2 Week Morocco Itinerary: Tangier, Marrakesh, the Sahara, Fez & Chefchaouen

The best 2-week Morocco itinerary is a 14-day loop from Tangier with zero backtracking. It's the route we'd plan if we were starting over: fly into Tangier, ride the train south through Rabat and Casablanca to Marrakesh, spend three days getting sand in everything on a Sahara trip that drops you in Fez, then wander up to the blue lanes of Chefchaouen and loop back to Tangier for your flight out.

We spent a month in Morocco, including a 3-week house-sit near Rabat, a week in Marrakesh and a stretch in Tangier and Casablanca. We've written full guides to most of these stops, so this post is the connective tissue: how many days each place deserves, how to get between them, and where to cut if you're tight on time. And one honest caveat: we haven't been to Fez or Chefchaouen yet, so we'll keep those two short and flag what we haven't tested.

We spent far longer in each city than this itinerary gives you and that's deliberate. The pacing below is what we'd compress it to, knowing which stops we'd happily have rushed and which ones we wished we'd lingered in (Marrakesh, mostly).

Here's the route at a glance:

Morocco Itinerary Logistics

When Is the Best Time to Go to Morocco?

The best times for this route are spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November). Summer in Marrakesh and the Sahara is brutal, and we felt the heat even outside peak season. Winter nights in the desert get cold.

How Do You Get Around Morocco by Train?

ONCF trains connect Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh on one main line, and the high-speed Al Boraq trains cover the northern part of it. Book in advance, especially for Fridays and Sundays. You can also check timetables on the operator's own site, ONCF Voyages, but we found it quite difficult to book on there. In Casablanca, know which station you need: Casa Port is the one by the Sofitel and the old center, while Casa Voyageurs is the main hub for Marrakesh trains.

Do You Need a Visa for Morocco? (Plus Money and eSIMs)

Many nationalities get 90 days visa-free, but confirm yours on Morocco's official consular site. Our Marrakesh guide covers tipping, paying in cash vs. card, and safety basics. Cash (dirham) is what you'll use most, so pull some out at an ATM in a city before the desert.

If you want data the second you land, compare eSIMs here. We used Trip.com's eSIM for the whole trip and it only dropped out in a few spots in the desert.

Other Morocco Tips

Three things we learned the hard way across the month:

• Skip inDrive and Careem. They worked fine for us in Rabat, then a Marrakesh driver got pulled over with us in the back and we ended up at a police station. Stick with regular taxis, agree the fare first or ask for "le compteur" (the meter).
• Keep your camera low. In Rabat, security at a site panicked when they saw our portable microphone and thought we were press. Don't film people without asking.
• Alcohol is hard to find. Rabat's Le Baz'Art was one of the few places we could get a beer, and it's pricey.

Is Morocco Safe for LGBTQ+ Travelers?

Homosexuality is criminalized in Morocco, so discretion matters. We're a gay couple and didn't have a single problem, but we also didn't show affection in public and we kept our expectations of a queer scene at zero. Don't come for nightlife: it's mostly hidden, and we found no dedicated gay venues.

Hotels were the easy part. At a locally run riad in Marrakesh we'd booked a single bed (cheaper), the staff member asked if that was okay, we said yes, and that was the end of it. At the Swiss-run Palais Hassoun, we felt completely welcome. More detail is in our Marrakesh guide, and Tangier's queer history is worth reading before you land, since it was a magnet for Truman Capote and Paul Bowles in the 1950s.

Days 1-2: Tangier

Tangier is a gentle landing into this incredible country. We found it calm and with no aggressive vendors, which makes the first 48 hours of a Morocco trip a lot easier than starting in the center of Marrakesh, for example.

Day 1: Drop your bags in the medina. Wander the medina, climb up to the Kasbah, then have breakfast or mint tea around Petit Socco and Grand Socco. Finish at the Phoenician Tombs for sunset.

Day 2: Café Hafa (open since 1921) for tea over the sea, the American Legation, and the Jewish heritage sites. If you've got energy, do the Cape Spartel and Caves of Hercules excursion. Follow the queer landmarks route if that's your thing.

Days 3-5: Rabat & Casablanca (Pick Your Split)

Take the morning ONCF train from Tangier. You've got three days to divide between Morocco's capital and its biggest city, and you don't need to change hotels twice. Pick a base, then day-trip by train, since the two cities are on the same line.

Option A: 2 nights Rabat + 1 in Casablanca. Best if you like ruins, quiet streets and beaches.

• Rabat day 1: Chellah ruins (and the storks), Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.
• Rabat day 2: Kasbah des Oudayas, the medina, and a beach afternoon at Harhoura or Guy Plage. Cross the river to Salé if you want a more local feel. We didn't see a single other tourist there, and got the cheapest haircut of our lives (about 25 dirham, roughly €2.50).
• Casablanca day: Hassan II Mosque, the corniche, and dinner at Rick's Café.

