Self-Launched Morocco Grand Circuit: Casablanca, Chefchaouen, Fes, Sahara & Marrakech

Fly into Mohammed V Airport and take the train (ONCF, ~50 min, ~£5) or the CTM airport coach into Casa Voyageurs / city centre. Check into a hostel or budget guesthouse near the old medina or Gauthier. Spend the afternoon walking the Corniche and joining a timed guided visit to the Hassan II Mosque — one of the few mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims, with spectacular Atlantic-side architecture (entry ~£13, book a slot online or via GetYourGuide). Evening: cheap tagine and mint tea at a local spot near Marché Central. Many travellers find Casablanca skippable, so keep it short and bank your energy for Rabat and Chefchaouen.

🚌ONCF train from airport ~£5; walking + petit taxi (~£2) in town

🛏Hostel or budget guesthouse, Casablanca (~£16)

• →Hassan II Mosque guided visit (~£13)
• →Corniche walk
• →Marché Central food stop

Take an early CTM or ONCF train to Rabat (~1 hr, ~£4-6). Walk the Kasbah of the Udayas, the Mechouar and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, and see Bab Challah and the unfinished Hassan Tower. If you're an early riser, squeeze in a Chefchaouen-bound coach the same afternoon (CTM Rabat–Chefchaouen ~4.5 hrs) — otherwise overnight in Rabat, which several past travellers to this tour preferred over Casablanca, and continue tomorrow. Book coach tickets the day before at the CTM station or online.

🚌ONCF/CTM Casablanca–Rabat ~£5; Rabat–Chefchaouen CTM coach ~£12

🛏Medina hostel or budget riad, Rabat (~£16)

• →Kasbah of the Udayas
• →Mausoleum of Mohammed V
• →Hassan Tower & Bab Challah

Arrive or wake up in the Rif mountains and immediately lose yourself in the bluewashed lanes of the medina. Climb to the Spanish Mosque for sunset over the town, poke through the kasbah gardens and museum, and wander Outa el Hammam square past the Great Mosque. Join the tiny workshops where weavers and dyers still work by hand — no guided tour needed, a few dirhams tip goes a long way. Spend the evening on a rooftop with a tagine and a view.

🚌Arrival coach as above; everything on foot

🛏Medina guesthouse/hostel, Chefchaouen (~£15)

• →Chefchaouen medina walk
• →Kasbah & gardens (~£1)
• →Spanish Mosque viewpoint
• →Weaving/dyeing workshops

Take the CTM coach Chefchaouen–Fes (~4 hrs, ~£10), arriving early afternoon. Book a bed in a Fes medina riad-hostel, then do an informal first wander into Fes el-Bali along Talaa Kebira to get your bearings (a guide is genuinely worth it here — Day 5 covers it). If you arrive early enough, catch the Bou Inania madrasa before closing (ticket ~£3). Book tomorrow's guided medina walk via GetYourGuide from ~£20-30 per person.

🚌CTM coach Chefchaouen–Fes ~£10

🛏Medina riad-hostel, Fes (~£18)

• →Fes medina orientation walk
• →Bou Inania madrasa (~£3)

Do the full Fes el-Bali day with a licensed local guide (self-booked, ~£25 for a half-day shared or small-group walk). Cover the tanneries from the terrace viewpoints, the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque-university complex, the Mellah, Moulay Idriss mausoleum, the Royal Palace golden gates, a zellige tile cooperative and a rooftop panorama over the medina. If you'd rather DIY, the tanneries can be entered for a tip and the medina is walkable — but the guide saves hours in this maze. Evening: harira soup and grilled sardines in a locals' spot.

