12 Days Tour from Casablanca | Self Guided Tours from Casablanca

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Morocco is a beautiful country with very diverse landscapes. There are loads of paid-for Morocco tours from all over the country however, it’s also easy to build your own Morocco tour, and we’re here to give you one! This 12 days tour from Casablanca is the perfect trip in Morocco, giving you a taste of all sides of Morocco. Not to mention, flying into Casablanca eases the culture shock.

It’s easy to adapt this Morocco itinerary to fit your needs, by cutting off places that just aren’t on your bucket list or shortening your time in some places. Shortening your stay in places like Merzouga, or Chefchaouen can easily make this a 10 days tour from Casablanca. Depending on your flights in and out of Morocco, you could also cut off days in Marrakech and Casablanca.

If you have more time and are looking for say a 15 days tour from Casablanca, we recommend adding a trip up to Tangier. This is done by leaving Casablanca by train to Tangier, spending a couple of days there, and then taking a bus from Tangier to Chefchaouen.

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This is the Todra Gorge

We recommend using AirBnB to book all your stays. With our accommodation experiences in Morocco, AirBnB was the best, as you didn’t have to deal with negotiating prices, card machines not working, or surprise extra charges from hosts upon arrival.

12 Days Tour from Casablanca Quick View

Below is a quick outline of your 12 days tour from Casablanca.

Day 1 | Arrive in Casablanca

Day 2 | Explore Casablanca

Day 3 | Travel Casablanca to Chefchaouen 

Day 4 | Chefchaouen + Sunset Hike 

Day 5 | AM Bus to Fez + Explore Fez + Overnight Bus to Merzouga 

Day 6 | Arrive in Merzouga and Go Straight to A Camel Trek

Day 7 | Enjoy the Sahara Desert + Merzouga

Day 8 | 7:00 am Bus to Tinghir

Day 9 | Todra Gorge

Day 10 | 9:00 AM Bus to Marrakech

Day 11 | Explore Marrakech

Day 12 | Fly out of Marrakech

12 Days Tour from Casablanca in Detail

Day 1 + 2  | Arrive and Explore Casablanca

Flying into Casablanca is a great ease into the culture shock and scams of Morocco. Casablanca offers a softer landing point into the country and a space that’s not as bombarded with tourists as Marrakech. Highlights of Casablanca include the waterfront and the large mosque, Hassan II Mosque.

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | AirBnB in Casablanca for night one & two | Book before arrival

Transportation | Supratours bus tickets from Fez to Merzouga for day 5 and Merzouga to Tinghir (Todra Gorge) on day 8 | Book upon arrival to Casablanca at a SupraTours bus station.

Day 3 | Travel Casablanca to Chefchaouen

Today is a travel day from Casablanca to Chefchaouen, the blue city of Morocco. CTM offers a direct bus trip from Casablanca to Chefchaouen daily. It’s a 6.5-hour bus ride, so this will take up most of your day. Check the CTM website for up to date times for bus journeys, or check out Rome2Rio for other options on getting to Chefchaouen.

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | AirBnB in Chefchaouen for night 3 & 4  | Book before arrival

Transportation | CTM bus trip from Casablanca to Chefchaouen for day 3 | Can be booked before arrival here.

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Chefchaouen, Morocco’s Blue City.

Day 4 | Explore Chefchaouen + Sunset Hike

Visiting Chefchaouen, the Blue City of Morocco, is on many people’s bucket lists. It really is as blue as it’s portrayed to be in all the photos! It’s a really pretty and village and something so strange to witness! Fair warning here though, Chefchaouen can be quite touristy. Be sure to take some time and explore the alleys that aren’t covered in touristy shops!

Don’t miss the sunset up at the Spanish Mosque on the hill. While we had a medical emergency and didn’t get to experience this, it’s meant to be really nice!

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This was the view from our accommodation! Really pretty place!

READ MORE | Chefchaouen, The Blue City of Morocco

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | already booked from the night before

Transportation | CTM bus trip from Chefchaouen to Fez for day 5 | Can be booked before arrival here.

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I really is all this blue in Chefchaouen!

Day 5 | Bus to Fez, Explore Fez, + Overnight Bus from Fez to Merzouga

There are a couple of buses from Chefchaouen to Fez for you to choose from. If you really like Chefchaouen, then take the afternoon bus, you simply need to arrive before your night bus leaves in Fez. Though, since we don’t recommend staying the night in Fez, you may want to take the morning bus to Fez, so you have a few hours at least to wander through Fez and maybe even join in on a walking tour Fes!

