2 Weeks in Morocco: Marrakech, the Sahara, Fes and Chefchaouen in Four Bases

The best 2 weeks in Morocco use four beds: Marrakech, Merzouga at the edge of the Sahara, Fes and Chefchaouen. That adds up to 13 nights, four travel days and no one-night stops, so every place gets enough time to settle in, and the desert gets a rest day because you would otherwise arrive and leave in a blur.

The trade-off is what you leave out. Essaouira becomes a day trip from Marrakech, Casablanca becomes a skip, and the Dades Gorges become a stop on the road rather than a bed. If you only have a week, use the 7 days in Morocco itinerary instead. The fares, fees and travel times below were fact-checked against the sources listed at the end in September 2026. Prices can move, so contact your riad or driver to confirm the current figure before you book.

What does the 14-day route look like?

Here is the route at a glance, read as four blocks. Inside each block the story runs the same way. You arrive, see the main sights, eat, take a day trip or one big experience, and only then move on to the next bed. Consider the difference from a checklist route: in Marrakech you unpack once and sleep in the same riad four times, even on the day you ride a bus to the coast.

Days	Base	Nights	The point of the stay
1 to 4	Marrakech	4	Medina, gardens, Essaouira day trip, slow day
5 to 7	Merzouga	3	Atlas crossing, dunes, a rest day
8 to 11	Fes	4	Medina with a guide, Volubilis, food
12 to 14	Chefchaouen	2	Blue lanes, one unplanned day, departure

Days 1 to 4: Marrakech

Your riad is a traditional house built around a courtyard, and most of them sit down alleys too narrow for a car. Save your riad’s map pin before you arrive, because taxis stop at the edge of the medina and the last stretch is on foot. Once you have unpacked, go straight into the souks north of Jemaa el-Fna, the main square. It earns its reputation at sunset, when the food stalls light up.

Day two is the set pieces. Reach Jardin Majorelle at opening time, before the queues; the garden ticket was about 200 dirhams in MoroccoForYou’s 2026 price list. Then take the Bahia Palace and the Ben Youssef Madrasa, with its carved cedar and tilework. Our Marrakech travel guide covers areas and the small scams around the square.

Day three is the day trip, and it shows how a base works: you leave the riad with a day bag and sleep in the same bed that night. Supratours is one of the two bus companies on this road, and CTM is the other, with one departure a day. Supratours runs seven buses a day to Essaouira between 7:45am and 7pm. The journey takes about three hours each way with a comfort stop, and a ticket costs around 140 dirhams (Explore Essaouira). Take an early bus, walk the ramparts, eat grilled fish at the port and check the last bus back when you buy. You return to the same riad, so nothing is repacked.

Blue boats below the Essaouira ramparts.

Day four is deliberately empty, because the next morning starts a long drive. Book a hammam (100 to 300 dirhams) or see the Saadian Tombs (70 dirhams) if you want a target. Otherwise sit in a courtyard with a mint tea until dinner. Read the Moroccan food guide before dinner so you can tell tanjia from pastilla.

Days 5 to 7: Merzouga and the Sahara

Day five is the hardest day of the trip. Marrakech to Merzouga is 9 to 10 hours by car, and Moroccan Insider advises planning two days. The route climbs the Tizi n’Tichka pass and drops to Ait Benhaddou, the mud-brick ksar where Gladiator was filmed. It then passes through Ouarzazate and the Todra Gorge before the dunes. Start at 7am with a private driver, and keep your stops to two.

If that sounds grim, take a night in the Dades Gorges and steal a night from Fes. It works, but it gives you a fifth bed and a shorter stay elsewhere.

Morning light on the Todra Gorge walls.

Day six is the dunes. Erg Chebbi is the dune sea beside Merzouga, and the standard way in is a camel ride of about an hour at sunset, after a rest through the midday heat. A standard camp with dinner, breakfast and the camel ride costs roughly 800 to 1,500 dirhams per person (about $80 to $150). Pack warm layers; desert nights are cold outside summer.

Day seven has no plan. Watch sunrise, have breakfast at the hotel and stay put. This is the reason for the third night: the dunes look different rested, and the next day is long. The Sahara desert guide compares camps in detail.

Days 8 to 11: Fes

Day eight is the drive north, which takes roughly 8 to 9 hours through the Ziz Valley, Midelt and the cedar forests near Ifrane. Eat a proper lunch in Midelt rather than snacking in the car. You then arrive at a riad and stay put for four nights. That is the relief this route is built around, since nothing after this needs a driver until the bus to Chefchaouen.

Fes el-Bali is one of the world’s largest car-free urban areas, with thousands of alleys and unreliable phone reception. Arrange a licensed guide for the first half-day through your riad, because navigating the medina independently on day one is exhausting; three hours costs about 250 to 350 dirhams. See the Chouara Tannery dye pits from a leather-shop terrace and the Al-Attarine Madrasa. Our Fes travel guide has the rest.

Day ten is the day trip to Volubilis, the Roman ruins south of the city, with Moulay Idriss on the same road. Admission has been quoted at 70 to 100 dirhams, and payment cards are unreliable at the entrance, so bring cash. Day eleven is yours: brass souk, the mellah, a long lunch, or a wrong turn.

