Marrakech - Sahara - Fez
Trip to Marrakech – High Atlas – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Tinerghir – Rissani – Merzouga (Sahara) – Erfoud – Azrou – Ifran – Fez
PRICE:
495 € in double room and / or triple room.
THE PRICE INCLUDES:
- Fast ferry Tarifa Tangier Tarifa
- 2 nights in 4* Fez hotel half board
- 1 night in Merzouga jaimes (Moroccan Tents) half board
- 1 night in 4* Ouarzazate hotel half board
- 2 nights in 4* Marrakech hotel half board
- Camel ride to see sunrise over dunes
- 4 x 4 transfer to Erfoud - Merzouga - Rissani
- Bus or van for entire tour
- All entrances to monuments mentioned in this program
- Accompanying national guide throughout the journey in Morocco
- Local guides in all Moroccan cities visited
- Travel Insurance
THE PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Insurance cancellation fees, however this is available for purchase.
Drinks for lunch and/or dinner.
Single room supplement 100 €
Departure from Seville supplement 39 €
Tips
DATES OF DEPARTURES
18 JULY 2010
1 AUGUST 2010
12 SEPTEMBER 2010
ITINERARY:
FIRST DAY TARIFA – TANGER – RABAT - MARRAKECH
5:15 AM - Check-in at the “Torre del Oro” we recommend bringing a sack lunch although we will stop for food.
5:30 AM - Departure from Seville. We will travel by bus to Tarifa.
For those starting this tour in Tarifa the meeting point is in the Information desk of the port at 08:15 AM.
9:00 AM We will board the ferry to Tangier. Upon arrival in Tangier we will pick up our Moroccan tour guide and by private bus we will travel to Rabat, the capital of the kingdom. Situated on the atlantic coast, Rabat has a sister crossing the river Bu Regreg, the city of Salé.
We will stop for visiting the Mauseleo of Mohamed V and the Tour Hassan, made on the year 1199 by
Yaqub Al- Mansur, with 44 higher meters.
Free time for lunch. We will suggest a sephardi restaurant call Zerda with amazing food.
After lunch, we will visit the Kasbah de los Oudayas and the Barrio Andaluz.
Continue to Marrakech, the red pearl of south Morocco.
20:00 PM Arrival to the hotel. Acommodation and dinner at the hotel.
SECOND DAY MARRAKECH
Breakfast at hotel.
08.00 AM We began our tour in Marrakech with a visit of the outer walls of Kutubía, the twin sister tower of Seville´s Giralda, and the Menara gardens. Afterwards we will continue to the Bay Palace, the Saadi Tombs and the exterior part of the Kasbah Mosque. We will finish the day in Jmaa el Fna Square, where you will have one hour of free time and then be transferred to the hotel.
Free time for lunch at hotel. Free time for afternoon and dinner.
We also recommend visiting Jmaa el Fna Square in the evening seen from one of its terraces. This is a wonderful way to appreciate and enjoy how the atmosphere changes so peacefully.
Also, in the evening, we will be offering, as an optional dinner choice, Fantasy Che Ali dinner show, which represents different tribes in Morocco and their traditions.
THIRD DAY MARRAKECH – TIZNTICHKA – AIT BEN HADDOU – OUARZAZATE
Breakfast at hotel
08:00 AM Continue our trip by the south Morocco, crossing the majestatic mountains of the High aAtlas and the mountain port of Tzi n Tichka, geting door of the desert at 2260 meters over the sea level, where we will stop for regardindg the wonderful views.
Continue to Ait Ben Haddou, one of the geological jewells of the world. We will visit a monumental fortress, used as scenario for famous films like “Laurence de Arabia”, “Gladiador” and “La Joya del Nilo”. This fortress has differents buildings of red color, mades of adobe, sourranded of fertil lands.
After visiting this emblematic place, we will continue to Ouarzazate. Ouarzazate was a former garrison of French troops in the south of the country. Today it is rich in agriculture and famous for its palm tree dates, roses that grow along its riverside, and henna. It is also a favorite place for numerous great film directors. In turn, all of this has led to the area´s economic growth, the creation of many companies related to the audiovisual world, and employment for many of its people .
Arrival to the hotel. Acommodation and dinner at the hotel .
FORTH DAY OUARZAZATE – TINERGHIR - GARGANTAS DEL TODRA - SAHARA
Breakfast
09:00 AM This morning we will start with visiting the Kasbah de Taourirt, the principal and old palace of the Glaoui, the south Morocco Pacha. Them, we will continue by bus on the way to the Kasbahs Route.
We will cross by Boulmane de Dades, where is the Rose´s Valley, and on the way we will find Tinerghir, where we will admire beautiful palm tree forests, which help withstand the heat in hot summer months.and near there, we will find the Todra Gorges.