Definitely grab some food in Fez and maybe even check out one of the tanneries! We only had about three hours in Fez, and we felt that was kind of rushed, but worth the rush to spend more time in places outside of the city.

READ MORE | 3 Hours in Fez

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | none needed for tonight, as you’re on an overnight bus

Transportation | SupraTours bus from Fez to Merzouga. Should be booked day one upon arrival to Morocco as they do not have an online site.

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Day 6 | Arrive in Merzouga and Go Straight to A Camel Trek

Your overnight bus to Merzouga will arrive in the desert in the early morning. This is perfect, as it will give you plenty of time to grab some breakfast and find a camel trekking tour that best suits your needs if you haven’t booked one already.

Be sure to look into what kind of tour you’re doing, as there is a luxury Sahara Desert tour that offers hot showers in the desert or simpler more traditional Berber tours.

We opted for the more relaxed camel trek, and while it was far from luxury, it was everything and more that we had dreamed of.

READ MORE | Our Dream Come True Camel Riding in the Sahara Desert

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | Camel Tour for night 6 | can be booked online before arrival or last-minute upon arrival to Merzouga.

Transportation | camels are the only transportation you’ll need today!

Day 7 | Enjoy the Sahara Desert + Merzouga

You’ll get back to Merzouga in the morning, and, after an amazing night in the Sahara Desert, you’ll want to spend more time on the sand! Spend the day in Merzouga, shopping or joining in on other desert day trips, like riding dune buggies around the Merzouga desert.

Alternatively, you can just hike around the dunes yourself. Be sure to have lunch or even just some Morrocan tea at one of the rooftop restaurants overlooking the desert! And, don’t miss hiking up Merzouga Dune, Erg Chebbi, for the sunset!

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Sahara Desert Sands.

SEE MORE | 30 Photos from the Sahara Desert

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | Merzouga for night 7 | Book before arrival

Transportation | SupraTours bus from Merzouga to Tinghir for day 8, if not booked on day one | Book at Supratours station. We recommended having already booked this bus on day one.

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Sunset in the desert is to die for!

Day 8 | 7:00 am Bus to Tinghir

The drive from the desert to Marrakech is over 12 hours. So when we were looking at this trip ourselves, we knew we wanted to break up the drive. The Todra Gorge was an unbelievable place to do this, and now we recommend visiting the Todra Gorge to everyone.

Tinghir is the bus location for getting to the Todra Gorge. Ask people on the bus before arriving if they are getting off in Tinghir to visit the Todra Gorge. This way, you can all get off the bus together and get a better rate for a taxi ride to your stay in the Todra Gorge.

{Traveler’s Tip…Be sure to give your taxi driver the name/address of your actual accommodation, or a shop nearby, as they will instead try to drive you all the way into the actual gorge, and then try and charge you more to drop you back off at your accommodation.}

LEARN MORE | Why You Should Visit the Todra Gorge

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | Todra Gorge for nights 8 & 9 | Book before arrival

Transportation | pre-booked SupraTours bus from Merzouga to Tinghir & taxi on arrival to Tinghir up to Todra Gorge accommodation and book your Surpratours bus ticket from Tinghir to Marrakech upon arrival to Tinghir. This will be for day 10, two days after your arrival in Tinghir.

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Stunning view all around in the Todra Gorge!

Day 9 | Todra Gorge

This day makes me so excited for you just writing this. You have the entire day to just relax in one of the most remarkable places we visited in Morocco. Ask your host about the walking trail that goes through the valley, and get lost in the midst of the locals doing laundry in the river and harvesting their crops!

Be sure to check out the Kasbahs in the area as well! They’re old mudhouses that are now in ruins!

Today is full of just a true understanding of life in Morocco and is a perfect escape to the tourism found in so many other areas of the county.

WATCH MORE | Tour the Todra Gorge Video Style

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | none, same as night 8 | Booked before arrival

Transportation | none pre-booked, although you can take the local bus up to the gorge if you prefer not to walk.

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Kasbahs are old homes in Morocco made from mud and natural resources.

Day 10 | 9:00 AM Bus to Marrakech

While this is a long day on the bus, nearly 10 hours, the day is full of wonderful views! You’ll be taking the bus right through the Atlas Mountains and get to stop in what seems like random villages for a snack and bathroom break on the way.

A popular addition to your day here is to stop in Ouarzazate for Morocco’s Hollywood scene and at the Kasbahs at Ait Ben Haddou. Although, unless you’re really into movies we don’t recommend making this extra stop, and, as far as the kasbahs go, you’ll see better not at all touristy ones in the Todra Gorge, so give that a pass too!