Days 12 to 14: Chefchaouen

CTM buses take 4 hours 10 minutes to about 5 hours from Fes, with tickets around 80 to 140 dirhams. Arrive by afternoon and climb to the Spanish Mosque for sunset, free and the best view of the trip.

Day thirteen is your last slow day, so leave it open. Walk to Ras el-Maa, sit on Plaza Uta el-Hammam or follow a short trail above town if you get restless. The lanes empty of day-trippers before 10am and after 4pm, which makes those hours the best time for photographs. The Chefchaouen travel guide covers Akchour if you want a hike.

Day fourteen is departure. Take the bus back to Fes, about 4 hours, for a flight home, and leave the morning free for one last mint tea. Check Tangier options if your flight leaves from there.

How do you get between the bases?

No single form of transportation covers this loop, because trains serve only the northern corridor. Instead, you combine a private driver for the desert legs with buses for everything else.

Leg	Best option	Time	Cost
Marrakech to Merzouga	Private driver or 3-day tour	9 to 10 hours	Split between 3 or 4 people
Merzouga to Fes	Private driver	8 to 9 hours	Split between 3 or 4 people
Fes to Chefchaouen	CTM bus	4 hours 10 minutes to 5 hours	80 to 140 dirhams
Marrakech to Essaouira	Supratours bus	About 3 hours	About 140 dirhams

The road-hours maths behind four beds. Add up the sourced times above and the four-base plan puts you in a vehicle for about 25 to 28 hours. That is 9 to 10 to Merzouga, 8 to 9 to Fes, roughly 4 to 5 to Chefchaouen and about 4 back to Fes at the end. The Essaouira day trip adds about 6 more. Over 14 days that averages roughly two hours a day, but almost all of it lands on four travel days. That is why every block ends on a slow day before the next drive, such as day four in Marrakech or day seven at Merzouga. Swap Merzouga for a Dades night and Essaouira for an overnight, and you gain a bed but lose a night of rest at either end, while the road hours stay much the same.

If you have	Change	What you lose
12 days	Cut Fes to 3 nights and Marrakech to 3	The Volubilis day or the slow Marrakech day
14 days	Follow the plan above	Essaouira as an overnight
16 days	Add 2 nights in Essaouira after Marrakech	Nothing, but one more bus day

Because the desert legs are the risk, book them first. Ask your riad or a Marrakech agency for a driver quotation and compare it with a shared tour. A shared tour spreads the same road over three days, so confirm the stops, the group size and the camp type in writing before you pay.

Entry rules depend on your passport. UK passport holders can visit for tourism for up to 90 days without a visa, and the passport must be valid for at least three months after arrival (UK FCDO travel advice). Other nationalities should check their own government’s advice.

ONCF train booking opens three months before departure, up from one month in 2022 (Seat61). Bring dirhams for grand taxis and guesthouses. Grand taxis are shared, with a fixed price per seat, so ask the fare before you get in.

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How much does two weeks in Morocco cost?

Excluding flights, Simbye’s 2026 breakdown gives $700 to $1,000 for budget travellers and $1,120 to $2,100 for mid-range over two weeks. Riads run $25 to $50 a night at budget level and $50 to $120 mid-range. This route pushes towards the top of those ranges because of the private driver and the camp.

As a worked example built from the sourced ranges, a mid-range traveller at Simbye’s $80 to $150 a day spends $1,120 to $2,100 over 14 days. A camp night at 800 to 1,500 dirhams and a Fes guide at 250 to 350 dirhams are small next to the accommodation, so the private driver is the transportation cost to watch. Splitting it between three or four travellers brings it down considerably. However, a solo traveller pays the full driver fee, and a shared tour is then the cheaper alternative.

Roughly 10 dirhams buys a dollar. See the Morocco trip cost guide for city figures.

When is the best time for this route?

March to May and September to November suit this particular route best, because temperatures in the cities are comfortable, the desert is warm without being oppressive, and the mountain passes are generally clear. See when to visit Morocco for the month-by-month picture. Summer pushes Marrakech and the dunes past 40C, which makes the long drives uncomfortable, and winter nights in the dunes are cold enough to need serious layers.

The 14-day route in four bases

• Days 1–4 — Marrakech arrive, settle into a riad, souks, Jemaa el-Fna, gardens and palaces, an Essaouira day trip, a slow hammam day
• Days 5–7 — Merzouga the long road over the Atlas, Ait Benhaddou and Todra Gorge, a night in the dunes, a rest day at the edge of the sand
• Days 8–11 — Fes the long drive north, the medina with a guide, food, Volubilis, a day of getting lost on purpose
• Days 12–14 — Chefchaouen bus into the Rif, the blue medina, sunset at the Spanish Mosque, an unplanned day, departure

1. 01

   Day 1: Arrive in Marrakech

   Settle into a riad, then walk the souks north of Jemaa el-Fna and eat at the square as the stalls open.

