8-Day Family Morocco Tour from Casablanca: Imperial Cities & Sahara

The family is met at Mohammed V Airport, or at your accommodation in Casablanca, by your driver-guide, who helps with the luggage and children's seats.

Your first visit is the Hassan II Mosque, whose huge prayer hall and sliding roof impress young and old alike. Guided visits take about an hour and run at set times, so we plan the day around your arrival.

Then you drive an hour north to Rabat, where you see the Hassan Tower, the royal mausoleum with its guards on horseback and the blue lanes of the Kasbah of the Udayas, today or next morning.

The road north leaves the coast and crosses the Gharb plain, one of Morocco's main farming regions, before rising into the foothills of the Rif. Around Ouazzane the slopes are covered in olive trees, and roadside stalls sell the local oil.

The last hour winds through the mountains until Chefchaouen appears, a cluster of blue and white houses below two peaks that give the town its name, 'look at the horns'. After checking in you set out on foot. Every lane is washed in a different shade of blue, with flower pots on the steps and cats asleep in the doorways.

You visit the main square, Outa el Hammam, with its red-walled kasbah and the Great Mosque's octagonal minaret, and walk up to the Ras el Ma spring. For sunset, a fifteen-minute path leads to the Spanish Mosque on the hill opposite, the best view over the town.

Children enjoy today's Roman adventure. After leaving the Rif, the family explores Volubilis, where they can hunt for mosaics of animals and gods on the floors of ancient houses and walk under a real triumphal arch.

Moulay Idriss, a white town on two hills, comes next, then Meknes for lunch and a look at the huge gate of Bab Mansour and the royal granaries, big enough to impress any child.

You reach Fes in the late afternoon, with the evening free to settle into your riad.

Fes is an adventure for children: a city of lanes too narrow for cars, where donkeys carry the shopping. With a licensed guide who knows how to keep young visitors interested, the family enters through the blue gate of Bab Boujloud.

You see craftsmen at work in tiny workshops, a madrasa decorated like a jewel box, the coppersmiths hammering in Seffarine square and the tanneries from a terrace above, where everyone gets a sprig of mint to sniff. The guide adapts the pace and the route to the children.

After lunch a short drive leads to the Royal Palace gates and a pottery workshop where children can watch tiles being cut, then to a viewpoint over the city. Spend the afternoon at your own pace.

A long but varied day for the family. In the Middle Atlas, children enjoy meeting the Barbary macaques in the cedar forest near Ifrane, and there are regular breaks along the way.

After lunch in Midelt the road follows the Ziz gorges, and a viewpoint shows the long green valley of palm trees, a good place to stretch legs.

Beyond Erfoud the dunes appear. In Merzouga the family rides camels into Erg Chebbi for sunset, followed by dinner, music and a night in the desert.

Early risers can watch the sunrise and slide down the dunes before breakfast. Then the family returns to Merzouga by camel or 4x4.

Driving west, you stop in Rissani, where children love the donkey park next to the souk on market days. The road then crosses a plain of round mounds, the openings of old underground canals that once watered the oases.

Todra Gorge is a great place for a family walk: shady, cool and with a stream to paddle in. After the walk you continue to the Dades Valley for dinner and the night.

Today the family drives from the Dades to Marrakech, with plenty of stops. In Kalaat M'Gouna everyone can smell the rosewater at a cooperative.

At Ait Ben Haddou, children love crossing the river and climbing through the ksar, which looks like a huge sandcastle. Lunch is nearby.

In the afternoon you cross the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with breaks at the viewpoints, and reach Marrakech in the early evening.

The last morning is a guided visit of Marrakech with a professional local guide, planned around your flight. You see the Koutoubia, the landmark of the city, and the Bahia Palace with its courtyards and orange trees.

Then the family walks through the souks to Jemaa el-Fna, where children enjoy the snake charmers and musicians. With an evening flight, there is time for lunch and an extra visit.

At the agreed time your driver takes you to Marrakech Menara Airport. For early flights, the transfer goes straight from your riad, and the city tour can be done the day before.