If you’re not too tired upon arrival to Marrakech, head to the medina. If you’re feeling tired, we recommend saving this for tomorrow, as it takes a lot of energy and focus on your belongings to make sure nothing gets stolen!

Bookings Today //

Accommodation | Marrakech Riad nights 10 & 11 | Booked before arrival

Transportation | book your SupraTours bus from Tinghir to Marrakech upon arrival to Tinghir on day 8

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Riads with rooftops offer great views of the Atlas Mountains.

Day 11 + 12 | Explore Marrakech + Fly Out

Finally having a full day in one of Morocco’s four imperial cities, Marrakech. With this stop at the end of your Morocco itinerary, you’ll already be well prepared for the many scams of Marrakech! Your skin will be tougher, meaning you’ll enjoy your time in the city a bit more! Enjoy a full day in Marrakech and then however much time you have the day you fly out to explore a bit more. Read about our recommendations for Marrakech below.

READ MORE | Things to do in Marrakech

SEE MORE | The Beauty of Marrakech

LEARN MORE | Don’t Visit Marrakech without Learning of These 15 Things!

Marrakech night market, Medina, arboursabroad
The medina at night is quite a crazy thing to experience in Marrakech.

Cheapest Way to Fly to Casablanca

Looking at flights to Morocco can turn anyone away from visiting this north-African country. It’s insane how expensive flights to Morocco can be, but equally as surprising how cheap they can be as well.

When planning a trip to Morocco, the cheapest way to fly to Morocco is actually an indirect flight. We suggest booking round trip tickets to a place like Lisbon, Portugal, or Madrid, Spain. Then, fly with budget airlines to and from Morocco back to the destination you bought your round trip to. Honestly, you can get really cheap tickets to Morocco on budget airlines from most places in Europe and the UK.

Besides the loads you’ll save on tickets, you’ll also save a ton of time. Morocco is a large country, and the best way to see all of Morocco is by flying into one town and out of another. When booking with budget airlines, it’s much easier and cheaper to find separate flights in and out of different locations, as opposed to purchasing multi-destination tickets.

Hello, this exact itinerary is flying into Casablanca, and out of Marrakech, we wouldn’t make you spend thousands of extra dollars on multi city flights without giving you a cheaper option!

  

Morocco Itinerary Travel Tips

  • Always lock your bags. Always.
  • Stay flexible, it’s Morocco after all and everything doesn’t always go as planned.
  • We said it above; however, we’ll say it again… read these 15 scams of Marrakech, so you know what to avoid and don’t get scammed yourself!
  • The currency in Morocco is the dirham. It’s about 10 dirhams to 1 USD (in 2020).
  • French is spoken by a lot of Moroccans, as is English, but Arabic is the national language.
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Best Time to Visit Morocco

  • Summer Months | The summer is extremely hot. We do not recommend visiting Morocco in the summer months, as it will be too hot for many people.
  • Winter | Winter is technically the off-season in Morocco, we reckon it’s due to the freezing temps. We visited Morocco in December and had a really nice time. It’s quieter and grants much more flexibility in schedules. Prices are also cheaper — except for over New Years. New Years is a very popular time to visit Morocco despite the freezing night time temps.
  • Fall and Spring | These are the prime times to visit Morocco temperature-wise. However, keep in mind that there will be many more people visiting and that not only causes higher prices for things like accommodation and transportation, but it also means you must be more prepared and book most everything in advance.

What to Pack for Morocco

Our favorite backpack is a great bag to bring to Morocco. It keeps your belongings safe with the “lockable” features and waterproof shell, and is small enough to bring with you on the buses and trains instead of having to put it underneath where you can’t see it!

Peace of mind with keeping our money safe is important. This fanny pack is the one we use and love, as it’s RFID protected, is lockable, and has a slash-proof belt.

If you’re a woman planning a trip to Morocco, dresses like these are a good idea to bring. Morocco is a Muslim country, so you need to respect their culture and cover-up! 🙂

When traveling in Morocco with a camera, this safety strap is perfect! It ensures your camera cannot be stolen or knocked out of your hand while carrying it. Trust us, people intentionally were trying to knock our camera out of our hand, you really want this camera strap!

More Travel Tips on Morocco

READ MORE | 3 Days in Marrakech

READ MORE | 15 Scams in Marrakech

WATCH MORE | Moroccan Playlist — all our videos from Morocco

SEE MORE | 30 Pictures of the Sahara Desert

READ MORE | Chefchaouen, Visiting the Blue City of Morocco

LEARN MORE | All Our Morocco Posts in One Place

READ MORE | Visiting Morocco in December

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