Ancient Cultures of Morocco Tour

What to expect on this itinerary
Handcrafted with Morocco’s most intimate cultural experiences, this one-week tour will lead you from Berber villages to Gnawa backroads and artisanal cities to glasses of mint tea in ancient medinas. Morocco is a melting pot of fascinating cultures, where traditions ring true, and heritage is part of daily life. This is a journey that is defined by the people you meet and the traditions you can experience, from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert.
Customizable Itinerary
Marrakech – Berber Storytelling
Today, you will land in Marrakech and be greeted at the airport by a local guide. It is a short transfer to your centrally located hotel, where you will have time to rest and refresh before gathering your first impressions of the mazy streets. Rather than visit set attractions, today’s Marrakech walk will focus on absorbing the atmosphere. So, you can wander the lively labyrinthine streets and use all your senses to admire what is happening before an evening of sunset colors and Berber traditions on the main square.
What's Included:
Marrakech – Highlights of an Imperial City
Ouarzazate – Exploring Berber Villages
Merzouga – Intimate Experiences
Fes – The Sahara At Sunrise
Fes – Artisanal Culture in Meknes
Fes – Departure
Trip Highlights
- Enjoy intimate experiences with the Gnawa people and feel how their mystical drumming calls on another world
- Discover traditional Berber culture, from listening to storytellers on Djemaa el-Fna to lunch and community involvement in small High Atlas villages
- Marvel at the artisanal culture of Meknes, which is Morocco’s lesser-known imperial city
- Inhale the atmosphere of yesteryear with a journey along the Road of the Thousand Kasbahs, which is an almost mythical landscape that showcases the ancient Saharan culture
- Absorb ancient Islamic heritage and celebrate charming old customs
- Explore fabulous landscapes that hold incredible cultural secrets, including a camel journey into Saharan sand dunes and the mazy streets of Fes
- Immerse yourself in Morocco’s old-world culture, especially in the imperial cities and their souks
- Feel the past by visiting old Saharan caravanserai towns and tanneries that have not changed for over a millennium
Detailed Description
Morocco’s culture is a mixing pot of exotic histories and influences. This cultural melting pot is peaceful and invites visitors to come and explore. This is not a culture that you witness in museums, but one that is omnipresent across Morocco. On this one-week tour, you will immerse yourself in Morocco’s wonderful complexities.
You will begin your Morocco tour with two nights in Marrakech, which is a Berber-dominated city that is packed with souks, vibrant streets, and an immersive atmosphere. Here, you will listen to traditional storytellers, explore millennia of heritage, discover the city’s essential sites, and watch the sunset from a rooftop terrace. From here, it is an easy journey into the High Atlas, where Berber villages offer insight into community and tradition. Following a road of mud-brick kasbahs, you can really experience cultural tradition.
After a night in Ouarzazate, you will reach Merzouga on day four, where the Gnawa people can further your cultural immersion. Through drumming and Sufism, you will experience the culture of these people who came across the Sahara from Sudan as slaves. The following morning, you can experience some desert history. In the Sahara, you will ride a camel and acquaint yourself with the unique landscape. You will fly to Fes the same day, where an Arab and Moorish history will provide a brilliant cultural contrast.
Fes has the greatest of all the medieval centers in Morocco, and with two nights, you can get to know tanneries, cafe culture, and the city’s surprisingly laid-back lifestyle. There will still be time to discover Meknes and Volubilis. You will only have one week in Morocco, but you will experience three very different histories and cultures in addition to the mountains and desert.
Starting Price
$2,600 per person (excluding international flights)
Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.
What's Included
The starting price is based on travel during the low season for a minimum of two travelers staying in shared 3-star accommodations. Please inquire for a custom trip quote based on your travel preferences and travel dates.
Verified Traveler Reviews
Based on 615 reviews
Our 13-day trip to Morocco with Zicasso’s travel company exceeded our expectations and included many wonderful surprises! The quality of the accommodations and tour guides was top-notch, with a private tour in the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca and a private dining experience in Moulay Idriss being particularly moving experiences. And we had an exceptional driver, who made us feel so welcome in his country, but also safe and comfortable throughout our trip.
Each day had the right balance of activity, with a good pace overall. We had time in urban and rural areas; the chance to see all of the expected highlights, but also to spend time with Amazigh families; occasions to eat well, but also stay active, including a memorable hike in the Dadès Gorge.
Zicasso’s travel agent and his team were always on hand with ready answers to any questions, recommendations, and support, including when we briefly needed medical care while traveling. We left feeling we had as much of an authentic experience in Morocco as anyone could in 13 days and highly recommend this travel company to anyone thinking about a trip to this incredible country.
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The trip to Morocco was wonderful. We really had a wide variety of experiences: cities, medinas, Berber villages, gardens, and the Sahara! Zicasso’s travel company was readily available to us throughout to plan the trip. They provided a driver who was with us throughout the trip and he was amazing! By the time the trip was over, we felt as if he were part of the family.
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It was a fantastic trip and Zicasso’s travel specialist was always available, responsive, and great to work with.
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The trip was exactly what we asked for, though in retrospect, we tried to do too much in our 11 days.
Our driver was excellent—very safety-conscious and always on time, so that made the long driving days more tolerable. Zicasso’s travel specialist tried to arrange it to minimize the driving, with interesting stops on the longer travel days, but our determination to get to the Sahara Desert and ride camels pretty much made the long drives unavoidable.
Another thing I'd probably do differently is not stay in the medina of Marrakech. I asked to stay in the medina, but in Marrakesh, the medina has been taken over by motorcycles and that was a huge detraction for us. If you want a truer medina experience, Fes is probably a better bet.
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Our Morocco trip for our party of four in March 2026, planned by Zicasso’s travel specialist, was nothing short of excellent all around. It was completely safe being in Morocco during a tense time in the Middle East, given the Iran conflict. As the travel specialist explained, Morocco is not involved in the conflict and safety was not an issue in this peaceful, friendly country.
The trip was deftly organized in exquisite detail, with every aspect considered, from destinations, experiences, pace, lodgings, restaurant recommendations, guide, driver, vehicle comfort, travel documents, tipping best practices, and more. It was completely turnkey from the moment we were met at the airport through our departure and we couldn't have been taken care of any better.
We thoroughly enjoyed all of the destinations and our guide was very knowledgeable about history, culture, etc. He became a member of our family for the time we were with him and was flexible regarding any requests. Our driver was terrific and expertly maneuvered our vehicle through narrow and sometimes crowded streets, and mountain roads, and we felt completely safe in his hands.
Our experience in the Merzouga Sahara Desert camp was incredible, luxurious, and unforgettable. Our accommodations were four- and five-star riads (grand homes that now function as hotels), and one was more beautiful than the next.
The travel specialist spent substantial time with us on the phone for our initial conversation (at least an hour) and we spoke to him again for an hour and a half about a week before our departure. He was very accessible and communicative. All of our travel documents, including the detailed itinerary, were available via an app so we knew what we were doing every minute of the day, as well as the times and travel distances involved.
This was our second trip planned through Zicasso and we will continue to use them for all of our travel plans. It was simply outstanding and I would highly recommend this travel company to anyone considering Morocco and its other destinations.
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Everything was wonderful. Zicasso's travel specialists arranged a great driver, tour guides, and accommodations
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