VIP TOUR PROGRAM:

1 Day: Casablanca – Marrakech

245 km / 2 hr 45 min:

Vip Morocco tour 7 days starts at Casablanca airport at around 12:30 on Royal Air Maroc and meets with the Sahara Morocco Travel team.

Transfer to Marrakech by comfortable air-conditioned vehicle with WiFi (2.45 hours). Check in to a luxurious riad in the medina (old town) for welcome tea and rest.

In the evening, we will go by carriage through the gates of the hotel to explore the city: the mighty city walls, the wide avenues with fountains and palm trees, the Koutoubia Mosque and its beautiful minarets under a beautiful sunset sky. Stroll through the legendary Djemaa el-Fna Square (meaning “Square of the Broken Head”), the true center of the city. It’s lively by day and night, and when night falls, one of the world’s largest open-air restaurants unfolds. Stroll around the square, watch street artists and musicians perform, take pictures with cobras and trained monkeys, learn about the future from a fortune teller, and try your hand at a folk game.

The temptation to try all the local cuisine in the square is great, but we are still waiting for a sumptuous dinner in the interior of a Moorish palace. Moroccan cuisine is considered to be one of the best in the world, combining Eastern, Western, and African culinary traditions. A traditional Moroccan dinner includes a variety of vegetable appetizers and tagine, a slow-cooked vegetable, meat, or poultry stew with aromatic spices. During dinner, we will be treated to a beautiful belly dance and a performance of the Arabian lute..

Overnight in the Riad, a small hotel with traditional Moroccan architecture. The 12 rooms of the hotel overlook a courtyard with white arches, a swimming pool, and a garden. Only in Riyadh can you truly experience the Moroccan culture and hospitality

Our Riyadh combines traditional design and modern art. Exotic tones of orange blossom and cedarwood, the chirping of birds, and the play of light and shadow delight the senses of our guests. Soft carpets and handmade furniture, secret corners, and private balconies create a sense of comfort and privacy ….. Here, time seems to have stopped and all worldly worries seem far away …

 2 Day: Marrakech Tour Guide -Anima Garden

40 km / 55 minutes one way

Breakfast at the hotel. Today we will spend the day exploring Marrakech, its gardens, ancient medina, and bazaars, accompanied by an experienced English-speaking guide.

We will start with a visit to the exotic Majorelle Gardens, which once belonged to the famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Saint Laurent spent most of his life in Marrakech, and after his death, his ashes were scattered in this garden and a modest monument was erected in his honor.

Next door to the garden is the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, where you can see the great fashion designer’s Moroccan-inspired creations, as well as an interesting temporary exhibition of contemporary artists.

Afterward, let’s explore life in the mysterious medina of Marrakech on a leisurely walking tour. We’ll see numerous bazaars and caravans of artisans at work, drink mint tea in a riad courtyard, discover magical medicines in a Berber pharmacy, see secret gardens, and peek into the beautiful Bahia Palace. If you wish, on our itinerary we can visit a designer boutique with the work of contemporary Moroccan artists and designers.

It’s time to take a break from the bustling medina of Marrakech, and in a cozy and quiet lounge under a canopy of orange trees, we’ll enjoy Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine made from the finest farm ingredients. Each dish is the small masterpiece of a chef with the Relais&Chateaux seal of quality.

We will continue our Vip Morocco tour 7 days to the fantastic garden “Anima”, 40 minutes from Marrakech.

The creator of this garden is the internationally renowned artist, André Heller, originally from Vienna. Here you can admire not only exotic plants with the sound of birdsong but also interesting works of art. African figurines, Arabian Kali graffiti, fantasy sculptures and works by Picasso.

Return to the hotel and rest.

In the evening, explore the nightlife of Marrakech in one of its famous restaurant clubs. Marrakech tops the list of the best nightlife cities in Africa. The Moroccan elite and European bohemians alike come here on weekends to revel in the luxurious atmosphere of the East.

Start with a classic dinner in the company of belly dancers and fakirs, continue with cocktails at the bar, dance to a fiery live band, and if you still have the energy, witness a spectacular show at one of the country’s best nightclubs. Exotic Gnahua dancers performing acrobatic jumps to the accompaniment of African trance tunes and percussion are a must-have element of any party.

Stay overnight at the hotel.

3 Day: Marrakech – Atlas Mountains:

80  km / 2:15 hours one way

Breakfast at the hotel. Today we will explore Berber life in the Atlas Mountains and spend a beautiful day in nature.

An hour and a half drive from Marrakech to the village of Imlil, the starting point of the climb to Mount Toubkal (4,139m), the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains. But instead of climbing to the top, we will simply ride a donkey to a small waterfall to familiarise ourselves with Berber life and living, drink tea with the locals and enjoy the beautiful views and the cleanest mountain air.

