Morocco in 10 Days: Marrakech to the Sahara

Morocco is close enough to Europe to feel accessible and different enough to feel like a genuine journey, which is exactly why so many ten-day itineraries try to do fourteen days of driving inside them. The route below is built the other way round — around the driving hours first, then the sights. It covers the two great imperial cities, the Atlas, the blue town and a night in the dunes, and it leaves one full day deliberately empty.

The shape of the trip, and why it runs this way

Morocco's headline sights sit at the corners of a large country. Marrakech and Fes are roughly five hours apart even on the fast road. Chefchaouen is another four hours north of Fes. Erg Chebbi, the Sahara dune field most people picture, is eight to ten hours east of Marrakech over the High Atlas. You cannot see all of that in ten days without turning the holiday into a driving tour.

So this route makes one deliberate cut. It runs Marrakech, the Atlas and the Sahara as one loop, then Fes, then Chefchaouen, and flies out of Fes rather than doubling back. Open-jaw flights into Marrakech and out of Fes cost little more than a return and save an entire day of backtracking.

Two other structural notes. First, the Sahara loop is genuinely two long driving days each way — anyone selling it as a comfortable overnight is compressing something. Second, Morocco's train network between Casablanca, Rabat, Fes and Marrakech is good, and the high-speed line north of Casablanca is excellent, so where the route can use rail instead of road it does.

The ten days, hour by hour

Days 1–2 · Marrakech

Arrive and do nothing on the first afternoon except find your riad and drink mint tea on the roof. The medina is disorienting by design and a jetlagged first walk through it is not the introduction you want.

Day two properly: the Bahia Palace early before the coach groups, the Saadian Tombs, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, and Le Jardin Secret for the quiet. Late afternoon in the Jardin Majorelle if you have pre-booked — it now sells timed entry and walk-ups routinely fail. Evening at Jemaa el-Fnaa as the food stalls assemble, which is the single best hour in the city.

Stay in a riad inside the medina rather than a hotel in Gueliz. The riad is half the experience and the difference in cost is small.

Day 3 · Marrakech to Dades or Skoura, over the Tizi n'Tichka

Roughly seven hours with stops. The pass over the High Atlas is the drive of the trip — the road has been substantially upgraded in recent years and it is no longer the ordeal it was. Stop at Aït Benhaddou, the fortified ksar you have seen in a dozen films, and eat in Ouarzazate. Overnight in the Dades Valley or at a kasbah in Skoura's palm oasis.

Day 4 · Dades to Merzouga and the dunes

Four to five hours east through the Todra Gorge and the Ziz Valley. You reach the edge of Erg Chebbi mid-afternoon, transfer onto camels or into a 4WD for the hour into the dunes, and sleep in a desert camp. The sunset and the sky after dark are the reason the whole eastward loop exists.

A camp is not a hotel. Even the well-appointed ones are canvas in sand with limited power. Pack accordingly and bring a head torch.

Day 5 · Merzouga to Fes

The long one — seven to eight hours via Midelt and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, where Barbary macaques sit on the roadside. Break it properly at lunch. Arrive in Fes in the evening.

Days 6–7 · Fes

Fes el-Bali is the largest car-free urban area in the world and the oldest continuously functioning medina in the Arab world. It is also the point where a good local guide stops being optional. One day with a licensed guide through the tanneries, the Al-Qarawiyyin complex, the Bou Inania Madrasa and the souks; one day on your own getting lost, which is the correct way to use Fes.

Fes is a working city rather than a tourism showpiece, which makes it harder and more rewarding than Marrakech. Most people who prefer one prefer this one.

Day 8 · Chefchaouen

Four hours north into the Rif. The blue-washed old town is small enough to walk in an afternoon and busy enough by mid-morning that arriving the night before is worth it. Climb to the Spanish Mosque for sunset over the town.

Day 9 · The day you leave empty

Come back to Fes, or stay another night in Chefchaouen, and do nothing on a schedule. Every Morocco itinerary we have ever built has needed this day — because a rug purchase takes three hours and two glasses of tea, because the Atlas pass closed for weather, because somebody got a stomach bug, or simply because ten days of medinas is genuinely tiring and one slow day resets the trip.

People cut this day. They should not.

Day 10 · Fes, and out

Fes–Saïss airport is small and close. Morning souvenir run, late flight.

When to go

Morocco runs a Mediterranean and desert climate, so the limiting factor is heat rather than rain.

