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Highlights of
Morocco
First Class Program
Available Year Round For Groups Only
11 day
Tour
Day
1: Depart USA for Casablanca
Day 2: Arrive in Casablanca
Upon our arrival in Casablanca we will be met by our Pilgrim Tours
escort and assist in our transfer to the hotel. We will have an hour or
two to freshen up before we meet as a group for a short orientation tour
of Casablanca to include the Habous Quarters, the Justice Palace, the
Town Center and the Sea side including the Hassan II Mosque. We will
continue on to our hotel in Casablanca where we will enjoy a welcome
dinner as a group this evening. Dinner and overnight in Casablanca
Day 3: Rabat / Meknes
We depart Casablanca early this morning and travel to Rabat
for an orientation tour to include a visit to Oudaia Kasbah. The most
recent of the imperial capitals, Rabat has less in the way of historic
madrassas and mosques than Fez, Meknes or Marrakech nonetheless
an appealing city, with an attractive medina and Kasbah, a good choice
of restaurants, and a lovely setting on the Oued Bou Regreg. It also
has on of the great monuments of Islam in North Africa, the Tour Hassan,
one of a trio of minarets built by the Almohads (the other two are the
Giralda in Seville and the Koutoubia in Marrakech), as well as a merinid
necropolis outside the city walls. We travel on to Meknes, one of
Morocco’s Imperial Cities where we take dinner and spend the night.
Day 4: Meknes / Volubilis and Moulay Idriss / Fez
Meknes was founded in the 11th century and is a city that
offers unity of style which lends its undeniable charm. Meknes is
further enhanced by the beauty of the surrounding countryside. Meknes
offers fine variety of mosaics and sculptures as well as a wonderful
souk (market) and the old town is listed by UNESCO as a World
Heritage Site. While in Meknes we will visit the Imperial city of
Moulay Ismail with it Gates and Mednia, the Jewish Quarter, Royal
Stables and a visit to the Musee dar Jamai. We continue on to visit the
Roman Ruins of Volubilis. The Roman ruins of Volubilis, stretched out
over 40 hectares, and have some of the most well preserved mosaics of
the Roman world. We then pass by the holy city of Moulay Idriss before
arriving in Fez in time for dinner and overnight.
Day
5: Fez Touring
Fez was founded in 790 AD and
is the religious center of Morocco. The beautiful city of Fez will
dazzle as we view its visual details, haunting sounds and rich aromas.
Among the sites we will visit today are the Medieval Medina, the
elaborate Karaouiyne Mosque, and the colorful Nejjarine Fountain, a
walking tour of the Al-Bali historic quarter, the Bou Inania Medersa and
a local residential college/university. We take dinner and spend the
night in our Fez hotel.
Day 6: Fez – Sefrou – Ifrane – Azrou
Leave Fez and travel to Sefrou. Sefrou, rarely disturbed by
tourists, was once a major center for Morocco’s Jews and its walled
white pedestrian medina is still characterized by their houses with
wooden balconies. The medina is dissected by the River Aggai that
enters the town via a small waterfall above the separate walled ksar.
Beside the Bab Makame, the Cooperative Artisanale offers good quality
handicrafts at very reasonable prices. Travel on to Ifrane.
Ifrane, a short drive northeast from Azrou on the P24, is something of a
shock. Cool and tranquil with manicured lawns and the outward
appearance of a Swiss alpine resort, it seems out of place, particularly
as it is overlooked by the grey hulk of the royal château. Scratch the
surface of the town, however, and you soon realize that few of the
hotels or services quite live up to Swiss standards. The population
appears to be very young and very chic. The celebrated Al Akhawayn
University (where courses are taught in English) is on the edge of town.
Azrou, the impressively clean French-era Place Mohammed V, is bordered
one side by the Hotel Restaurant des Cedres and the Relais Forestier
restaurant. The other side of the square gives onto a small souk. We
take dinner and overnight in our Azrou hotel.