After saying goodbye to the Berbers, we will visit British billionaire Richard Branson, who runs a Berber-style hotel in the hills near Imlil, called Kasbah Tamadot.

Branson found out about this ancient Kasbah by chance on a trip to Morocco. He fell in love at first sight, bought it, and within a few years transformed it from a ruin into one of the most beautiful boutique hotels in the world. The castle’s staff is almost entirely made up of residents of the surrounding villages, and the Branson Foundation has trained them in foreign languages and in all the finer points of the hotel business.

We toured the hotel and sampled Moroccan and international cuisine on the terrace with panoramic mountain views.

After relaxing in nature, it was time to indulge in a Moroccan hammam ritual at one of Marrakech’s luxurious spas. No trip to Morocco is complete without a hammam. Moroccans themselves consider the hammam as one of the pillars of their culture and they love it as much as the tourists do. After a few minutes of relaxation in the hammam, an experienced bath attendant or lady bather applies black soap to the body to soften the skin. Afterward, a layer of dead skin is removed with a stiff kesi glove and a hair and body mask is made with ombre or henna clay. The Turkish bath is followed by a relaxing argan oil massage that will make you feel like you’ve been reborn in just a few hours!

The day of  Vip Morocco Tour 7 days will end with dinner in an elegant art deco villa where the chef will serve culinary masterpieces of Italian cuisine. Here you will see that Marrakech is truly cosmopolitan and if you are lucky, you might spot the President of France, Tom Cruise, or another world celebrity at the next table. 

4 Day: Marrakech – Agafay desert

30 km/45 min: 

Today we have to wake up early to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the sunrise over the desert and mountains and have breakfast in the clouds.

Around 6:00 am, off-road vehicles will pick us up from the hotel and take us to the airbase outside the city. Upon arrival, we’ll be able to watch the balloon being prepared for flight while sipping refreshing hot tea in the morning chill. The balloon will gently lift off the ground and we will find ourselves in the sky, watching nature majestically awaken in complete silence. The first rays of sunlight break through the mountains and the stewardess onboard serve us a royal breakfast of freshly squeezed orange juice and pastries from the pastry chef.

Returning to Marrakech, we stop for a cup of coffee in a colonial-era café with the luxurious ambiance of bistros from the last century.

After a short break, we will have the opportunity to see the city through the eyes of the locals who love to travel around the city on motorbikes! Only they can take you through the narrowest streets of the medina, deftly navigating their way through traffic and chatting to everyone in the area as they ride. For the convenience of tourists, our motorbikes are equipped with sidecars and each passenger receives a stylish helmet. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to ride around Marrakech in the Soviet Urals! “Insider” drivers will show us the non-touristy corners of the city and the alleys of the old medina, where we can observe the daily life of the locals. Sitting in a sidecar, you can take a relaxed look around without the risk of being hit by a cart, car or moped. We finish the motorbike ride with a glass of champagne in a Marrakech palm grove in the middle of a desert oasis.

Then we’ll have lunch in a not-so-usual place…

A few kilometers from the city center is a luxury hotel unlike any other. Its ornament and pride is its own nursery of purebred Arabian horses, which are a great passion of the hotel owner. Arabian horses originated in Saudi Arabia and arrived in Morocco in the 7th century. The Bennani Smires family has the best breeding in Morocco and their stable has won many international competitions. Some of them are worth millions of euros. Visit the luxurious stables, which, like the hotel, were designed by renowned architect Jacques Garcia, and meet their noble inhabitants. Afterward, have lunch in the shade of the pergola in the garden overlooking the Levadas with the horses. On Sundays, watch a dressage show or a horse paddock.

After a little afternoon rest, we’ll set off for our next adventure! You can’t visit Morocco without visiting the desert. However, it’s a 10-hour drive to the nearest Saharan dunes. We recommend you visit the desert light next to Marrakech, just a 45-minute drive from the city center. The Agafay Desert is made up of rocky dunes that are almost as beautiful as the Sahara. We will tour the desert and the surrounding area for 2 hours on ATVs, stopping for tea and refreshments with the local Berbers. Our ride will end at a luxury camp in the middle of the desert where we will spend the night.

We’ll welcome the sunset over the desert with a glass of wine, and when darkness falls, we’ll enjoy a Moroccan dinner in a private tent built especially for us. In an atmosphere of complete peace and tranquillity, we will admire the myriad stars in the African sky…

5 Day: Agafay to Essaouira

195 km / 3 hours:

After breakfast at the campsite, we bid farewell to the desert and head to the sea to the charming town of Essaouira, a 3-hour drive from Marrakech.

