10 Days in Morocco: A Realistic Itinerary Starting in Marrakech

The idea behind this plan

Many ten day itineraries try to cover the whole country in a loop: Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, the Sahara, Marrakech. On paper it looks efficient. In practice it means long hours in a car or on a train, a new hotel every night and very little time in each place. You come home with a lot of photographs from a window and a feeling that you only touched the surface.

This plan follows the opposite idea. You stay in one or two places for several nights, you let the city slow you down, and you add the landscapes through day trips that start and end in the same bed. Marrakech is a perfect base for this, because within three hours of the city you can reach high mountains, a waterfall, a stone desert, the Atlantic coast and a UNESCO World Heritage kasbah.

The plan has two parts. Days 1 to 7 are the same for everybody: the city, the mountains, the coast and the desert, with enough rest in between. Days 8 to 10 depend on you. Option A keeps you in Marrakech for a slower finish. Option B uses the last days to see another region. You choose when you book your flights, or even after you arrive.

Before you book anything

Three decisions shape the whole trip. Make them first, and the rest becomes easy.

1. When are you going?

The best months for a mixed trip are March to May and September to November. The days are warm, the evenings are pleasant and the mountains are clear. From December to February the days are mild in Marrakech, but nights are cold in the desert and the mountains, and there can be snow on the High Atlas. In June, July and August Marrakech is very hot, often above 38 degrees in the afternoon, so you will want to plan around the heat. Our guide to the best time to visit Morocco explains each month.

2. Which airports?

Many travellers fly into Marrakech and out of Marrakech, which keeps the trip simple. If you choose Option B, check flights into one city and out of another. Open jaw tickets are often priced similarly to return tickets, and they can save a full day of travel.

3. How much movement can you enjoy?

Be honest about your travel style. If you like cities and food, spend more days in Marrakech. If you love mountains and quiet, add a night in the Atlas. If you want to see Fes, plan for it deliberately, because it takes a full travel day to reach it.

Day 1: Arrive and let the city come to you

Arrive, meet your hotel or riad host and keep the first day light. Most riads are in the medina, where cars cannot enter, so someone will meet you at the nearest gate or square and walk you to the door. Drink a mint tea on the roof terrace, shower and rest.

In the late afternoon, walk to Jemaa el Fna. The square changes at sunset, when the food stalls open, musicians and storytellers gather and the air fills with smoke and spices. You do not need to do anything. Sit at a rooftop cafe and watch for an hour. Then go back to your riad for dinner, instead of getting lost in the souks in the dark on your first night.

Day 2: The medina with a guide

The medina is the heart of Marrakech, and a local guide is the quickest way to understand it. The city tour with lunch takes about seven hours. It crosses the old city through the souks, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the El Badi Palace and the dyers' souk, with a lunch in a traditional riad. If you prefer a shorter day, the history tour takes three and a half hours and includes entry to the Bahia Palace and the Tiskiwin Museum.

Whichever you choose, wear comfortable shoes. Even the shorter tour has a lot of walking on uneven ground. After lunch, go back to your riad and rest, and in the late afternoon take a slow walk in a quiet part of the city.

Why a guide on day 2

Starting with a guide gives you a mental map of the medina. You will recognise the main lanes, you will know what a fair price feels like and you will feel confident exploring alone on later days. Many travellers tell us they would have done this first if they could do it again.

Day 3: Gardens, a hammam and an easy pace

After a full day in the medina, give yourself a gentle day. Start at 8:30 with the gardens tour, which visits the Jardin Majorelle and Le Jardin Secret. We book timed Majorelle tickets for you, so you walk the blue villa and the cactus garden before the crowds arrive. The tour takes about four hours.

In the afternoon, book a hammam in a riad. A traditional hammam includes a steam bath, a scrub with black soap, a rhassoul clay wrap and a massage with warm argan oil. It takes about two hours and is the best possible rest between two big days. If you travel as a couple, ask for a couples room.

Finish the day with dinner on a rooftop. The light over the Koutoubia and the call to prayer at sunset is one of the best things about Marrakech, and it costs nothing.

Day 4: Into the Atlas

The High Atlas is the reason Marrakech has such dramatic views, and day 4 takes you into it. You have two good choices.

Option 1: Ourika Valley

This is the closest and easiest mountain day. It is about an hour and a quarter from Marrakech. You drive up a green valley, drink tea in a Berber house, see how women make argan oil and walk to the waterfalls of Setti Fatma with a local mountain guide. The first waterfall is easy. The higher ones need good shoes.

Option 2: Atlas 4x4 with lunch in a Berber village

This is the quieter and more personal day. You drive about an hour and a half to Imlil in a 4x4 with a maximum of six guests per vehicle, walk through villages below Toubkal and have lunch in a Berber home. It is a better choice if you want to meet people and see how the valley lives.

In both cases bring a warm layer. It is always cooler in the mountains, even in summer. Return to Marrakech in the late afternoon and go to bed early, because day 5 can start early.

Day 5: The Atlantic coast

The Essaouira day trip is a complete change of mood. Essaouira is a white and blue port town on the Atlantic coast, about 175 to 190 kilometres from Marrakech, around two and a half to three hours each way. On the way you may see goats climbing argan trees, a spectacle that is not there every day. In town you walk the old Skala ramparts with their bronze cannons, watch the fishing boats come into the port and eat fresh grilled fish at the harbour stalls.

It is a long day, but a relaxed one, because the medina is flat and the sea breeze is cool. Agree the price of the fish before you order, bring a light jacket for the wind and give yourself time to sit and look at the water.

