Dates: October 10 - 19, 2025

Duration: 10 days / 9 nights

Number of participants: 8 – 12

Cost per person:

• 5 650 EUR subject to 12 participants, or
• 5 790 EUR subject to 11 participants or
• 6 050 EUR subject to 9 - 10 participants
• 6 290 EUR subject to 8 participants, based on double accommodation.

10% early booking discount (in case you book before April 10, 2025)

Everything is included except:
- international flights to Casablanca and back,
- Morocco visa (no visa is needed for citizens of Russia for a period up to 90 days),
- International health insurance,
- 4 dinners.

Approximate cost of international flight Moscow - Casablanca - Moscow: 400 euros (Purchased by your own. We advise).

Single supplement: 590 euros (provided in hotels throughout the entire itinerary).




TRAVEL PROGRAM: tour to Morocco
тур в Марокко с Русским географическим обществом

Day 1. 10 October 2025 (Friday). Casablanca

Arrival in Casablanca by direct flight Moscow - Casablanca at 11.45 am, airport Mohammed V. Meeting with guide, transfer to hotel, check-in.
Casablanca is the economic capital of the country. The name of the city came from the Portuguese "casa" - house, "blank" - white. The city is based on the site of the city of Anfa, capital of the ancient Berber independent kingdom of Bergavata, which existed from 8 to 11 centures b.c. in modern Morocco. The Anfa district is now a historic part of the city of Casablanca.
In the second part of the day from 14.00, we will have a tour with a guide in Casablanca. We will begin our program with a visit to the largest mosque in Morocco, Hassan II, standing directly on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Its minaret is 210 meters high, with the total capacity of 105 thousand believers.
It was built in 1993. The project of the French architect Michel Pinso, inspired by the saying from the Koran: "Throne of Allah is on the water". Hassan II Mosque is one of the national symbols of Morocco. In the mosque we will see the embodiment of the art of zellige mosaic in the example of large mosaic paintings of its interior decoration.
We admire the beautiful waterfront of the Atlantic Ocean, stretching along the coast for many miles. Shopping malls, restaurants, cafes and night clubs are located here, while modern architecture is juxtaposed with poor neighborhoods decorated with bright graffiti.
We pass by the old city (Medina), surrounded by fortress walls, see what Casablanca looked like before the French protectorate: narrow streets, houses-riads, bazaars and street-food vendors. Just beyond Medina, we will visit the colonial quarter of Houbus, designed by the French: wide avenue, large squares, European architecture with Mauritanian motifs.
We will see the ensemble of Muhammad the Fifth Square and the snow-white cathedral of Sakre-Ker (now not in operation) with the park of the League of Arab States.
Lunch will be held in the fish restaurant of Casablanca, and dinner at the legendary Rick’s Cafe with the atmosphere of the famous film "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Enjoy a cosy dinner with classical European cuisine accompanied by a piano player.
Overnight at the ONOMO Hotel Casablanca City Center 4* (or similar) in Casablanca.

Meals included: lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: ONOMO Hotel Casablanca City Center 4* or similar

*Recommended flights:
- a/c Royal Air Maroc, direct flight from Moscow, departs from Moscow on October 10 at 7:30 am, arrives in Casablanca on October 10 at 11:45 am,
- any other flight from any city arriving in Casablanca no later than 12 noon on October 10.


Day 2. October 11, 2025 (Saturday). Casablanca - Marrakech

Breakfast in the hotel. At 09.00 meeting with specialists of the Academy of Traditional Arts and lecture on history of traditional arts. Visit to the Museum of Traditional Arts.
The Academy of Traditional Arts of Morocco is located in the Museum of Traditional Arts, founded in 2012 and located in the complex of the Hassan II mosque. The museum is designed to preserve traditional arts and crafts of Morocco. It has an open section for visitors and a closed one for students of the Academy of Arts.
We will see a stunning exhibition of Moroccan craftsmen carving wood and plaster, work with metal, zellige mosaics, work with marble and leather, calligraphy etc. We will listen to a lecture by specialists of the Academy of Arts about traditional art of the country, including the zellige mosaic.
Transfer to Marrakech (3 hours), lunch in the authentic restaurant of Marrakech.
Marrakesh is a red-ochre city with almost a thousand years of history, one of the 4 imperial capitals of the country (former capital). Founded in 1060 by the Berber dynasty of Almoradians. The city’s buildings and historical monuments, which have survived to our time, combine the simplicity of Berber architecture lines and brightness, and the vividness of Arab art. Many of the historical monuments located in Marrakech Medina are UNESCO World Heritage sites and are under its protection.
During the tour of Marrakech we will visit the symbol of Marrakech - Koutoubia Mosque, a lively square with a rich history of Jemaa el-Fna. Admire the examples of the magnificent zellige mosaic in the palace of Bahiya, the palace of Dar El Basha. Walk through the narrow shopping streets of Medina and enter the antique Amazonite shop. Visit the Pierre Berceau Museum of Berber Art, see a rich collection of items of national costume, jewelry, weapons, Berbers’ textiles collected by Pierre Bergue and Yves Saint Laurent in the 20th century.
In Marrakech, the riads are very popular as accommodation - national Moroccan houses-forts, when they have no windows outside, all rooms go inside the house where there is also a real open air garden. We will live in a beautiful tiled house with a zellige mosaic to fully immerse yourself in the local colors and lifestyle of the Moroccans.
Lunch and dinner we will have in a beautiful authentic Moroccan restaurants with national cuisine.
Check-in at the Riad Demeuer d'Orient 4* (or similar). Overnight at the Riad.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Riad Demeuer d'Orient 4* or similar


