Morocco Self-Launched: Casablanca, Chefchaouen, Fez, the Sahara & Marrakech

Fly into Mohammed V Airport and take the train (ONCF, ~35 min, about £3.50) or the airport bus into the city centre. Check into a hostel or budget hotel near the old medina or Gauthier district. Spend the late afternoon walking the corniche at Ain Diab, then eat grilled sardines and harira in a local neighbourhood restaurant. Supermarkets and ATMs are everywhere — withdraw dirhams here, as ATMs are thinner on the ground in the Rif and the desert.

🚌ONCF airport train ~£3.50

🛏Budget hotel or hostel, Casablanca centre (~£20)

• →Ain Diab corniche walk
• →Casablanca medina wander

Book a Hassan II Mosque interior tour directly at the mosque ticket office or online (~£12; non-Muslims can only enter on guided visits, a few times daily). Then take the ONCF train to Rabat (about 1 hour, £5). See the Hassan Tower and Mausoleum of Mohammed V (free), wander the medina, and finish in the blue-and-white Kasbah of the Udayas with a mint tea at the river mouth. Return to Casablanca for the night, or stay in Rabat if you'd rather shorten tomorrow's bus.

🚌ONCF train Casablanca–Rabat return ~£10

🛏Budget hotel/hostel, Casablanca or Rabat (~£20)

• →Hassan II Mosque guided interior tour (~£12)
• →Hassan Tower & Mausoleum of Mohammed V (free)
• →Kasbah of the Udayas

Take a CTM or SUPRATOUR coach from Casablanca to Chefchaouen (6–7 hours, roughly £15–18) — book a day ahead via the CTM app or at the station. Arrive in the afternoon and get lost in the blue-washed medina lanes, the kasbah and the wool-dyeing quarter. In the late afternoon hike the 20 minutes up to the Spanish Mosque for the classic sunset view over the town and the Rif peaks. Budget guesthouses and hostels in the medina start around £10–14 a night.

🚌CTM coach Casablanca–Chefchaouen ~£16

🛏Medina guesthouse, Chefchaouen (~£14)

• →Chefchaouen medina self-walk
• →Kasbah museum
• →Spanish Mosque sunset hike

Morning shared taxi or grand taxi to Akchour (~£4 each way, 30 min) for the easy 1.5–2 hour trail to the Pont de Dieu natural bridge and river pools — bring cash for the small trail fee and go early in summer. Back in Chefchaouen by midday, then take a coach or shared taxi south to Volubilis via Moulay Idriss Zerhoun (Chefchaouen–Fez coaches ~£12, ask the driver to drop you at the Volubilis turn-off; a local taxi from there is ~£3). Book a licensed site guide at the entrance (~£10–12) to make sense of the mosaics and the triumphal arch, then continue to Fez. Check into a riad in the medina — plenty of cheap family riads from £15 a night.

🚌Shared taxis & coach ~£20 total

🛏Traditional riad, Fez medina (~£18)

• →Akchour waterfalls & Pont de Dieu hike
• →Moulay Idriss Zerhoun
• →Volubilis Roman ruins with licensed guide (~£12)

Hire a licensed medina guide through your riad or a reputable agency (~£25–30 half-day) or navigate it yourself with offline maps — the medina has 9,000+ lanes. Hit the Bou Inania and Al-Attarine medersas (~£5 each), the Nejjarine woodwork museum, and view the Chouara tannery from a leather shop balcony (free, ignore the hard-sell). Al-Qarawiyyin library has reopened to visitors. Finish with mint tea on a rooftop café above the Bab Boujloud gate. Cheapest eats: a £2 plate of beans and bread at a local hole-in-the-wall.

🚌Walking; petit taxi ~£2

🛏Traditional riad, Fez medina (~£18)

• →Fez medina with licensed local guide (~£28)
• →Bou Inania & Al-Attarine medersas
• →Chouara tannery viewpoint
• →Al-Qarawiyyin

Swap the celebrity-chef market class for a small-group cooking experience booked via GetYourGuide or Klook in Fez (from ~£30–35 including market shopping, tagine and bread baking) — a dozen Fassi families and co-ops run these and they're excellent value. In the afternoon take the CTM coach on the scenic Middle Atlas route toward Midelt (~5 hours, ~£12), watching cedar forests give way to the High Atlas. Overnight in Midelt, a low-key market town with cheap guesthouses from £15.