Option B: 1 night Rabat + 2 in Casablanca. Best if you like architecture, food and big-city energy.

• Rabat: Do the highlights in one day: Hassan Tower, Oudayas, medina.
• Casablanca day 1: Art Deco facades, the Old Medina, Quartier Habous and Place Mohammed V.
• Casablanca day 2: Hassan II Mosque and the corniche, Rick's Café, then the Marina and Ocean Bridge.

Whichever you choose, end the stretch in Casablanca, since the fast train to Marrakesh leaves from there. Having spent 3 weeks in Rabat and a few days in Casablanca, our honest take: Rabat is the calmer base, but Casablanca is where we kept wandering just to hunt down Art Deco buildings.

Days 6-7: Marrakesh

Take the train from Casa Voyageurs to Marrakesh. You've now got two days to see a city that deserves five, so be picky.

Day 6: Get lost in the medina, visit Bahia Palace, and have mint tea on a rooftop. Book a traditional hammam in the late afternoon and go for a scrub.

Day 7: Jardin Majorelle in the morning before the crowds, souvenir shopping in the souks in the afternoon, and dinner somewhere on our restaurant list. Go to bed early, as day 8 starts very early.

If you've got money to burn, a sunrise hot air balloon ride is an option, but it's a stretch with the desert trip right after. We'd skip it on a 14-day route.

Days 8-10: Sahara Desert Trip, Ending in Fez

This is the part of the trip we'd never skip. The places we saw along the way, such as Aït Benhaddou, were remarkable. And when we got to the Sahara, we rode camels at sunset, slept in a camp at the edge of the dunes, and woke up at 5 AM for the sunrise trek out. We usually avoid multi-day guided tours, and this one still beat our expectations. Many of the stops are hard to reach independently.

What we'd tell a friend before they go:

• Pack long pants. Your legs chafe on the camel. Linen is best.
• Bring cash. Lunch, tips and quad rides weren't included. There's an ATM near the first hotel and time to stop in Tinghir on day 2.
• Haggle for the scarf. One seller asked 700 dirham for two (about €70). We paid 130 dirham and still think it was high.
• Quad or camel only? ATV riders swap the camel for a quad after about 30 minutes, camel-only riders stay on longer. We did the quad, got stuck on a dune (we're two big guys), and the guide came back to pull us out.

The three days, in short:

• Day 8: Leave Marrakesh around 7:40 AM, cross the High Atlas, stop at the UNESCO site of Aït Benhaddou, and sleep in Tinghir.
• Day 9: Walk the Tinghir oasis, see Todra Gorge, then reach Merzouga for the camel ride, ATV quads (extra) and a night in the desert camp.
• Day 10: Breakfast, sunrise camel trek, and a very long drive back to Marrakesh or north to Fez. Our tour returned to Marrakesh, but you can choose to take a tour that ends at Fez instead, which saves you the trip back to Marrakesh and a separate train or bus north. You'll arrive in the evening.

Days 11-12: Fez

We haven't visited Fez yet, so we won't pretend to give you an insider's tour. What we do know is that Fez el Bali, its medina, is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world and the city is often called Morocco's spiritual capital. After the desert, it's a good change of pace: slower, older and made for wandering.

You'll arrive late on day 10, so treat the evening as a shower, dinner and sleep.

Day 11: Hire a licensed guide for the medina in the morning. You'll thank yourself, since it's a maze. Visit the tanneries and the old madrasas.

Day 12: Wander on your own, eat well, and take a half-day tour if you want some context.

Days 13-14: Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen is the famous blue city in the Rif mountains, and we haven't written a guide yet. We're linking Vogue's 8 Reasons to Put the Blue City on Your Bucket List in the meantime.

Take a bus or shared taxi from Fez, which is roughly 4 hours. Spend the afternoon in the blue medina, then do a sunrise or sunset viewpoint and a morning hike in the Rif on day 14.

Where to Trim If You Have Less Time (or More Time)

• 12 days: Cut Casablanca or Rabat down to one night total.
• 10 days: Skip Chefchaouen and Fez, and end the Sahara trip back in Marrakesh. Fly out of Marrakesh instead of looping back to Tangier.
• 16+ days: Add a third day in Marrakesh and a second night in Chefchaouen.

What to Book First

1. Flights: Fly into and out of Tangier (TNG) for the loop.
2. Sahara tour: Get written confirmation of the Fez drop-off before anything else. It dictates the rest of the route.
3. Trains: ONCF tickets for Tangier to Rabat and Casablanca to Marrakesh, a week out if you can.
4. Hotels: Tangier, Marrakesh and Fez, since those fill up first.