Our Vip Morocco Tour 7 days will take us through the plantations of the argan tree, which grows only in this part of Morocco and nowhere else in the world! . The argan oil is known as the Liquid Gold of Morocco. It is a valuable cosmetic product and an extremely important part of Moroccan culture. The oil extracted from the roasted fruit has a pleasant nutty taste and is used in mixed salads, snacks, and to make amla, the “Moroccan nut butter”. The high price of oil can also be explained by the fact that the production process is very labor-intensive and cannot be automated. Along the way, the women’s cooperative taught us about the techniques of traditional hand extraction of argan oil and we took the obligatory photo of every visitor with the goats on the argan tree.

The Essaouira region is famous not only for its argan plantations but also for its vineyards. The wine culture in the region was established by the ancient Phoenicians and Romans, while production on an industrial scale began during the French colonial era. Although Morocco is a Muslim country, wine is part of Morocco’s gastronomic culture. Some of the best local wines can be tasted at a small private winery. All wines are 100% natural, without preservatives or additives. The wines are served with local olives, cheeses, and homemade bread with olive oil from the farm.

Upon arrival in Essaouira, wait for a fresh seafood lunch in one of the cozy restaurants.

After lunch, take a walking tour of Essaouira’s old town. The sound of the waves, the cry of seagulls and the narrow old streets rich in history create a melancholic atmosphere. Handicraft workshops, art galleries, and boutiques with designer clothes and bags, African masks and scrap metal statues, colorful ceramics, and innocent paintings….. Essaouira’s myriad cats snooze peacefully atop the wares ……. Gnawa music and Malian blues echo through the streets, wafting on the salty wind.

We’ll visit the fish harbor and the colorful fishing boats where you can see the most unusual fish and sea creatures that catch right on land, visit the old Portuguese fortifications with their towers and cannons, wander the cozy streets with their souvenir shops, visit the Jewish quarter and see the carpentry workshop where local craftsmen make beautiful furniture from inlaid wood.

After checking in at the hotel, we will have time for a leisurely stroll and shopping. We will welcome the sunset over the sea with a glass of wine and spend the evening exploring the cozy cafes and restaurants in the medina.

Overnight at the hotel.

6 Day: Essaouira – Oualidia – Jadida

275 km / 4,5 hrs.

Breakfast and check-out from the hotel. Our Vip Morocco Tour 7 days comes to an end and today we will return to Casablanca via the coastal road, enjoying the magnificent sea views along the way.

In 2.5 hours we will reach the fishing village and resort of Oualidia, situated on the shores of a unique lagoon over 8 km long. The warm, calm waters are ideal for oyster farming. You can dine at the oyster farm restaurant or on the promenade with the fishermen with a glass of wine. Ouallidia beach is considered one of the cleanest and most beautiful beaches in Morocco. Still, there is no mass tourism here. Few single tourists come here to relax peacefully and have a lunch of grilled fish on the beach. We will finish our acquaintance with Ouallidia by taking a boat ride in the lagoon, before heading to Jadida (a 1.15-hour drive).

Jadida (formerly known as ‘Mazagan’) is a small port town whose focal point is a 16th-century Portuguese fortress (a UNESCO monument). The quiet, run-down streets are largely devoid of tourists, and time seems to have stood still here. Stop at a traditional bakery for aromatic, hot bread. Visit the underground cisterns, which were once used to store and hold water. The Gothic vault has five rows of columns that reflect light into the water, creating a unique optical effect. It has been used as a backdrop for several films, most notably Orson Welles’ Othello.

Drive-by car (15 minutes) to our last night in Morocco – Mazagan Beach Resort 5*, near El Jadida, amidst endless ocean beaches, white dunes, and green forests. The natural environment here is inspiring and uplifting. To the sound of cicadas and the roar of the waves, we admired the last Moroccan sunset overlooking the sea.

Head to one of the hotel’s restaurants, which offers a sumptuous buffet and Moroccan and Mediterranean dishes served a la carte.

7 Day: El Jadida – return flight from Casablanca:

120km/1hr 30 min.

Breakfast at the hotel. Free time and a beach holiday until the evening.

Even in the low season Mazagan Beach Resort 5* offers many leisure activities: walks or jogging on the beach, heated pool, spa, quad bikes, go-karting, archery, fishing, horse riding, bicycles, tennis, golf, casino…

Room release at 18:00 (late check-out included). Transfer to Casablanca airport (1hr 15 mins). Check-in and return flight at midnight on a direct Royal Air Maroc flight. and End of our Vip Morocco Tour 7 days: Trip to Morocco.