🚌CTM coach Fez–Midelt ~£12

🛏Guesthouse, Midelt (~£15)

• →Fez market visit & Moroccan cooking class (~£32)
• →Middle Atlas coach ride

Continue by coach or shared grand taxi to Merzouga (~4 hours, ~£12–15), passing the Ziz Gorges. Book a one- or two-night desert camp in Erg Chebbi in advance (GetYourGuide, Booking.com or direct — standard camps from ~£35–45 pp including dinner, breakfast, camel trek or 4x4 transfer and Berber music around the fire). Drop your big bag at a village guesthouse, ride camels or a 4x4 into the dunes for sunset, and eat under a very bright sky of stars.

🚌Coach/shared taxi ~£14 + camp transfer included

🛏Budget Sahara desert camp, Erg Chebbi (~£40 incl. dinner & breakfast)

• →Camel trek or 4x4 into Erg Chebbi
• →Sunset dune climb
• →Berber music at desert camp

Arrange a half-day 4x4 with a local Merzouga driver (~£35–40 per vehicle, split between 3–4 people) to visit Amazigh nomad families camped in the dunes and the Gnaoua music village of Khamlia — tip the musicians ~£5. Ask your camp host to arrange a Medfouna ('hidden pizza') cooking session in a village home (~£15), or simply join your camp's kitchen for the afternoon. Second night in the dunes, or a village guesthouse from £12 if you'd rather sleep in a real bed.

🚌Shared 4x4 ~£12 pp

🛏Desert camp or Merzouga village guesthouse (~£25)

• →Half-day 4x4 to nomad camps & Khamlia
• →Medfouna cooking session
• →Second night in the dunes

Take a shared grand taxi or minibus to Tinghir (~3 hours, ~£10) — collectivos leave when full from the Merzouga/Rissani junction. From Tinghir a local taxi to the Todra Gorges is ~£4 each way; walk the canyon floor path between the 400 m walls and scramble a little way up for the view. Then continue to Boumalne Dadès (~£6) for the night, or catch the afternoon minibus to Boumalne direct. Guesthouses in the Dadès valley with dinner are around £18–22.

🚌Shared taxis/minibus ~£18

🛏Valley guesthouse, Boumalne Dadès (~£20)

• →Todra Gorges canyon walk
• →Dadès Valley viewpoints

Shared taxi or minibus from Boumalne to Ouarzazate (~2.5 hours, ~£8), then a grand taxi out to Aït Ben Haddou (~£6 each way). A licensed local guide at the ksar costs ~£10 and is worth it for the kasbah history and the Gladiator/Game of Thrones filming stories. Continue by shared taxi or CTM coach along the Tizi n'Tichka pass to Marrakech (~£10–12, 4 hours). Check into a medina hostel or riad — dorms from £10, private rooms in a small riad from £20.

🚌Shared taxis/coach ~£26

🛏Medina hostel or budget riad, Marrakech (~£20)

• →Aït Ben Haddou ksar with local guide (~£10)
• →Tizi n'Tichka pass drive

Book a small-group community or social-enterprise day trip into the Atlas foothills via GetYourGuide or a local operator (~£40–45) — options include tree-nursery and reforestation visits, Amazigh village walks and women's weaving co-operatives. Alternatively take local transport to the Ourika Valley (grand taxi ~£5 each way) and hire a village guide (~£12) to visit a carpet co-operative; buy directly from the weavers. Back in Marrakech for a cheap £5 hammam (local rather than tourist spa) and dinner in the Jemaa el-Fna food stalls.

🚌Shared taxi/minibus ~£10

🛏Medina hostel or budget riad, Marrakech (~£20)

• →Atlas foothills community/village day (~£42)
• →Local hammam (~£5)
• →Jemaa el-Fna food stalls

Do the Hikayat thing your own way: join a small-group storytelling or medina walking tour booked on GetYourGuide (~£20–25), or catch free/spoken-word storytelling performances in the square in the evening. Visit Bahia Palace (~£7) and the Medersa Ben Youssef (~£5) early to beat the crowds, and eat tangia — the slow-cooked Marrakchi speciality — at a cheap local canteen for about £6. Finish with mint tea on a rooftop terrace overlooking Jemaa el-Fna.

🚌Walking; petit taxi ~£3

🛏Medina hostel or budget riad, Marrakech (~£20)

• →Medina storytelling/walking tour (~£22)
• →Bahia Palace
• →Medersa Ben Youssef
• →Rooftop sunset tea

Last morning for the souks, the Majorelle Garden (book tickets online in advance, ~£12) or a slow breakfast in the medina. Take the airport bus (~£3) or a petit taxi (~£7) to Menara Airport for your flight home. If you want to extend, Essaouira is a 3-hour CTM coach away (~£8) and makes a great cheap coastal add-on.

🚌Airport bus or petit taxi ~£5

🛏—

• →Souk shopping
• →Majorelle Garden (optional ~£12)