Womens Active Morocco Tour

Meet your female tour guide on landing at Mohamed V Airport in Casablanca and drive to Rabat. Check into your hotel in Rabat on arrival. The drive to Rabat is short (around 45 miles) and you will travel through lush farms and orchards along the way.

Rabat spreads out in a spaciously elegant, European-influenced grid pattern. Slightly self-conscious of its modernity, Rabat is bursting with ancient landmarks that have become a defining feature of this city. Take Sala Colonia as an example. A medieval fortified structure located in Rabat's metro area, its history goes back to the heydays of Phoenicians traders who crisscrossed the Mediterranean.

It later became a Roman colony and then a Muslim fortress. Thus, each civilization that has inhabited this city has left its mark in it, resulting in a wide variety of architectural styles.

Your city tour of Rabat starts with a trip to the Jewish quarter followed by Place Sidi Makhlouf, located in the heart of the city from where the 12th-century ramparts are best seen. Then visit the medina across from Sidi Fateh Street.

The traditional Souk Laghzel (yarn market) is a slight to behold. Once here, your tour guide will introduce you to the importance of textile guilds and their role in Moroccan society. Visit the citadel of Oudaya Kasbah, entering from its 12th-century main gate to explore an extraordinary medieval Moorish marvel overlooking the delta in the Bouregreg River. You will also visit Moorish gardens as well as a coffee house where you can enjoy traditional cookies that Moroccan women prepare for special occasions.

Exit Oudaya Kasbah and proceed up the hill to the Hassan Tower. See fine examples of Moroccan architecture, the best of which is the Mohamed the V Mausoleum. Then drive through boulevards and gardens of Rabat to see Saint Pierre Cathedral, parliament, Sunna Mosque and Rabat's royal palace. There is no way we are going to miss out on Sala Colonia (also known as Bab Chellah).

Learn more about the status of women in Morocco from your tour guide all along.

Your small group will drive out of Rabat today, traveling north to Chefchaouen, the jewel of the Rif Mountains and one of the most beautiful cities in the Mediterranean.

Your first destination is the holy city of Ouazzane. The distinguished Idrissid Sherif Moulay Abdullah Ben Brahim made Ouazzane a centre of sufism, specifically the Taibia sufi order. Discover the highlights of Ouazzane with your local tour guide before heading for Chefchaouen. Accommodation in Chefchaouen will be in a riad owned by a female entrepreneur who will welcome you with traditional mint tea and cookies prepared by herself.

Set off from Chefchaouen to Fez el Bali, a sprawling farming settlement dating back from the time of the Romans. Then experience unique Berber and Moorish ways of life in the Amergou Mountains.

The route we take is peppered with picturesque villages and majestic evergreen forests. Start your afternoon with a hike to Tamesnit, which is located in the heart of the Rif Mountains. Continue to Lalla Outka and the isolated shrine of Moulay Bouchta El Khammar. This shrine is also a pilgrimage destination for Berber musicians who come to pay their respect and seek blessings.

Tonight, you will be hosted by a Berber family living in the mountains with whom you will share a festive tribal dinner. See Moroccan women in their homes and learn more about their way of life.

Accommodation tonight is in a camp.

Enjoy a wonderful homemade breakfast and sit down with your group for a briefing of the upcoming itinerary. Bid farewell to your host and take off to Taza, an ancient city that stands as the gateway of the Middle Atlas.

On the road, you will encounter pine, acacia and cedar trees as far as eyes can see. You might also spot monkeys along with numerous bird species. An easy hike in the Jebala Mountains is followed by a visit to a day market. Most of the crafts you will find in this market are made by women.

Meet your local tour guide and group members in the morning and head out to explore the historic section of Taza. Your afternoon is spent hiking in the Friouato Mountains to see its caves. Enjoy breathtaking scenery and see quaint Berber villages.

Explore one of the steepest mountain terrains in the country. Starting at Tazekka National Park, with its cliff-hanging villages and neolithic farmed terraces that are unique to this region, the hike will take you to the Chikar Caves where you will learn more about the geological underpinnings of this massif.

Cross the dense cedar and cork pine forests of Mount Ahmar and stop for a picnic lunch in a natural setting at the pass of Bab Arba, overlooking the valley of Maghraoua. Continue through the Berber villages of Ribat el Kheir and Bir Tamtam to Sidi Harazem. Your final destination of the day is Fez, where you will stay at a Berber guesthouse.

Leave your hotel after breakfast and head out to meet your local tour guide. Discover the ancient walled medina of Fez along the way. Your tour guide will meet the group members at the Gate of Bab Ftouh lead you on a sightseeing tour of the historic section of the city.

Spend a full day today exploring the beautiful medina, monuments, mosques, fountains, Koranic schools, guilds and souks that define this city. Explore the outskirts of the old town in the afternoon and see the ramparts. You will also come across potters at work, preserving their centuries old tradition.

Retreat to the homestay for a festive night with a folk music performance of the Beni Sadden Berber tribe. A country couscous will be prepared especially for your group. Spend your night in the Berber guesthouse.

Hop into a Land Cruiser after breakfast and head for Mount Zerhoun, leaving the Atlas Mountains behind. It requires a bit of an uphill walk to reach the top of the mountain, our first stop towards the holy city of Moulay Idris.

Once you are done enjoying the scenery from the top of the mountain, it is time for a walking tour of Moulay Idris, the first Islamic city in Morocco build in the eighth century. Step back in time as you walk up and down narrow alleyways and steep stairs with your tour guide.

Then follow the footsteps of the Romans, past ancient olive groves, to the village of Fertassa, which overlooks the valley of Volubilis. Continue down to the Volubilis Archeological Site where you will get the chance to see the ruins of the Roman city of Volubilis. Enjoy your lunch in a local riad and set off for Casablanca.

Check into your hotel in the city on arrival. Tonight, you will stay in Casablanca.

We will transfer you to Casablanca Airport after breakfast and bid you farewell at the airport.