• March–May. The best window. The Atlas is green, wildflowers are out, the desert is warm rather than lethal and the cities are comfortable. Peak demand around Easter.
• September–November. The other good window, and generally the quieter of the two. Still warm on the coast, cooling inland.
• June–August. Marrakech, Fes and the Sahara reach temperatures that make sightseeing genuinely unpleasant. Coastal Essaouira and Tangier stay workable. If you must travel then, restructure the trip around the coast and drop the desert.
• December–February. Mild days, cold nights, snow in the High Atlas. Good for the cities and for skiing at Oukaïmeden, poor for a desert camp unless you are properly equipped — night temperatures at Erg Chebbi drop near freezing.

Ramadan moves roughly eleven days earlier each year and changes opening hours, restaurant availability and the rhythm of the day substantially. Many travellers find it a highlight; it is simply better to know before you book than to discover on arrival.

Eating in Morocco, and what to actually order

Moroccan food is one of the great cuisines and it is very easy to eat badly in it, because the tourist restaurants on the main squares have converged on a narrow, tired repertoire.

What to seek out

• Tagine, obviously — but the ones worth eating are the regional variants. Lamb with prunes and almonds, chicken with preserved lemon and olives, or the Berber vegetable tagine cooked slowly over coals rather than gas.
• Couscous on Friday. Couscous is traditionally the Friday family meal after prayers, and Friday is when the good version appears — steamed properly, three times, rather than reconstituted.
• Pastilla — a sweet-savoury pigeon or chicken pie under crackling warqa pastry with cinnamon and icing sugar. Sounds wrong, is extraordinary.
• Tanjia, a Marrakech speciality distinct from tagine: meat slow-cooked in an urn buried in the embers of a hammam furnace. Order it a day ahead.
• Harira, the tomato and lentil soup eaten to break the fast during Ramadan and sold everywhere year-round.
• Street food at Jemaa el-Fnaa — the food stalls that assemble at dusk. Pick a busy one with high turnover.

Practical eating notes

Alcohol is available in hotels, licensed restaurants and supermarkets in the new towns, but not generally in the medinas and not in most traditional restaurants. Mint tea is the social lubricant, poured from height, and is extremely sweet by default — ask for less sugar if you want it.

A cooking class is one of the better half-days you can spend in either Marrakech or Fes, and most start with a market walk that teaches you more about the ingredients than a guided tour of the souk does.

Practical Morocco: money, transport, riads

Entry

Australian passport holders can currently enter Morocco visa-free as tourists for stays up to 90 days, with a passport valid at least six months beyond arrival. Entry rules do change, so confirm against Smartraveller and the Moroccan authorities close to departure rather than relying on any guide, including this one.

Money

The dirham is a closed currency — you cannot buy it before you arrive and you are not supposed to take it out. Withdraw at the airport on arrival. Cash still runs the medina, the souks, the taxis and the tips; cards work in hotels and mid-range restaurants and almost nowhere else in the old cities.

Transport

Trains between Casablanca, Rabat, Fes and Marrakech are comfortable and punctual, and the Al Boraq high-speed line north of Casablanca is genuinely excellent. First class is worth the small premium for a reserved seat. For the Atlas and the Sahara there is no rail — it is a private driver or a group tour, and a private driver for the desert loop is the single best-value upgrade in a Morocco budget.

Self-driving is possible and the main roads are fine, but city driving and parking in Fes or Marrakech is not a good use of a holiday.

Riads

A riad is a traditional house built inward around a courtyard. Staying in one in the medina means arriving by porter cart down lanes no car fits down, which is part of the charm and a genuine consideration if you have heavy luggage or limited mobility. Confirm the walking distance from the nearest vehicle access before booking.

The souk

Bargaining is expected and is a conversation rather than a confrontation. Two things worth knowing: the first price is not an insult, and walking away is a legitimate and respected move. If you genuinely do not want to buy, saying so clearly and moving on works better than polite indefinite engagement.

Unofficial "guides" who attach themselves in the medina and lead you to a shop earn commission on what you spend. A licensed guide booked through your riad costs a modest fixed fee and is a completely different experience.

Photography, etiquette and getting the tone right

Morocco is used to visitors and is generally relaxed about them, but a few habits make the difference between being a guest and being a nuisance.

Photographing people

Ask first, every time. In the souks and at Jemaa el-Fnaa, many performers, water sellers and animal handlers work on the basis of photographs and will expect payment — agree the amount before the shutter, not after, because the argument afterwards is a well-practised routine. In rural areas and the Berber villages, many people simply do not want to be photographed, and a raised camera without a question is read exactly as it would be at home.

