Morocco, the Imperial Cities

Seven nights that follow the capitals of successive dynasties: the coast at Casablanca and Rabat, the gates and mausoleum of Meknès, the medina of Fès and the gardens and square of Marrakech. The journey travels by road as far as Fès and flies on to Marrakech.

Length: Seven nights
Pace: Four stays
Style: Cities, medinas, architecture, gardens
Route: Casablanca to Meknès to Fès to Marrakech

CasablancaTwo nights
MeknèsOne night
FèsTwo nights
MarrakechTwo nights

Days 1 to 3 · two nights

Casablanca

Two nights in Casablanca, with time for the Hassan II Mosque, built between 1986 and 1993, where a Sunday walk is a local habit. A day in Rabat takes in the Kasbah of the Udayas, a whitewashed fortress above the estuary, followed by the Andalusian Garden at sunset. A drive of about 160 miles then leads inland to Meknès.

Where you stay

Hôtel Le Doge

Hôtel Le Doge is a 1930s mansion in the Art Deco district of Casablanca, with 16 rooms and suites, each decorated after a figure of the Art Deco period. It has a Moroccan restaurant, Le Jasmine, and a small spa.

A fortified building with a garden in front of it in Meknes. — Photo: Tomasz Anusiewicz / Unsplash

Days 3 to 4 · one night

Meknès

One night outside Meknès, among vineyards with views of the Middle Atlas. In the imperial city, the 17th-century mausoleum of Sultan Moulay Ismail is partly open to non-Muslims, and Bab el-Mansour is the great gate into the old city. The next drive, of about 42 miles, reaches Fès.

Where you stay

Château Roslane

Château Roslane is a wine estate at El Hajeb, near Meknès, built in Hispano-Moorish style with views of the Middle Atlas. Each room or suite has a balcony or terrace, and there is an organic restaurant, L'Oliveraie, and a spa.

The rooftops of Fez seen from above. — Photo: Matt Dany / Unsplash

Days 4 to 6 · two nights

Fès

Two nights inside the medina of Fès, a maze of lanes with palaces, houses, mosques and walled gardens, best explored slowly on foot. In late spring, May to June, the city holds the Festival of World Sacred Music, worth timing a visit around. A flight of about an hour then reaches Marrakech.

Where you stay

Riad Fès

Riad Fès is a restored palace in the medina, in Hispano-Moorish style, with patios, a swimming pool and a rooftop terrace over the old city. It has a restaurant, Gayza, a bar and a small spa.

Days 6 to 8 · two nights

Marrakech

The last two nights are at the edge of the Marrakech medina. The gardens of the Koutoubia Mosque lie beneath its 12th-century minaret, the mosque itself open only to Muslims, and Jemâa el-Fna square fills with performers and food stalls towards dusk.

Where you stay

La Villa des Orangers

La Villa des Orangers is a restored house at the edge of the medina, near the Koutoubia and Jemâa el-Fna, set behind high walls around patios and citrus gardens. Some rooms open onto a private pool, and there is a restaurant, a rooftop and a spa built around a large hammam.

Ways to make it yours

Béni Mellal, a town at the foot of the Middle Atlas with a 17th-century earthen kasbah, walking and caves.
Telouet, a village in the mountains with the ruins of a Glaoui kasbah.

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.