Morocco by Train

Explore the cultural and spiritual center of Morocco during this full day tour of Fes. Also known as Fes el Bali, this UNESCO World Heritage Site was founded in the 9th century, and is home to the world's oldest university. The city of Fes reached its true economic and cultural height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Merinids, when it replaced Marrakech as the capital of the kingdom.   Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fes has retained its status as the country's Artisan centre. Artisan workshops in the medina are as active today as they were 100 years ago, and strongly contribute to the city’s industrial economy. Trades such as blacksmithing, leather working, ceramics, silk, tapestries, and sculpting are still practiced in these workshops today. The original ramparts still protect this ancient city and its estimated 9000 narrow passageways and bustling streets.

The Clock cafe cooking school is happy to provide genuine cooking experiences and intensify your sensory experience of Morocco! From recipe to souk, through preparation to plate, Clock school, located in the gastronomic capital of Fez, will chaperone you every step of the way. Learn traditional Moroccan cooking with the chef Souad, a member of the team who have helped make Café Clock into ‘probably the best café in Morocco. She has grown up with the secrets to traditional Moroccan cooking and is passionate about keeping them alive. What better insight into the people of the ancient Fez Medina than by fully immersing yourself in the huge diversity of flavours that keep them going? If cooking is an expression of a culture, then Fez and Clock Kitchen are shouting out loud!!   Start the day at 10h00 am by choosing your personal menu. Then it’s off to the souk, dodging the donkeys, bargaining with vendors, where Souad will get you shopping for the freshest and best ingredients. Food sustains Fez and you can help sustain its economy as well. By learning how to shop locally you will help traditional vendors stay that way.  By 3pm you will have practiced traditional techniques, understood the diversity of sumptuous flavours and be enjoying the 3-course feast that you have created. You will also have experienced the warm hospitality that’s at the real heart of Moroccan cuisine and is the essence of Café Clock’s Clock Kitchen.

Enjoy time at leisure to explore at your own pace, or relax at your hotel.

A private vehicle with driver will provide a transfer between the hotel and train station.

Take a scenic train ride from Fez to Marrakech today. The journey is approximately 7 hours, so sit back and relax and watch the ever changing scenery as you travel south.

You met by your driver at the trainstation and  transported by private vehicle to your hotel.

Enjoy time at leisure to explore at your own pace, or relax at your hotel.

After breakfast you will be met at your hotel and taken on a full day guided tour of Marrakech. Your tour usually starts at the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque but you can discuss all of the options with your guide. The mosques beautiful minaret dominates the skyline of Marrakech and can be seen from almost every approach to the city thanks to a long-standing planning ordinance that forbids any other building in the old city to rise above the height of a palm tree. You will also visit the El-Bahia Palace, this 19th century palace is elaborate in its decoration and was built over a period seven years for Ba Ahmed, the son of the Grand Vizier Si Moussa, there are row after row of apartments—that once housed Ahmed's harem—a trapezoidal garden, a huge tiled courtyard, and many hidden treasures, both in the form of antique objects d'art and the palace's convergence of Andalusian and Moorish architecture. One of most visited sites in Morocco is the Saadian Tombs which were only accessible via the mosque next door. However, in 1917 they were opened to the public and can now be accessed via a narrow passage that leads to an enclosed garden watched over by two mausoleums that include more than one hundred mosaic decorated tombs. The Koranic School Medersa Ben Youssef which is a Theological college founded by the Merenid Sultan Abu Hassan in the 14th century, and restored in 1564 by the Saadians who made it the largest theological college in the Maghreb and a rival to the important Medersa Bou Inania in Fés.

A private vehicle with English speaking driver will be at your disposal for the day.

After breakfast, you will be met at your accommodation by an English-speaking mountain guide and taken on a day’s trekking in the foothills of the High Atlas mountains and a stroll in the fields and orchards of apples, peaches, cherries and apricots. Visit the old hydraulic mill and village olive press (both still in use). Have lunch with local family. Visit Takherkhort Reserve and take you chance in spotting a Barbary sheep or one of the 150 species of birds native to the area. Enjoy another cup of refreshing mint tea and watch a presentation of how to make Berber bread. Fresh bread made Al fresco, locally produced organic olive oil, wild thyme and lavender organic honey for dipping your bread in (yum yum)! The trekking is not physically demanding and you will criss-cross a river valley and gentle slopes.

You will be transported by private vehicle to the train station. Your driver will have your train tickets in hand and will assist you to board.

Travel by first class train today between Marrakech and Casablanca.

You will be met at the airport upon arrival by your driver. Transportation between the main train station (Casa Voyageurs)and your hotel with private car and driver.