Medinas of Morocco, Small Group Guided Tour of cities - REDISCOVER THE WORLD - MOROCCO

Reservations - All our holidays are tailor-made so please feel free to request any combination of hotels, riads or tours for your own holiday. The minimum reservation for our accommodation only service is 3 nights in total, although not necessarily at same property. Simply contact us by phone or email or complete one of our enquiry forms.

Why Rediscover? - All our reservations staff have worked in Morocco (or visited extensively) and will be more than happy to offer advice and suggestions on any of our featured destinations, tours and properties.

Prices - our prices are similar to or quite often cheaper than our internet competitors or booking directly and significantly cheaper than those producing expensive brochures whilst our service, knowledge and after sales care is second to none.

Security - Rediscover the World is a member of the TTA (T6816), we also hold our own ATOL bond (T7172). We therefore provide full financial security and assistance should any part of your holiday not happen entirely to plan. If you were to assemble your holiday yourself you may not have this sort of protection.


Day 1		Arrival and transfer to hotel – Casablanca.
		You will be met on arrival at Casablanca airport and transferred to your hotel. After checking in, and depending on your time of arrival, you have the remainder of the day free in this bustling commercial capital of the Kingdom of Morocco. Dinner and overnight in Casablanca.

Day 2		Casablanca – Rabat – Volubilis – Fez
		After breakfast we visit the Hassan II Mosque, the largest Mosque outside of Mecca. On for 1½ hours alongside the Atlantic Ocean to Rabat, here we visit the main monuments, including the Hassan Tower and the Mohamed V Mausoleum where Hassan II is also buried alongside his father; the Kasbah of the Oudayas and the Oudaya Gate. We stop for a light lunch at Le Restaurant Saadi before setting out on our 3 hours’ drive eastwards across the plains to Fes. Our day’s excursion to 2,000 years in the continues when we drive across the Saiss Plain to the wonderful Roman ruins at Volubilis, the Volubilis of really ancient olive presses, mansions, incredible mosaics, monumental arches and Corinthian columns where you’ll have a real sense of Roman lifestyle and of that of a subsequent medieval Berber town. The site contains the Mansion containing the mosaic of the Labours of Hercules, the Baths of Gallienus and Baths of Forum with their fragmentary mosaics; the House of Orpheus and its Dolphin mosaic and Orpheus Myth; the Cortege of Venus many of whose mosaics we may only see from the outside yet will get to see the medallions of Bacchus, Diana and the Abduction of Hylas; the Gordian Palace with its bath house and pooled courtyards; the House of the Wild Beast, the House of Nymphs, the House of the Seasons, the House of Flavius Germanus, the Knights House with an incomplete mosaic of Dionysus Discovering Ariadne Asleep, the Triumphal Arch, the Capitol and the House of Ephebus with its pictorial mosaics, especially that of Bacchus Being drawn in a Chariot by Panthers. Dinner and overnight in Fez.



Day 3		Fez
		A full day in Fez starting with a city tour, with time to explore what some people regard as the finest living example of a Mediaeval Arab city. Visit the 9th Century Karouine Mosque, the Medersas and the narrow winding alleys making up the souk; not forgetting the tanneries. We make for the impressive Dar el Makhzen and a 15 minute stop at the Royal Palace with its magnificent seven bronze gates. From here we walk to and through the Mellah with its intense atmosphere and fine examples of Mauro-Hispanic architecture. We drive to the Borj Sud, here to take in the panoramic view of the Medina. Off now down to start our Walking Tour of the labyrinth of the ancient Fes Medina (a UNESCO World Heritage Site); of the colourful es-Sebbaghine with its Street of the Dyers; of the brass workers at es-Seffarine , of the aromas of the Souq el-Atterine area of spices and groceries; of the impressive al-Quarawiyyin Mosque and University, the el-Atterine Medersa; the Kissaria and the Draz, where you’ll see materials being woven the traditional way on really old-fashioned looms; the renowned Tanneries on the bank of the Oued Fes and the delightful el-Nejjarine Square with its fountain and caravanserai and thence on to the potteries, perfumes and beauty products at the Souq el-Henna. Light lunch in a local restaurant. Leaving the Medina from the Bab Boujloud, we arrive back at our hotel after a day full of contrasting culture and journey into some 1,200 years of history. Dinner and overnight in Fez.



Day 4		Fez – Meknes – Beni Mellal
		On, now, to the Imperial City of Meknes (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Here we shall visit the easily most beautiful Bab, or gateway, in all of the Maghreb -the Bab Mansour. From here to the El Heri es-Souani - the granary of huge vaulted structures and stables built by Moulay Ismail’s soldiers next to a pool fed by underground channels that brought fresh water all the way from the distant Middle Atlas Mountains; the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum and the Place el-Hedim to see the famous State-owned stallion stables of Haras where these Arabo-Berber horses are bred. Time for lunch at the Belle Vue Restaurant before leaving Meknes. In the afternoon we drive into the Atlas Mountains to Azrou, famous for its wood carvings. Azrou - in the local Tamazight (Berber) dialect means “rock,” for next to the mosque is the massive outcrop from which this town takes its name - was for a long time a strategic settlement established to effect some form of control of the independent mountain Berber peoples. We then continue through the fruit growing area of Beni Mellal to our overnight hotel in Afrour.



Day 5		Beni Mellal – Marrakech
		A morning drive to Marrakech with the rest of the day at leisure. Dinner and overnight in Marrakech.

Day 6		Marrakech
		Full day visit of Marrakech - morning city tour of historic sights, including 16th C. Saadian Tombs, 12th C. Koutoubia Mosque, 19th C. Bahia Palace (subject to Royal Family not being in residence) and the magnificent Menara Gardens. Once we have visited the famous historic monuments and taken lunch in a local restaurant we set off through the labyrinth of narrow alleyways making up the renowned cool, colourful and aromatic Souqs of Marrakech - the Dyers’ Souq being the last to be visited - then we arrive at the Djmaa El Fna Square (the ‘Assembly of the Dead’), where, until the 19th century, were traditionally displayed the severed heads of criminals - the tour finishes as you would expect at the high point of any Marrakech visit in the incredible live entertainment and street food heaven that is the Djemma el Fna. Dinner and overnight in Marrakech.

Day 7		Marrakech
		Transfer to airport for flight home or to resort hotel for 2^nd week.