Day 3. October 12, 2025 (Sunday). Marrakech - Ouarzazate - Gorge of Dâdes Gorges

Breakfast at the hotel and 08.00 departure to Ouarzazate.
Ouarzazate is a city located at the crossroads of many roads in the foothills of the High Atlas. The city name in translation from Berber means "without noise", "without confusion". This day we will get acquainted with the ancient architecture of Berber buildings built from clay, namely with Kasba Taurirt in Warzastan itself and the clay city (ksar) Aith ben Haddu, located 29 km west of the city.
Ksar Aith-Ben-Haddou is one of the most typical examples of traditional Berber clay architecture, spread in the pre-Saccharian area, south of the High Atlas and is a UNESCO monument. All the houses of the ksar are built of red-brown clay. The houses with flat roofs are located on the slope of a hill terraces, streets run horizontally and connected by arches and narrow passages.
We will walk through the streets of this fabulous city, enjoy a meal at the Ksar restaurant and touch the eternity of the Berber history.
Dinner at the Ksar of Aith Ben Haddou.
Transfer to the High Atlas Dades Gorge.
Dades Gorge and Tudra Gorge High Atlas are the gorges with high walls, formerly under water and formed millions of years ago by coral reefs. The gorge walls rise to an altitude of about 200-500 m, forming picturesque rocky canyons. The rivers that flow along the bottom of the canyons are dry for most of the year, but sometimes fill with water after the rains.
In the evening we will walk through the canyon, meet with local inhabitants - mountain berbers, get acquainted with their way of life. Mountain Berbers run their farms taking into account the local harsh conditions. They have their own customs, national costumes and music.
We will visit the local Berber house, where in authentic original form will be held dinner with traditional Berber cuisine.
Our evening will be completed by the national Berber music ceremony of Ahwach Music. Ahwach Music is one of the art of singing and collective dance Amazigh (Berber) in Morocco.
This song is a fundamental element of the Amazigh identity and plays a crucial role in preserving their culture and traditions. Many Moroccans recognize that the Ahwach includes some pre-Islamic components of the traditional Berber religion. Its celebration is both an important social and spiritual practice, sometimes leading to supernatural experiences; there are many stories from southern Moroccan villages about performers who have clairvoyance. The trance and ecstasy experienced during the Ahwach dance allows participants to connect with their spirituality and society.
Overnight at the Hotel Xaluca Dades (or similar) in the Dhotes Gorges gorge in the High Atlas.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Hotel Xaluca Dades or similar


Day 4. October 13, 2025 (Monday). Dades Gorges - Todra Gorges - Rissani - Merzouga - Erg Chebbi Dunes

At 08.00 departure to the settlement of Merzouga. The way will lay through another beautiful Todra Gorges. Lunch in a cafe after visiting the gorge.
Next on the way is the city of Rissani. This is an oasis and a town of 400 Kasb, from which more than 300 years ago came the ruling royal dynasty. We will visit the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, founder of the ruling dynasty of Alawite from 1666 to today (more than 350 years). In ancient times, Rissani was the country’s first economic capital and the beginning and end of trans-Saharan convoys. We will walk through the streets of the city, visit the lively local market and have a delicious lunch in the local restaurant. Also visit the workshop on production of Berber carpets.
Next we will go to Merzouga - a small settlement called "the gates to the Sahara". It is located 35 km south-east of Rissani and 50 km west of the Algerian border. Behind Villain the asphalt ends and the great desert of the Sahara begins.
The way to a luxury camping in the Sahara desert in the dunes of Erg Chebbi we will make on foot or riding with a caravan of camels. In the desert we will admire the endless sea of sands at sunset, bright and close to the stars and meet the dawn.
In a comfortable camp we will help the Berber-Nomads to light a fire, bake bread in sand in the Berber way, prepare food for dinner. We will understand all the difficulties of the Sahara Berbers.
We will end up the evening with sacred Gnaoua music by local musicians, which in ancient times slaves brought to Morocco from Africa. The word Agnaw, derived from "gnaoua", means "mute". This word was used by the Amazigh to refer to slaves from sub-Saharan Africa, as they did not speak Berber. Gnaoua would thus, in a broader sense, mean "black man" or "from the country of the black people", that is, from sub-Saharan Africa. It is the music of descendants of slaves, gathered in mystical Muslim brotherhoods, in which trance plays a very important role.
Gnaoua now finds its place in the space of the crossroads of the Berber peoples, the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Muslims, their religious and musical traditions and instruments. Since 2019, the music of Gnaoua has been included in the UNESCO list of intangible heritage.
Overnight at the Golden Sahara Camp or Nomad Luxury Camp in the Rif Sabi.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Golden Sahara Camp or Nomad Luxury Camp