🚌Walking; occasional petit taxi ~£2

🛏Medina riad-hostel, Fes (~£18)

• →Guided Fes medina walk (~£25)
• →Tanneries viewpoint
• →Al-Qarawiyyin University
• →Royal Palace gates
• →Zellige tile cooperative

Take the early CTM/supratours coach Fes–Merzouga (long day, ~8-9 hrs, ~£20; some routes change in Rissani — check timings). Alternatively book a local shared 3-day desert transfer package out of Fes via GetYourGuide (~£70-90 pp) which handles the Middle Atlas stops. On the way you'll pass Ifrane, the cedar forests of Azrou with wild Barbary macaques, the Ziz valley palms and Midelt. Arrive late afternoon, then take a camel trek into Erg Chebbi for sunset (~£15-20) to a Berber desert camp with dinner and live Gnawa/Berber drumming (~£30-40 pp standard camp).

🚌CTM coach Fes–Merzouga ~£20, or shared desert-transfer package ~£35 pp share

🛏Standard Berber desert camp, Erg Chebbi (~£35 incl. dinner/breakfast)

• →Ifrane & Azrou cedar forest
• →Middle Atlas scenery
• →Camel trek at sunset (~£18)
• →Saharan music & camp dinner

Wake pre-dawn for the classic dune sunrise, then camel or 4x4 back to Merzouga village for breakfast. Catch the local bus or share a grand taxi west via Rissane market, the palm-lined valleys of Tourog and Tinjdad, to Todra Gorge — walk the gorge floor between the 300m walls (free). Continue to Dades Valley for the night at a cheap auberge with mountain views (~£15-18). Buses are infrequent, so the local minibus/shared taxi combo (grand taxi split ~£15-20 pp) is the practical option.

🚌Local bus + shared grand taxi Merzouga–Todra–Dades ~£18

🛏Auberge in Dades Valley (~£17)

• →Dune sunrise
• →Rissane market
• →Todra Gorge walk

Head out along the Dades Valley — optionally a short walk into the 'monkey fingers' rock formations — and southwest to Ait Benhaddou, the UNESCO ksar used in countless films (free to wander, ~£3 for a local guide across the river). Stop in Kalaat M'Gouna's rose cooperative for rosewater if you like. Then cross the Tizi n'Tichka pass over the High Atlas into Marrakech. This is the one leg worth buying a shared minibus/van seat or a spot on a local grand-taxi run (~£20-25 pp) — public buses on this route are slow and infrequent. Evening: check into a medina hostel and head straight for Jemaa el-Fnaa at dusk.

🚌Shared minibus/grand taxi Dades–Ait Benhaddou–Marrakech ~£22

🛏Medina hostel/riad, Marrakech (~£18)

• →Dades Valley viewpoints
• →Ait Benhaddou ksar
• →Kalaat M'Gouna rose cooperative
• →Tizi n'Tichka pass
• →Jemaa el-Fnaa at dusk

Get an early ticket to the Jardin Majorelle (~£13, book online — slots fill fast) and the adjoining YSL museum if it appeals. Then work through the Koutoubia minaret, the Saadian Tombs (~£6), the Bahia Palace (~£6) and Ben Youssef madrasa, and lose an afternoon in the souks bargaining for leather and lanterns. Optional add: a hammam scrub-and-massage (~£15-30) in the late afternoon, or a half-day excursion to the Ourika Valley waterfalls (~£20 via GetYourGuide). Finish with rooftop mint tea over the square.

🚌Walking; petit taxi ~£2-3

🛏Medina hostel/riad, Marrakech (~£18)

• →Jardin Majorelle (~£13)
• →Saadian Tombs (~£6)
• →Bahia Palace (~£6)
• →Souks
• →Optional hammam (~£20)

If you're flying out of Marrakech, a petit taxi or bus to RAK takes 20-30 minutes (~£5). If you need to return to Casablanca to match the original loop, take the ONCF train Marrakech–Casa Voyageurs (~3.5 hrs, ~£10-12) and connect to the airport train. Leave buffer time — trains are reliable but Casablanca airport security queues can be long. Fill any spare hours with the last of the souks or a final café crème.

🚌ONCF train Marrakech–Casablanca ~£11 + airport train ~£5, or taxi to RAK ~£5

🛏None (departure day)

• →Final souk shopping
• →Café stop