Morocco Through Its Crafts

Across 12 nights the route runs from Casablanca to Fez, into the Atlas, out to Essaouira and down to Marrakech, and each day centres on a craft taught by the people who practise it. The qalam in the hand of a master calligrapher in Fez, a loom in a Berber village with the foundation that supports its weavers, and Yves Saint Laurent's haute couture archive in Marrakech.

Length: 12 nights
Pace: Five stays
Style: Crafts, culture, workshops, private guided
Route: Casablanca to Fez to The Atlas Mountains to Essaouira to Marrakech

CasablancaOne night
FezThree nights
The Atlas MountainsTwo nights
EssaouiraTwo nights
MarrakechFour nights

The Atlantic breaking in the foreground, with the minaret of the Hassan II Mosque on the shore beyond.

Days 1 to 2 · one night

Casablanca

Met on arrival and driven into the city for a first night by the Atlantic. If time allows, the hotel's own tour of Casablanca's new craft scene, through artisan workshops, studios and designers' boutiques, or the Art Deco centre and the Hassan II Mosque.

Where you stay

Royal Mansour Casablanca

Royal Mansour Casablanca occupies a 1950s landmark by Emile Duhon on avenue des Forces Armées Royales, close to the port and the Art Deco centre. Its 149 rooms and suites sit above a two-floor spa with a traditional hammam, and the upper floors look out over the white city.

Rows of round stone dye vats in a tannery, surrounded by the pale buildings of Fez.

Days 2 to 5 · three nights

Fez

Time with the city's mosaic and tile makers, its leather workers and dyers, and a walk through the thousand-year-old medina with a guide. At the riad, a lesson in Arabic calligraphy with a master calligrapher, learning to hold the qalam, and a cooking class that starts in the souk. A free day in Fez, or out to Volubilis, Moulay Idriss and Meknes, with a private guided walk through the Roman ruins and a guided wine tasting and lunch at Chateau Roslane, an estate near Meknes.

Where you stay

Riad Fès

Riad Fès is a 14th-century palace in the old city of Fez, once a family home and since restored. There is a 14-metre pool, a spa by Cinq Mondes, the Gayza restaurant and bar, and a rooftop bar looking across the city.

Days 5 to 7 · two nights

The Atlas Mountains

South by way of Rabat, then up into the mountains for Berber villages and markets and hiking. The Eve Branson Foundation arranges visits to its craft programmes, with a walk through an old Berber village and a turn at the loom, alongside a visit to a women's weaving cooperative.

Where you stay

Kasbah Tamadot

Kasbah Tamadot sits at the top of a valley near the Berber village of Asni, an hour's drive from Marrakech, looking up to Mount Toubkal. Its 37 rooms, riads, tents and suites are furnished with Moroccan pieces and antiques, and there are two restaurants, a spa, a pool and tennis courts.

A square stone sea tower above a harbour packed with blue fishing boats.

Days 7 to 9 · two nights

Essaouira

A pottery workshop before leaving the mountains, and a stop at an argan oil producer on the road to the coast. In Essaouira, an afternoon with a master wood craftsman, and a cooking course at the riad.

Where you stay

Heure Bleue Palais

Heure Bleue Palais is a riad in the heart of the Essaouira medina, on rue Ibn Battouta, with just 33 rooms and suites. The roof terrace holds a pool and SAMA, its restaurant, looking over the old city at sunset, and below there is a spa and the Salon Anglais.

Days 9 to 13 · four nights

Marrakech

The medina, souks, gardens and Djemaa el-Fna, then a run of workshops: medicinal herbs, stucco, dyeing and weaving, kaftan-making, and a choice of mosaics or perfume. A morning at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent, where Studio KO's brick building holds more than 5,000 haute couture garments and every collection from 1962 to 2002, and the Jardin Majorelle beside it. On request, an afternoon in private artisan studios rarely open to the public.

Where you stay

La Mamounia

La Mamounia has welcomed guests in Marrakech since 1923, in gardens of roses, orange, olive and palm trees. There are 135 rooms, 71 suites and three riads, with four restaurants, four bars and two tea rooms, a spa with hammams, pools, a games room and tennis courts.

Arranged on request

Calligraphy with a master in Fez

At Riad Fès, a lesson in Arabic calligraphy with a master calligrapher, learning to handle the qalam.

The weavers of the High Atlas

The Eve Branson Foundation arranges visits from Kasbah Tamadot to its craft programmes, a walk through an old Berber village and a chance to weave alongside the artisans.

Casablanca's new craft scene

Royal Mansour Casablanca's concierges lead a shopping tour of the city's artisan shops, studios, concept stores and designers' boutiques.

The Yves Saint Laurent archive

The museum in Marrakech holds more than 5,000 haute couture garments, every complete collection from 1962 to 2002, with sketches and atelier worksheets; around 50 pieces are on show at a time.

The private studios of Marrakech

After a morning at the Jardin Majorelle, an afternoon can be arranged in private artisan studios that are rarely open to the public.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A camel ride and dinner under the night sky in the Agafay Desert, outside Marrakech.
A night in the Sahara, reached by helicopter from Marrakech, with a camel ride at sunset.
A further night in Fez, for the ramparts by horse-drawn carriage and a picnic on the heights above the city.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.