Day 5. October 14, 2025 (Tuesday). Merzouga - Ziz Valley – Fez

After meeting the sunrise in the desert, we will have a long journey to the oldest city of Morocco -Fez. First, we will ride on horses to the "black" Sahara, where we will hand them over to the nomads and transfer to cars.
We continue our journey to the valley of Ziz Valley. Admire the magnificent scenery of this picturesque valley, get acquainted with the principle of the local Berber irrigation system, on the bank of the river in the oasis we will see the plantation of date palms. We will have a picnic lunch on the river bank.
Next, stop in the Cider forest, which has been widely used for centuries in Morocco when building buildings, meet white monkeys living in the forest.
In the evening we will arrive at Fez and stay in the Riad for dinner and rest.
Lunch in the form of a picnic in the nature, dinner at the Fez Riad.
Overnight at the Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* (or similar) in Fez.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* or similar


Day 6. 15 October 2025 (Wednesday). Fez

Fez is the oldest former capital of Morocco, dating back more than 1200 years from its foundation in 789 A.D. by the ruling Idrisid dynasty. Under Almohad in the late 12th century, Fez was one of the largest cities in the entire Islamic world and the largest center of Islamic culture and education in northern Africa. It further it lost its status, and the Marinids restored Fez as the capital of Morocco in the 14th century. Fes is now considered the intellectual and spiritual center of Morocco.
It is in Fez where small workshops and production of traditional Moroccan art have survived to this day: leather workshops, metal workshops, textile, carpet and ceramic production, production of zellige mosaic.
On this day we will visit two productions of the zellige mosaic, get acquainted with the manufacturing process, start making our own products according to the sketches provided by the masters of the mosaic.
We will also visit the antique metal production of the zellige mosaic tools. We will see how hammers and other tools are made by hand, and we will be able to buy tools for replenishing the funds of MAE RAS. This production is one of the disappearing productions in Morocco due to the launch of automatic production lines in factories. But as the masters say, you can create a good tool only manually with love that will "feel" the mosaic, each item is a work of art.
On this day, we will have dinner in the traditional Berber family of Fez. It should be noted that the Berbers are well adapted to life in cities. We will see the dwellings of urban Berbers, usually an apartment or a house, try their dishes and learn more about the daily customs of this people.
Overnight at the Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* (or similar) in Fez.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* or similar


Day 7. 16 October 2025 (Thursday). Fez

Medina of Fez is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering an area of 290 hectares. It has been around since the city was founded. On the walking of Medina, we will see the oldest al-Qarawiyyin University, the University library, the building of the world’s oldest psychiatric hospital, the Bou Inania Madrasa and the leather factory of Chouara, mosques and museums.
Al-Qarawiyyin University was founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri of Qarawiyyin (Tunisia). The Guinness Book of Records recognizes it as "the oldest continuously operating institution in the world. Today, it is over 1,100 years old. Besides theology, it also covers grammar, rhetoric, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, history, geography and music. The university library has a 9th century edition of the Koran and other centuries-old Muslim manuscripts. But access to these relics requires permission from the Ministry of Education in Morocco, and it is only Muslim men who can have access. We will walk through the narrow streets of Medina, where you can get lost, see these historical monuments of culture and architecture.
The old leather production of Chouara will make an indelible impression on us, because it produces leather in the ancient technology and using only natural dyes. How in the old times, people clean, rub, tan and paint the skin by hand. They take water for production from the river running next to it, dividing Medina into two parts. Dyes are obtained from natural paprika, mint, mimosa bark, saffron and others.
To avoid a sharp smell of production we will need fresh mint, which we will kindly offer at the entrance to the viewing area.
Lunch in a traditional Moroccan restaurant in Fez.
In the evening we will have a dinner with the Aissawa Berber music ceremony. Fez and Meknes are the center of this musical direction in Morocco. Aissawa’s music is created by the Moroccan Sufi brotherhood and the mystical-religious order, whose teaching is at the intersection of the sacred and the secular. The ceremonial ritual of Aissawa includes non-Islamic elements that have appeared over centuries, such as exorcism and trance dancing. The followers of this musical movement have traditionally come from the poor Berber population of the Maghreb or from the dispossessed and marginalized inhabitants of the major urban centres. Aissawa is currently played at many public and even religious festivals in the country.
Overnight at the Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* (or similar) in Fez.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* or similar


