Middle Atlas to the Sahara, then west over the High Atlas to Marrakech and finally down to the ocean for two calm closing days.
Two days on this plan are unavoidably long behind the wheel — reaching the desert and coming back. Everything else is deliberately relaxed. If that driving sounds off-putting, know that a private driver for a multi-day Morocco tour carries the whole loop at a fixed daily rate, with fuel, tolls and insurance included.
Days 1–6: The Imperial North
Days 1–2: Casablanca and Rabat
Land in Casablanca, the business capital, and make a beeline for the Hassan II Mosque — the third largest mosque in the world, built on a promontory over the Atlantic with a roof that opens and a minaret over 200 metres tall. Guided visits run daily except Friday. On day two, take the hour-long train north to Rabat, the political capital, and see the Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and the Kasbah of the Udayas, all walkable in a single morning.
Days 3–4: Chefchaouen, the blue pearl
Day three is the long northbound drive to Chefchaouen, about four and a half hours through the Rif mountains. The town needs little introduction: every alley is washed in shades of blue, and the mountainside medina is quiet, clean and genuinely photogenic. Spend day four wandering, climbing to the Spanish Mosque viewpoint above the town and eating goat cheese and tagine in the little squares. Two nights here is the right amount — one feels rushed, three is too many.
The blue is not purely decorative: local lore says the walls were lime-washed to keep mosquitoes away and cool the houses in summer, and the town sits right under the Rif's dramatic limestone peaks. Set aside an hour for the blanket weavers and goat cheese makers working on the terraces — Chefchaouen is also the best place in the country to buy a genuine woollen djellaba at artisan prices rather than tourist ones.
Days 5–6: Fes, the oldest medina
Day five heads inland to Fes, around four hours. Fes is the intellectual and spiritual heart of Morocco, and its walled medina, Fes el-Bali, is the largest car-free urban area in the world — over nine thousand streets. Day six is a full medina day: the Chouara tanneries, the Al-Attarine souk, the Kairaouine Mosque and the famed doorways of the Bou Inania Madrasa. A local guide is almost essential here; the alleyways genuinely repeat, and you will save hours. If you are tight on time, our 10-day Morocco itinerary shows how this region compresses down to a shorter trip.
Beyond the tanneries, save room for the two things Fes does better than anywhere: ceramics and food. The potters of Fes still hand-paint blue-and-white zellige tiles in workshops just outside the medina wall, and the cafés around the Kairaouine Mosque serve lunch plates of slow-cooked beef and preserved lemon that define the city's cooking. Ask your guide for a tea stop on the Seffarine square — the sound of copper being hammered is a soundtrack you will not forget.
Days 7–10: Into the Sahara
Day 7: Fes to Merzouga
Day seven is the first long one: about seven hours from Fes to Merzouga, over the cedar forests and ski town of Ifrane, then across the stark plains of the Middle Atlas. It sounds brutal, but the landscape changes so completely that most travellers barely notice the time. Arrive in time to catch the light on the dunes.
Day 8: The Erg Chebbi desert
Day eight is the climax. Ride a camel out to a desert camp at sunset, sandboard down the big dune, eat dinner under a canopy of stars and sleep in a nomad-style tent. Our camel riding in Morocco guide covers exactly what the sunset trek and camp night cost and include, so there are no surprises at the finish.
Local tip: Book the desert camp on a night with a moon if you can — the milky way over Erg Chebbi is the single most common thing our passengers say was the highlight of their entire trip.
Days 9–10: The gorges and the road of a thousand kasbahs
Day nine leaves the dunes behind and winds through the Todra Gorge — three hundred metre walls of pink rock that close in around the road — before arriving in the Dades Valley. Day ten follows the famous 'road of a thousand kasbahs' toward Ouarzazate, stopping at Aït Benhaddou, the earthen UNESCO kasbah where Game of Thrones and Gladiator were filmed. Overnight in Ouarzazate, Morocco's Hollywood.