Day 6: Rest day or the hot air balloon

Day 6 is the day to slow down. Sleep late, have a long breakfast and visit the parts of the city you skipped. Walk to the Saadian Tombs, wander the Mellah, visit a small museum or simply take a book to a rooftop.

If you are a morning person and you travel between October and April, consider the balloon flight instead. It starts between 5:00 and 6:30 with a pickup from your hotel, and you fly for about an hour over the plains with the High Atlas in front of you. After landing there is a Berber breakfast. Flights depend on the weather, and if the flight is cancelled, you get a new date or a full refund. For this reason, we suggest booking it early in your trip, so there is time for a second try.

Day 7: Desert evening in the Agafay

The Agafay is the stone desert about 40 kilometres from Marrakech. It is not the Sahara and it does not have big dunes, but it has something that works very well for a single day: wide hills, silence, camels and a sky full of colour at sunset.

Choose one of two styles. For an active afternoon, take the quad or buggy ride in the Agafay hills. For a more relaxed evening, take the sunset dinner, which collects you around 17:00 (18:00 in summer), watches the sun go down over the hills and ends with a three course dinner, live Gnawa music and a fire show in a lantern lit camp. Return transfers are included.

Our guide to the Agafay desert explains what to wear, what to expect and how to choose. If you wonder whether to go further to the real dunes, read our comparison of Agafay and Merzouga.

Day 8: Choose your ending

From day 8 the plan splits. Both options are good, and the right one depends on how you travel.

Option A: Stay in Marrakech for a slower finish

If you want to relax and see the south, stay. Day 8 is for the Road of the Kasbahs, a 12 hour day trip over the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, with a visit to the Glaoui kasbah of Telouet and Aït Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with lunch included. Day 9 is for Ouzoud Waterfalls, 110 metres of falling water about two and a half to three hours away, with a walk of about an hour and a half and wild Barbary macaques. Day 10 is for packing, a last hammam and a final walk through the souks.

This option gives you the most landscape for the least packing, and the hardest part is only getting up early on days 8 and 9.

Option B: Add another region

If you want to see another part of Morocco, use days 8 to 10 for it. The three most common choices are the following.

• Fes, the old imperial city, for a second medina with a very different character. Allow a full day to travel by train or plane, and check current schedules before you book.
• The southern oases and the Sahara dunes, which need at least two nights, usually with one night in the desert. It is a long drive from Marrakech.
• The blue city of Chefchaouen, in the north, which is reached by road from Fes or Tangier and is better combined with a northern route.

If you choose Option B, keep your tour days in Marrakech to the first seven days and use the last days for the new region. Fly home from there if you can.

How to travel between places

Morocco has an excellent network of trains between the main cities of the north and the west, and flights between Marrakech and several other cities. For the south and the mountains, you will need a car with a driver, a private transfer or a tour. Road trips in Morocco are beautiful, but they are slow, and many roads are winding.

Our rule of thumb is simple: do not plan more than four hours of travel on a day when you also want to see something. If a trip takes longer, give it a full day or an overnight stop. This is why we recommend day trips from Marrakech for the closest places, and why the longer ones, such as the Kasbah road, are full days.

• Taxis in Marrakech are cheap but agree the price before you get in, or ask for the meter.
• Inside the medina you walk. Cars and taxis stop at the gates.
• For airport transfers, ask your riad to arrange a pickup. It saves stress after a flight.
• Always check train and flight schedules close to your date, as they can change.

What to book first

Some experiences depend on season, weather or small capacity, and they should be booked early. Others you can add on a day by day basis.

1. Flights and your first riad. Riads in the medina fill up in spring and autumn.
2. The hot air balloon and the Agafay sunset dinner.
3. The long day trips: the Road of the Kasbahs and Ouzoud.
4. The medina guide and the gardens tour. We book your Majorelle tickets as part of the tour.
5. A hammam, which can usually be booked a day or two in advance.

You can book our tours by email, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, and pay on the day. If you would like help putting the days in order, send us the trip plan form on the homepage, and we reply with a plan and pickup times.

Money, phone and practical tips

• Money: the currency is the dirham. Many places accept cards, but small shops, taxis and tips are cash. Withdraw dirham from an ATM and keep small notes.
• Phone: a local SIM or an eSIM is easy to set up and useful for maps. Many riads have good wifi.
• Water: drink bottled or filtered water, and carry a bottle on every tour.
• Clothing: light, breathable clothes, a warm layer for evenings and the mountains and good walking shoes. Women often prefer to cover shoulders and knees in the medina. Our packing guide has a full list.
• Courtesy: ask before taking photographs of people, and do not feed the monkeys at Ouzoud.
• Prices: agree prices before you buy or ride. A polite no is understood everywhere.

Three ways to adapt the plan

If you travel with children

Swap the Kasbah road for a lighter day, and add a camel ride in the Palmeraie. Children from four can ride with an adult. Choose the morning start for walking days in summer. Our family tours page lists tours with child prices and honest age limits.

If you love food

Add a food focus to days 2 and 3 by choosing lunches in the medina and rooftop dinners. Our Moroccan food guide explains what to eat and how to order.

If you want romance

Place the balloon on day 6, the hammam on day 3 for two and the desert dinner on day 7. Ask for private versions where you can, and write to us with the date of a special occasion.

Is ten days too much or too little?

Ten days is the right amount for most first visits. It gives you a few days to settle, three or four days of landscape and a few rest days. If you have only seven days, drop days 6 and 9. If you have only five, use days 2, 4, 5 and 7.

If you have more than ten days, the best additions are a night on the coast in Essaouira, a night in the mountains in Imlil and, if you love long journeys, a few days in the south or in Fes. Slow travel pays off in Morocco, because every place has more to see than a guidebook can show.

Frequently asked questions