Today you will spend about three hours exploring this wonderful vibrant city with our city guide. Highlights include the Koutoubia Mosque with its imposing minaret, the Saadian Tombs, which lay hidden for centuries and were only rediscovered in 1917, and the ornate Bahia Palace, one of the most beautiful royal residences from the 19th century. The Menara Garden is also one of the highlights of the tour - a public urban park of about 100 m2, dating back to the 12th century, with a central water basin surrounded by olive tree plantations.

If you still have time in the afternoon or evening, visit Djemaa-el-Fna Square on your own. Storytellers, musicians, jugglers and lots of market stalls with partly very exotic products await you.

Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco and one of the most important economic centers.

After an early breakfast we will visit one of the largest mosques in Africa, the Hassan 11 Mosque, located on the west coast of the city; and then of course the famous Rick's Café. Getting a lunch package, we will drive to the next Africa Journey step.

After a leisurely breakfast we will get to know the so-called religious and cultural capital of the country and the oldest city. We will visit the great royal palace gate and then the famous Al Qaraouine University. The tanneries and the Attarine Museum are on the program as well. After a break for a delicious lunch, we will visit the most exotic and oldest part of the city: Fes El Bali, the walled medina with narrow pedestrian streets and ornate entrance gates, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Fes el Bali is a paradise for local handicrafts with colorful Moroccan styles, leatherwork, metalwork, etc. Dinner and overnight stay in Fez.

Today we will visit Meknes city, the Ismaili capital and one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids as a military settlement, Meknes became the capital of Morocco under the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismaïl (1672–1727), Our visit to this City includes: Bab Al - Mansour , Sahrij Souani basin , the Royal stables, the granary and also the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum. Break time for lunch. Before we drive to Volubilis we will stop in Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, a beautiful panoramic view of Moroccan houses architecture. Overnight in Meknes city in a charming Riad or Hotel.

After breakfast we will pick you up from your hotel in Fés or Mèknes and drive together to Ifran (64 km).

This day we will cross the High Atlas Mountains, the most fascinating and beautiful natural region of Morocco. Ifran is one of the cleanest and unique cities in this region, also called Moroccan Switzerland.

The tour continues through the Ifrane National Park with one of the largest cedar forests in Morocco, home to the endangered Barbary macaques.

If we are lucky, we will encounter this famous monkey species that has migrated as far as Gibraltar. Here feeding is allowed, but still caution is advised.

Today we will take a dune "hike" by 4×4 around the Erg Chebbi dunes, a populated desert region of sand. You'll learn how and where nomadic families live in this area.  We will stop in Khamelia, a village where the inhabitants are mostly from Mali and Senega - the Gnawa. We will enjoy together their famous Gnawa music with a local delicious glass of tea, and learn more about their culture and ancient traditions. Afterwards we will continue to Mefiss, a place where Berbers have been extracting eyeliner coal from the mountains for many years, but where French army also lived during the colonial period. At noon we will visit a local restaurant specializing in Berber pizza.

If you are interested in German art, we will make a detour to the imposing monuments of the German artist Hannsjörg Voth, built in an incredibly wide plain during a twenty-year construction period at the end of the last century.

Departure from Marrakech in the morning at about 9:00. We pass interesting sights, like goats on trees. Photo stops can be made at any time. Arrived in Essaouira (after about 2 hours) you will first move into your accommodation (probably a riad in the old medina). The afternoon and evening are at your leisure.

If you let your eyes wander over the sea on the old Portuguese fortress, you will discover them: The Purple Islands. These islets, off the coast of the small harbor town of Essaouira, or formerly Mogador, got their name because the Phoenicians used to extract the precious dye purple from sea snails here, which was reserved for kings and nobles.

Today we will visit Rabat city, the capital of Morocco. Rabat is one of Morocco's four royal cities, along with Fez, Meknès and Marrakech. The name goes back to an Islamic border fortress (ribat) built by Zanata Berbers in the 10th century at the mouth of the Bou Regreg River. In the 12th century, the Almohads had the ribat expanded into a fortified city (kasbah), which remained an important trading city until the 19th century with and in competition with Salé. We will visit the Medina, the Kasbah of Oudaia and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. Break time for lunch. Overnight in Rabat city in a charming Riad or Hotel.

 Stage 1 - the local open pit mine

In Mefiss we make a first stop. Here Hassan shows us the quarries where even today Eyliner coal is laboriously mined. He told me (Monika) that he himself worked here as a child after his father died at an early age. He gives me such a stone. Shiny and special.

 Stage 2 - La Musée du fossiles et minérales

On we go to the fossils. Incredible what can be found here in this plain. A small museum contains fascinating treasures. Outside we see a whole "turtle family". Some of the fossils are still cut and polished by hand. You can buy beautiful plates, polished coral fossil or snails.