Both valleys deserve more than a drive-by. The Dades is known for its contorted 'monkey fingers' rock formations and its rose harvest in May, while the Todra Gorge is a popular climbing wall where you can walk the riverbed at the base of the sheer cliffs. A short walk along the Dades river before breakfast — even just an hour — is the difference between seeing the valley and actually experiencing it.
Days 11–14: Atlas, Marrakech & the Coast
Day 11: Over the High Atlas
Day eleven crosses the Tizi n'Tichka pass, the highest road in North Africa at 2,260 metres, with switchback views over the Atlas. The descent delivers you to Marrakech by early afternoon — time for a first, disorienting wander around Jemaa el-Fna before it fills up at dusk.
Day 12: Marrakech
Day twelve is a full red-city day: the Saadian tombs, the Bahia Palace, the Majorelle Garden and the souks of the medina, with a sunset mint tea on a rooftop above the square. Marrakech is loud, brilliant and exhausting, and one full day plus your arrival evening is the honest amount most people enjoy.
Days 13–14: Essaouira and home
Day thirteen makes the easy 175-kilometre run to the coast — a private taxi from Marrakech to Essaouira takes about two and a half hours — and the sea breeze resets you completely. Spend the afternoon on the beach and the evening over grilled sardines at the port. Day fourteen is a slow morning, last-minute argan oil shopping, and a 20-minute transfer to Essaouira-Mogador Airport for the short connection to Casablanca — we run that Essaouira airport shuttle from 15 euros, or your driver can simply take you the whole way back to Casablanca.
Budget, Pace & Private Driver Costs
Two weeks in Morocco is a real investment, so the numbers deserve honesty. On the fixed-rate routes you will meet on this tour, prices are per vehicle: Marrakech to Essaouira from 69 euros in a sedan, Essaouira to Ouarzazate from 160 euros, and the Essaouira airport run from 15 euros. For the longer legs and the loop as a whole, a private driver on a daily rate is almost always the smarter deal than paying per leg.
| Option | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Private driver, sedan | 120€ / day | Couples, solo travellers |
| Private driver, SUV | 150€ / day | Families, tall groups, desert comfort |
| Buses & grand taxis | 8–15€ / leg | Flexible budget travellers |
| Self-drive rental | 35–60€ / day + fuel | Confident, patient drivers |
The daily rate includes fuel, tolls, insurance and the driver's accommodation on overnight stops — so the 1,440 euros a sedan costs for the twelve driving days is the whole transport bill. Add mid-range riads at 40 to 90 euros a night, meals at 15 to 30 euros a day and activities, and a realistic total lands between 1,300 and 2,000 euros per person, not counting flights. Your driver stays in family-run guesthouses along the route and never sleeps in the car — that is part of the service, not an extra.
Pacing matters more than mileage. This plan alternates a long drive with a rest day whenever possible, and it finishes by the sea precisely because the desert and the cities are intense. If you are coming from the short version, our 7-day Morocco itinerary covers Marrakech, Essaouira and a quick desert taste.
Book the two fixed points of the trip early: the Chefchaouen riad and the desert camp are the first to sell out, especially from March to May and in October. Everything else — the coastal hotels, the Ouarzazate guesthouse — can usually be arranged a few days ahead, which keeps the plan flexible if a valley stays with you longer than expected.
Who Should Take the 14-Day Route
Choose 14 days when you want the country's full hand: the blue north, the deep history of Fes, the empty desert and the two great southern cities. It is the right trip for a second visit, a honeymoon that wants variety, or a family that can manage the two long desert days in exchange for everything else being easy. If your time is shorter, or the idea of a seven-hour drive sounds like a holiday spoiler, the 10-day coast-and-Sahara loop or a week in the south will treat you better.
Whichever way you go, Morocco's best moments on a grand tour are rarely the famous ones — they are the shared lunch with your driver in a roadside café, the wrong turn that finds a tile workshop, and the way the country slows down as you move west toward the Atlantic. Give the loop two weeks and it will give you back more than a checklist.
Ready to take on the grand tour? Book a private driver in Essaouira for the full two weeks, or start with a taxi from Marrakech to Essaouira and build the rest of the loop around your own pace.
