7-day imperial cities tour Marrakech

After breakfast, the road climbs into the Middle Atlas. Azrou comes first, ringed by cedar forest where Barbary macaques are, again, hard to miss. It's the largest cedar forest in Morocco, and it's worth getting out of the vehicle for a few minutes even if you already spotted the macaques at Ouzoud.

From Azrou it's on to Ifrane, built in a European alpine style that earned it the nickname the Switzerland of Morocco, and then through Berber villages in the Middle Atlas on the way into Fes for the night. This stretch is part of what makes a 7-day imperial cities tour from Marrakech worth the extra days over a shorter version. The Middle Atlas is a genuine change of scenery before the cities even start.

Breakfast at your riad, then into the old city. The Royal Palace gate marks the line between Fes el-Jdid and the older medina, its brass doors polished to a shine. From there, the walking tour covers the Al Qaraouine mosque and university, generally considered the oldest continuously operating university in the world, the Chouara Tannery, and the Attarine Madrasa, a small but detailed 14th-century building that's easy to walk past if you don't know to look for it.

After lunch, the afternoon is in Fes el-Bali, the UNESCO-listed old medina and the oldest part of the city. It's also where most of the leather goods, metalwork, and other handmade items are sold, and it's easy to lose an hour just wandering the alleys. Early evening is free for a drink in the newer part of town before heading back for the night. For anyone doing a proper Moroccan history tour, this is really the anchor day of the whole week.

The morning is spent in Meknes, one of Morocco's four imperial cities and noticeably quieter than Fes. Bab Mansour, the huge gate into the old city, is the standout stop, along with the Sahrij Souani basin and the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, the sultan who made Meknes his capital in the 17th century.

After the Meknes medina, the tour continues to Volubilis, the best-preserved Roman ruins in Morocco. The city thrived as a Roman provincial capital from the first century AD until Rome with Drew around 285, and it remained inhabited for centuries after that, right up until the 11th century. A short stop follows in Moulay Idriss, a hillside town considered one of the holiest in Morocco, before the drive continues to Rabat for the night, the second stop on this Fes and Rabat exploration leg of the trip. Between the gates of Meknes and the ruins at Volubilis just outside the city, this stretch alone could reasonably be called its own Meknes city tour.

After breakfast, the morning covers Rabat's historic core: the Hassan Tower, an unfinished 12th-century minaret that was meant to crown the largest mosque in the world at the time, and the Kasbah of the Oudayas, an 11th-century fortress with Andalusian gardens inside and views across the Bou Regreg river to Sale.

In the afternoon, the drive continues to Casablanca. The Hassan II Mosque, built on a rocky point over the Atlantic and one of the largest mosques anywhere, is the main stop, followed by Place Mohammed V, the square at the center of the city's government district. The night is in Casablanca.

The route hugs the Atlantic most of the day. First stop is El Jadida, a Portuguese-built port town from 1513 still known by its old name, Mazagan, in places. Oualidia comes next, a lagoon town known for oysters, followed by Safi, historically a fishing and pottery town.

Essaouira is the overnight stop, with free time in the evening to walk the ramparts or find a spot for a drink looking out over the water.

The morning is free to explore Essaouira properly. The old fortified port walls are UNESCO-listed, and the medina is small enough to see on foot without a guide. After lunch, the drive heads back to Marrakech, closing out this 7-day imperial cities tour from Marrakech where it started. Drop-off is at your hotel or another address in the city if you'd rather.