Free time for lunch.
On the afternoon, we will depart for Erfoud where we will leave the bus and we will take jeeps to the oasis of Merzuga where you get your first taste of the Sahara. Its dunes stretch infinitely into the horizon and some rise more than 150 meters skyward. We spend the night in haimas (communal tents) in the middle of the desert near of Erg Chebbi dunnes, the door of the Sahara desert. You will have the oportunity of regarding a wonderful sky during the night with thousands shinning stars.
Acommodation and dinner in Jaimas
FIFTH DAY SAHARA – IFRANE - FEZ
Early wake up call to do the camel trek, with our local desert guides, into the Erg Chigaga dunes for sunrise. We guarantee that the experience of a Saharan sunrise is well worth the journey. It is absolutely breathtaking. This is one of the highlights of the trip and a memorable way to start this day.
8:00 AM Breakfast.
On our trip day we will cross Er Rachidia, one of the most beautiful areas of Morocco, the region of Tafilalet, which at one time was where caravans carrying salt and gold, had to cross in order to get to Guinea and /or Sudan. We will visit the capital of this region, Rissani.
Continue by bus, we will cross the Atlas cedar forests, 40 meters high. Here you can see the wild Atlas forest macaque (monkeys.) at Azrou, and Ifrane, a real surprise in Morocco; fresh Swiss air in the Moroccan’s Atlas Mountains. It is a mountain village of just 12,000 inhabitants, 1600 meters above sea level. It operates as a tourist center and has an indisputable influence of European architectural style; houses with saddle roofs, mountains with forest vegetation and a lake. Everything is covered with snow in the winter months
We leave for Fez, a beautiful city where Morocco’s rich tradition and culture are alive and well today. The oldest and grandest of Morocco’s four imperial cities, with the most complete Islamic medieval city-centre in the world, Fes has a strong Arab culture.
Truly a World forgotten by western civilizations, Fez was created by a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed in 791. Today Fez is the religious capital of Morocco.
Hotel Check-in
9:00 PM Dinner at the hotel.
SIXTH DAY FEZ
09.00 AM Breakfast at hotel then meet the local guide at the front desk for a visit of the city of Fez.
Fez is actually three cities in one. The new city, founded by the French in 1920 which is really of no interest to the visitor, “ Bali Fez” and “Jedid Fez " also known as the "New Fez " which is an expansion of an earlier metropolis, which was ruled under the Benimerines dynasty in the thirteenth century.
But it has, beyond any doubt, the most medieval labyrinth, with more than 9,400 streets that make Bali Fez the most attractive part of Fez. The distinctive professional trades that coexist here are distributed in different neighborhoods according to their specialty, e.g., there exist neighborhoods of craftsmen, pottery and metal makers, tailors ... Wander through Fez´s open market which actually converts into a true pleasure for your senses if you allow your instinct and smell to guide you. The streets, winding and very narrow, the houses very high, do not allow much sunlight to shine through playing with enigmatic and mysterious lights and shadows, all of which amplifies the feeling of being in another world.
Mirrors, perfumes, chickens, pigeons, silver, gold, slippers, sandals, djellabas, drums, vegetables, fruits, pottery, ceramics, cast iron, herbs (nothing illegal), spices, King portraits, cereals, books, glassware and everything imaginable, anything really, it is all here. The donkeys’ constant clatter of carrying goods from various origins will transport you to an unknown magical world only to be broken by the cry of "balek" from the animals´ owner, alerting the pedestrians to “watch out” as the donkeys make their way through.
We begin with a panoramic tour of the city, including Merinides tombs, Alaouite Square, the exteriors of the Royal Palace and the Dar-el-Makhzen in Jedid Fez. Then we continue on a walking tour around Bali Fez, where we will visit the spice market at Attarine and the market at Jenna. After we will arrive to Nejjarin square where we will find the founduk with the same name and visit Bounania´s Madrasah (school.) We end the morning at Seffarin square, in the neighborhood of the leather craftsmen and explore tanneries. Return to the hotel.
15.00 PM Lunch at hotel.
Free time for your afternoon and dinner.
Optional dinner with typical show for an extra fee available.
SEVENTH DAY FEZ –TANGIER – TARIFA
07:00 AM Breakfast and Check out of the hotel.
Departur to Tangier. We will stop on the way for free lunch.
Arrive to the port of Tangier, board the fast ferry at 17:00 PM, Tangier-Tarifa
20.00 PM Arrive in Tarifa.
Our bus we will waiting for us at the port of Tarifa and will transport us to Seville.
End of service.
It is mandatory to have a valid passport which must have an expiration date greater than 6 months before the tour end date. Should the customer not comply with this requirement, the organizing travel agency has no liability and will not refund any money.