   • Jemaa el-Fna
   • Souks

   Overnight: Marrakech

2. 02

   Day 2: Marrakech: gardens, palaces and the madrasa

   Jardin Majorelle at opening time, then Bahia Palace and the Ben Youssef Madrasa.

   • Jardin Majorelle
   • Bahia Palace
   • Ben Youssef Madrasa

   Overnight: Marrakech

3. 03

   Day 3: Day trip to Essaouira

   Supratours bus to the Atlantic coast, ramparts, fishing port and grilled fish, then back to the same riad.

   • Sqala ramparts
   • Fishing port

   Overnight: Marrakech

4. 04

   Day 4: Marrakech: a slow day

   A hammam, the Saadian Tombs or nothing at all, and a last long dinner.

   • Hammam
   • Saadian Tombs

   Overnight: Marrakech

5. 05

   Day 5: Over the High Atlas to Merzouga

   The long driving day: Tizi n'Tichka pass, Ait Benhaddou, Ouarzazate, the Todra Gorge, then the dunes.

   • Tizi n'Tichka
   • Ait Benhaddou
   • Todra Gorge

   Overnight: Merzouga

6. 06

   Day 6: A night in the Erg Chebbi dunes

   Rest through the midday heat, then a late-afternoon camel ride into the sand for sunset, dinner and the stars.

   • Erg Chebbi
   • Desert camp

   Overnight: Merzouga

7. 07

   Day 7: Merzouga: a deliberately slow day

   Sunrise from a dune, a long breakfast, a pool or a walk, and no drive.

   • Erg Chebbi

   Overnight: Merzouga

8. 08

   Day 8: North to Fes

   The travel day: Ziz Valley, Midelt and the cedar forests near Ifrane.

   • Ziz Valley
   • Midelt
   • Ifrane

   Overnight: Fes

9. 09

   Day 9: Fes: the medina with a licensed guide

   A half-day with a guide, then the tanneries and Al-Attarine Madrasa.

   • Chouara Tannery
   • Al-Attarine Madrasa

   Overnight: Fes

10. 10

    Day 10: Fes: food, crafts and the mellah

    Brass souk, the mellah and a long lunch.

    • Brass souk
    • Mellah

    Overnight: Fes

11. 11

    Day 11: Day trip to Volubilis

    Roman mosaics south of the city, with Moulay Idriss on the same road, then back to Fes.

    • Volubilis
    • Moulay Idriss

    Overnight: Fes

12. 12

    Day 12: Fes to Chefchaouen

    CTM bus north into the Rif, then sunset at the Spanish Mosque.

    • Chefchaouen medina
    • Spanish Mosque

    Overnight: Chefchaouen

13. 13

    Day 13: Chefchaouen: an unplanned day

    Ras el-Maa, a rooftop, a short walk above town, or nothing.

    • Ras el-Maa
    • Plaza Uta el-Hammam

    Overnight: Chefchaouen

14. 14

    Day 14: Final morning and departure

    Bus back to Fes (about 4 hours) for a flight home, or check onward options to Tangier if your flight leaves from there.

    • Chefchaouen medina

    Overnight: Chefchaouen

Frequently asked questions

Is 2 weeks enough for Morocco?

Yes, if you accept four beds instead of six. Marrakech, the Sahara, Fes and Chefchaouen fit in 14 days with two genuinely long driving days. Adding Essaouira as an overnight or Casablanca on the way out means dropping a night somewhere else.

Should you travel Morocco by train, bus or grand taxi?

Use all three, plus a driver for the desert. There is no train to Merzouga, so the Marrakech to Merzouga and Merzouga to Fes legs are private driver or shared tour. CTM and Supratours buses cover Essaouira and Chefchaouen, and ONCF trains cover the Marrakech to Casablanca corridor.

How much does a night in a Sahara desert camp cost in 2026?

Roughly 800 to 1,500 dirhams per person (about $80 to $150) for a standard camp with dinner, breakfast and the camel ride, per MoroccoForYou's 2026 figures. Private en-suite tents cost more, and prices rise in peak season.

Do you need a guide in Fes?

For the first half-day, yes. The medina has thousands of alleys and patchy phone signal. A licensed guide arranged through your riad costs about 250 to 350 dirhams for three hours. After that, wander alone.

Can you do this itinerary in reverse?

Yes. Fly into Fes, work south through Chefchaouen, the dunes and end in Marrakech. The travel days are the same length, and Marrakech makes the easier airport for a long-haul flight home.

Useful links (6)

1. Morocco itineraries, Moroccan Insider— moroccaninsider.com
2. Morocco itinerary 2 weeks first time, MoroccoForYou— moroccoforyou.com
3. Train travel in Morocco, The Man in Seat 61— seat61.com
4. Marrakech to Essaouira by Supratours bus, Explore Essaouira— exploreessaouira.com
5. Morocco entry requirements, UK FCDO— gov.uk
6. Morocco trip cost 2026, Simbye— simbye.com

Photo credits

Thank you to said bendlala, Ahmed.magdy and Bjørn Christian Tørrissen for sharing these beautiful photographs and helping bring this guide to life.

Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0