Bargaining without the aggravation

The rhythm is: express interest, receive an opening price, name something considerably lower, and converge over tea. It is social rather than adversarial, and the seller is not offended by a low counter. What does cause friction is extended negotiation on something you never intended to buy — if you are not buying, say so early and clearly and move on.

Ramadan and religious sites

Non-Muslims cannot enter most working mosques in Morocco. The significant exception is the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, which runs guided tours. The madrasas — Ben Youssef in Marrakech, Bou Inania in Fes — are former religious colleges and are open to everyone, and are architecturally the best interiors in the country.

Language

Darija — Moroccan Arabic — and Amazigh languages are what people speak, with French widely used in business and tourism and Spanish common in the north. English is common in tourist areas and rare outside them. A handful of Arabic words is received warmly out of all proportion to the effort involved.

Hassle, honestly

Marrakech in particular has a reputation for persistent street approaches, and it is deserved. The workable posture is friendly, brief and unambiguous — a clear "no, thank you" while continuing to walk, rather than stopping to explain. Stopping is read as interest. This is not rudeness; it is the local grammar.

What goes wrong on Morocco trips

Too many cities

Marrakech, Fes, Chefchaouen, Essaouira, Casablanca, Rabat and the Sahara in ten days is a driving holiday with brief sightseeing interruptions. Three bases plus the desert is the workable maximum.

Underestimating the desert drive

Sixteen to twenty hours of driving, round trip, for one night in the dunes. It is worth it — but only if you have accepted that the two travel days are part of the deal rather than a surprise.

Booking the Majorelle on arrival

Timed entry, sells out, and the walk-up queue is a wasted morning. Book it when you book the flights.

Arriving at a riad after dark on day one

Medina navigation is hard in daylight and considerably harder at night with luggage. Ask the riad to arrange a meeting point and a porter — most will, free, if asked in advance.

Assuming a hammam is a spa

A traditional public hammam is a communal scrub, and it is vigorous. Tourist hammams in riads are the gentler version. Both are excellent; they are not the same thing, and turning up at the former expecting the latter is a memorable surprise.

Dressing for the wrong country

Morocco is relaxed by regional standards and there is no dress code for visitors, but covered shoulders and knees attract markedly less attention in the medinas and in smaller towns, for men and women both. This is comfort advice more than anything else.

If you have more than ten days

The additions that repay the extra time, in the order we would add them.

• Essaouira, two nights. Atlantic port town, windswept, walled, with the best seafood in the country and an entirely different pace to the interior. Three hours from Marrakech.
• The Ourika or Imlil valleys, one to two nights. Berber villages an hour from Marrakech, walking country, and the approach to Toubkal — North Africa's highest peak.
• Tangier and the north, two nights. A genuinely Mediterranean, half-Spanish city that has been rebuilt substantially in the past decade, and a natural pair with Chefchaouen.
• A second desert night. One night at Erg Chebbi means you arrive, watch sunset, sleep, watch sunrise and leave. Two nights turns the desert from a photo stop into a place you have actually been.
• Toubkal trek, three to four days. For walkers. Requires a guide and reasonable fitness, and the summit is a serious altitude day at 4,167m.

What we would not add for a first trip: Casablanca, beyond the Hassan II Mosque, which is genuinely extraordinary and worth a half-day on the way through if your flights route that way.

What a Morocco trip actually costs

Morocco spans an enormous range, and unlike the safari countries the variation is driven by accommodation and transport choices rather than by fixed fees. There are no significant national park charges to build around.

The lines that dominate

• International airfare from Australia, routing via a Middle Eastern or European hub, usually into Marrakech or Casablanca. Open-jaw into Marrakech and out of Fes typically costs little more than a return and saves a full day of backtracking.
• Riads. The range is vast — a simple family-run riad and a restored palace riad differ by an order of magnitude and both are legitimate experiences.
• The desert loop. A private driver and vehicle for the four days to Erg Chebbi and back is the single biggest discretionary item, and the one we would spend on first. Group tours to the desert exist at a fraction of the cost and are a completely different experience — sixteen people in a minibus on a fixed schedule.
• Guides. A licensed guide for a day in Fes or Marrakech is a modest fixed fee and transforms both cities.

Where the value is

Food and internal train travel are inexpensive by Australian standards. A first-class train seat between the imperial cities costs a fraction of what the equivalent journey would in Europe, and eating well is cheap almost everywhere.

The false economies are the desert group tour, which turns the best part of the trip into a coach experience, and staying outside the medina to save money, which removes the reason most people came.

Morocco questions, answered

Written and maintained by the Cooee Tours travel team — Brisbane-based travel specialists since 1974. Published 1 August 2026 · Prices and entry rules verified August 2026. Editorial policy