Day 8. 17 October 2025 (Friday). Fez

Morocco is a multicultural country where Arabs, Berbers and Jews live together peacefully. In Fez, the 600-year-old Jewish quarter of Mellah (a ghetto surrounded by a wall), translated to mean "salt", is preserved because it was the site of a salt marsh in ancient times. The Quarter is located in Fez-Jdid, the second medina of Fez founded by the Marinids in 1276. It is an old Jewish cemetery, where many famous people are buried. We will visit Mellah and the Jewish cemetery, immerse ourselves in the history of the Jews on the Berber land and learn how they lived many centuries ago. After the Jewish quarter we will walk to the gate of the Royal Palace and admire their beauty, take a picture in their background.
In the right-bank district of Medina, there is an Andalusian part, previously settled by refugees from Córdoba (Spain), decorated with an Andalusian mosque built by Maryam al-Fihri - the younger sister of Fatima al-Fihri, the founder of the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque. It stands out from the urban development with its monumental portal with a cedar canopy and a shopping area in front of it. We will see the mosque and find out how Fez is connected to Spain.
After a busy day in the shop, lunch at the restaurant in Fez and sightseeing, we will visit Fez Cooking School to prepare traditional Moroccan dishes by yourself, then have dinner with a glass of wine. It will be a celebration of the end of our stay in the beautiful city of Fez, which has given us so many unforgettable experiences.
Overnight at the Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* (or similar) in Fez.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Riad Al Makan Fes & Spa 4* or similar


Day 9. October 18, 2025 (Saturday). Fez - Meknès - Volubilis - Rabat

At 08.00 after breakfast, travel to Rabat, the active capital of Morocco.
On the way, stop in Meknes (former imperial capital).
Meknes is one of the former imperial capitals founded in the 8th century A.D. The city became the capital in the 17th century by the order of Ismail Ibn Sharif, who built the city with magnificent buildings. After the death of the ruler, the city lost its capital functions. In Meknès, we walk through its streets, visit the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, who was an outstanding person of his time. We will see the stable of the sultan, which could accomodate 1200 horses at a time. We will see the city gate of Bab Mansur al-'Alj - main ceremonial entrance to the royal citadel of the sultan, visit the workshop for production of Berber carpets.
We’ll have lunch at the Meknes restaurant.
The ancient Roman city of Volubilis (UNESCO monument) dates from the 3rd century BC. This Christian city was the capital of the Roman province of Mauritania Tyngitan during the time when the land of Morocco was under the administration of the Roman Empire. Walking through the ruins of the city, we will admire the buildings of that era, the Roman mosaic preserved in its ruins, the majestic ruins of the triumphal arch, the term and the house of Orpheus. Let’s get acquainted with the history of a once beautiful city, which played a great role in the development of the Berber people.
Arrival in Rabat (the current capital of the country). Dinner at a restaurant in Rabat.
Overnight at the Dar Shâan (or similar) hotel in Rabat.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation included: Dar Shâan or similar


Day 10. 19 October 2025 (Sunday). Rabat - Casablanca - Return flight

At 09.00 after breakfast, guided tour in Rabat.
Rabat (translated from Arabic "stronghold of faith") is the current capital of the Moroccan state, political, cultural and industrial center of the country, founded in the 12th century. Built of white stone, with wide streets and avenues, Rabat attracts its inner expanse. On the tour we will get acquainted with the main historical sites of the city (most of them are UNESCO monuments), namely with the pirate Kasbah of Udayas, Mausoleum of Muhammad V, minaret of Hassan. Visit the art workshop of mosaic art.
Kasba Udayas is the ancient citadel of Rabat. Monument of Moorish architecture of the period Almohad. The name comes from the name of a robber tribe of Oudaya, "put on feeding" in Morocco under the Almoradians to counter local nomads.
After lunch in a fish restaurant in Rabat, we will go to the airport of Casablanca for our flight home.
In the afternoon, departure to Casablanca airport, departure at 22.20, or other time.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch
Accommodation included: no

*Recommended flights:
- a/c Royal Air Maroc, direct flight to Moscow, departs from Casablanca on 19 October at 22:15 am, arrives in Moscow on 20 October at 6:20 am,
- any other flight to any city, with departure from Casablanca no earlier than 21 hours 19 October.