After meeting you at your hotel or riad at around 8.00am, we set off towards the biggest city in Morocco and home to the largest mosque and grandest shopping centre in Africa. Casablanca.

Our first stop is the Hassan II Mosque where you can join a professionally guided tour.

Constructed on an artificial (earthquake-proof) promontory into the Ocean and completed in 1993, the Hassan II Mosque can accommodate 25,000 worshippers inside with capacity for a further 80,000 within the plazas outside.

With the tallest minaret in the world, at 210 metres, Moorish-influenced architecture and stunning attention to detail through the intricate cedar wood carvings, mosaics and Zellige tilework, one can only admire in awe at the magnificence of this outstanding place of worship.

Before heading up the coast towards Rabat, there’s time for refreshments along Casablanca’s beachside Corniche and a glimpse at Rick’s Café which trades on its namesake from that well known 1942 movie.

From its 7th century BC origins, Casablanca has looked to the sea for its fortunes and development. That remains true today with much of the waterfront under intensive development for a new marina as well as shopping, business and residential complexes that extend out of the city and towards Mohammedia.

Once in Rabat – Morocco’s political capital and arguably the most conservative of the four Imperial Cities – we take in the exterior grandeur of the Royal Palace, the Roman ruins and Islamic burial ground of Chellah, the mausoleum of Mohammed V and the Roman ruins of the Merinid Tombs dating from the 14th century. Overnight in Rabat…and a well-earned sleep!

Leaving Rabat, we pass through a fertile landscape, reminiscent of Brittany in northern France, dedicated to farming.

Arriving in Meknes we explore the old UNESCO World Heritage listed city, the magnificent Bab Mansour Gates and the mausoleum of Moulay Ismael whose vision had such a lasting impact on this Imperial City.

From Meknes, we head into the hills to the next UNESCO World Heritage Site on our itinerary today: Volubilis, the best preserved Roman ruins in Africa and an opportunity to let your imagination run free on this mighty stage of second and third century Roman life.

During the afternoon, we travel to Fès. After checking into your accommodation, we have time to visit first the Karaouine Mosque and then the 11th century Chouwara Tannery – one of the most impressive sites (and smells) you will experience on this tour!

As one of the largest Medieval cities of its type, the old Medina of Fès el Bali offers a deep insight to the diversity of Moroccan culture.

Our experienced guide will share many of the city’s hidden treasures and architecture with you as your gaze is pulled left and right with the movement and sounds of this piece of living history.

During the afternoon, you are free to explore at your leisure. Just remember, there are more than 9,000 streets in the Medina – some of which are less than 1 metre in width – so it’s worth keeping a note of your bearings! Overnight in Fès.

After an early breakfast, we begin our ascent across the Middle Atlas Mountains, winding our way through beautiful, lush forests, jagged rock faces and Berber villages. After stopping for lunch at Midelt – famed for its rocks, fossils and apples – we continue on mountain roads that afford spectacular views of countless villages, Kasbahs and palm groves through the Ziz Valley.

Passing through the adobe coloured city of Er-Rachidia, by late afternoon the terrain has changed dramatically. With the slopes behind us, we’re now in what is best described as a lunar landscape as we head for our penultimate destination of Merzouga.

Arriving at our auberge, we prepare to climb on to our camels for a trek into the desert, accompanied by Berber guides who will be our hosts for the evening.

Against the backdrop of the Erg Chebbi dunes and impending sunset, we wend our way through the peace and natural beauty of the Saharan dunes until we reach our bivouac camp where you will stay in a Nomad tent.

Here our guides will not only prepare a sumptuous, traditional meal but also invite you to join in with their special brand of music and entertainment, until the final embers of the campfire fade away under the canopy of stars.

After an early start to catch the sunrise over the dunes, your camels will be waiting to help you return to the auberges at Merzouga where you can shower, change and take breakfast.

We depart for the Todra Gorge, en route passing the most sought after dates in Morocco which are grown between Rissani and Erfoud. As we climb into the High Atlas Mountains and through Tinghir we begin our approach to the gorge.

There will be ample time to explore and take photographs, as well as enjoying a drink or lunch at one of the restaurants that is squeezed in to the jaws of the gorge.

Refreshed and inspired, we set off for more of nature’s wonders in the Dadès Gorge, including the mind-boggling rock creations of the Tamnalt Hills. Overnight in the heart of the Dadès Gorge.

A traditional Moroccan breakfast will set you up for the journey through the Rose Valley (most fragrant in April and May) and the town of Kella Mgouna an important centre for the rose growing cooperatives throughout the valley.

Dates, figs and many varieties of vegetables can be seen growing among the patchwork quilt of allotments that have been tended for centuries by the Berber villagers here. A testimony to their dedication and innovation along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs which takes us onwards to Ouarzazate for the final night of our tour.

With Ouarzazate firmly established as the centre of Morocco’s film industry, it’s appropriate that our first stop on this final tour day is another great movie location. Aït Ben Haddou.

The historic ksar is one of the iconic images of Morocco and, not surprisingly, the backdrop for countless well known movies including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, The Jewel of the Nile and Cleopatra.

With the Kasbah that evolved around it, Aït Ben Haddou’s commanding position in the Ounila Valley served as an important trading post along a former caravan route from the Sahara to Marrakech and beyond.

We enjoy lunch amid the spectacular scenery of the High Atlas Mountains before heading through the Tizi n’Tichka Pass for our descent to Marrakech where we arrive late evening.