Day 7: Beni-Mellal – Cascades d’Ouzoud / Afourer
Beni-Mellal, on the P24 to Marrakech, is a large market town, offering
several places to stay. The town also marks the frontier proper between
the Gigh and Middle Atlas mountains. Going north towards Khenifra, the
Middle Atlas branch out on their own, and an ever increasing distance
separating the two ranges as the Middle Atlas reaches north. Beni
Mellal is a good stop-over for motorists wishing to visit the Cascades
d’Ouzoud, an impressive waterfall as high as Niagara Falls in North
America off S501, a detour off the main P24. The good road twists up to
the vast Bin el Ouidine reservoir and then on to Azilal, a market town
with a basic hotel, bank and modest restaurants.The Cascades d’Ouzoud is
signposted off to the right about 10km (6 miles) beyond Azilal. From
the road’s end, an easy path snakes through threes to the base of the
falls, passing low-key cafes on the way. There are no restrictions on
swimming; people simply strip off to their bathing costumes and plunge
in. Rock climbing is also popular. There will always be a few visitors
around, but the falls only get busy on weekends and holidays, when
locals head here from Beni Mellal and Marrakech. We return to Afourer
where we spend the night in a family owned hotel the Tazerkount and take
dinner.
Day 8: Afourer – Marrakech
We arrive in Marrakech late morning and check in to our hotel. This
afternoon we visit the great souk and can shop till you drop. Marrakech
is probably the most exotic city in Morocco, for it is the meeting place
of cultures and continents. It was the first capital of united Morocco
in the 11th century and it is where tribesmen from the
so-called Bled El Siba (land of Lawlessness) meet those from the Bled El
Makhzen (land of government). Situated at the geographical center of
the country, it is the first great city north of the Sahara. The souks
are a labyrinth of alleyways hosting the various craftsmen and
artisans. Each trade or craft has its own area with the souks. We
eventually come out into the fabulous Djemma El Fna Square - everything
that you have ever imagined Morocco to be - a true 1001 nights
experience. Sooth sayers, story tellers, snake charmers and even the
occasional tooth puller all abound! As the lights come on over this
exotic square we take a drink on a roof top terrace and just enjoy the
show!!! Back to the hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 9: Marrakech
A whole day today to visit the Red city. Visit the Koutoubia
Mosque, the original of which was destroyed by the Almorvides’
successors, the Almohads, who descended from Tin Mal in the High Atlas
and captured the city in 1147. The Almohads soon built their own
Koutoubia Mosque, but evidence suggests that this may have been wrongly
aligned to Mecca, for a second mosque was completed in 1158 as an
extension of the first. The Kasbah Mosque and the Saadian Tombs
are due south of the Koutoubia, and most easily approached from Bab
Agnaou. The mosque is from the 12th century and is the
second Almohad monument in Marrakech, although practically nothing of
what you see today belongs to the original construction. Rebuilt for
the firs time about 30 years after the Koutoubia, but before Rabat’s
Tour Hassan, it is built from brick rather than stone and is decorated
with tiles that have benefited from much restoration. Next door to
the mosque are the Saadian Tombs, built by Ahmed el Mansour, the second
Saadian sultan, on the site of an older cemetery which was reserved for
descendants of the Prophet. The Saadians emerged from Tamegroute in the
Draa Valley during the 16th century, when Morocco was in
turmoil after the collapse of the Merinids. On a wave of religious
fervor and nationalist sentiment, they swept through the country,
capturing Marrakech in 1524. When the religious leaders of Fez rebuffed
their claims of Sheriffian descent (from the Prophet), they made
Marrakech their capital instead of Fez. Dinner and overnight in
Marrakech.
Day 10: Marrakech – Casablanca
Spend the morning free in Marrakech and in the afternoon we will
drive to Casablanca where you will spend the night. Dinner and
overnight in Casablanca.
Day
11:
Departure from Casablanca
Departure from Casablanca’s Mohamed V International Airport
Price Per Person:
call Pilgrim Tours
800.322.0788
Price Includes: Roundtrip airfare from New York, 9
nights lodging in superior first class and deluxe Moroccan hotels,
breakfast and dinner daily, full time tour escort, all guide entrances
and transportation as appear in itinerary, baggage handling at hotels
(one piece).
Not
Included: Air taxes for international flight, tips to
drivers guides and hotel staff, lunches, optional travel insurance.
Group Leader:
Customize
this tour for your group. Additional nights, stopover in Europe, other
sights; the choice is yours.
Ask about the Optional Extension
to the Canary Islands or Spain.
Call the professional tour
planners at 800 322 0788.
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