7-Day Family Friendly Morocco Trip

Founded in the 11th century and renowned for its treasure trove of mosques, palaces, and museums, Marrakesh is the most visited of Morocco’s four Imperial Cities. At its heart is the medina, the original walled settlement around which the rest of the city was built. A maze of narrow streets and magical souks, its cobblestone streets are traversed by pedestrians and donkey carts instead of cars, and have changed very little in the hundreds of years since they were first laid out. Feel like you have stepped back in time!

Today you have a choice of activities depending on your children’s ages and interests, including: a walking tour of the souks and medina, painting activity with a local artisan, a visit to a local waterpark, or a horse and carriage ride – all great fun!

Tonight for dinner we recommend a lively dinner show with dancing and acrobatics in a stunning Moroccan palace.

After breakfast in your riad this morning we will begin our journey into the Atlas Mountains. Today you will be hosted by our local mountain guide. After pickup from your riad by your driver, pass through Tahannout and Asni, where you can visit the local souk on market days (Tahannout – Tuesday and Asni – Saturday).

On arrival to Imlil, take a short walk and exploration of the village, viewpoints and architecture with your local guide. There is an option to explore on foot or to take a mule ride.

Lunch at local house with a family. Short walk to see waterfalls and views of Mount Toubkal, before returning to Marrakech for the evening.

On your second day in Marrakech, embark on a fun trip to a peaceful small farm, home to a family of rescue animals. Kai, a very special pygmy goat who loves carrots and cuddles, and even ran in the Marrakech Marathon (the first ever goat in the world to do so!), is the star of the show.

You’ll meet her siblings too – the rabbits, horses, dogs, a tortoise, and counting! How you spend your time is up to you – you’re welcome simply to relax and enjoying meeting the animals, or go for a walk through the surrounding farmland with Rosanna. Spring is absolutely beautiful in the area – the fields are full of wildflowers (Kai’s favourite snack!).

A simple healthy lunch is included cooked by Khadija, who lives next door to the farm. This is our way of supporting the local community.

The farm visit will last around 3 hours, after which you have the afternoon free.

For older children, you might enjoy quad biking or a cooking class today.

You will be picked up from your accommodation in Marrakech around 8 o’clock in the morning. We will then depart for the High Atlas mountains, going through the Tizi n’Tichka pass with stops for panoramic views and taking pictures of the small Amazigh villages that dot the landscape. We will then take a small road to Telouat Kasbah. After visiting the kasbah you’ll have some free time to enjoy lunch in the town.

In the afternoon, we will continue through the Ounila valley, where you can see small villages and families that live in adobe houses, before we reach the ksar (fortified village) of Ait Ben Haddou Ait Ben Haddou where we will visit the famous Kasbah (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986). Famous films have been shot in this spectacular set, including Gladiator and Game of Thrones.

An alternative to Ait Ben Haddou is horse or donkey riding through the palm groves.

You will spend the night in Ouarzazate and enjoy dinner in your hotel.

After breakfast we will depart for the Draa Valley where you can see one of the longest rivers in Morocco. On the way we will make a few stops to take pictures and enjoy the view of the spectacular kasbahs and berber villages that dot the road, as well as the beauty of the Draa valley.

We will have lunch in Nkob or Alnif and then continue driving to reach the wonderful Merzouga dunes. Here, we will swap our motorized transportation for a 4-legged one (camel!) to enter inside the heart of the desert. Your camel ride will last around 1.5 hours, during which you will stop on top of a big dune to catch the sunset. Here you can also have a go at sandboarding (included).

When you reach the camp, you will find your luggage waiting for you and enjoy dinner before spending the night in the dunes, listening to traditional Amazigh music, or stargazing. Our luxury desert camp has cosy beds, hot water, showers and private bathrooms in each tent.

Note: children under 10 can accompany their parents’ on the camel.

This morning you have a ‘date with the sunrise.’ When you are in the middle of the desert, waking up early is a must to watch the spectacular sunrise from the top of a dune close to the camp. After breakfast, we will return to Merzouga on camels. We will leave the desert after breakfast to head to Rissani, where we will visit the market (market days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday).

We will then continue to Erfoud, where many fossils have been found (children love the dinosaur fossils!), before making our way to the Touroug and Tinjdad palm groves. One hour later we will best the Todra Gorges. The course of the river has carved out a cliff-sided canyon. You will have some free time to walk through the gorge to better appreciate the beauty of the landscape, before having lunch.

In the afternoon we continue to the Dadès valley, also known as the fig valley. We will have dinner and spend the night in Dades. Your hotel has panoramic views of the valley and a beautiful outdoor swimming pool.

After breakfast you can enjoy one of the best views of the Dadès valley from a strategic lookout point. From there you can see the amazing number of kasbahs. Then we wil continue by a road known as the “one thousand kasbahs road,” through the Roses Valley and the giant Skoura palm until we reach Ouarzazate to visit the Kasbah of Taourirt, the old residence of the Glaoui the Pasha of Marrakech.

If you are interested we can visit the cinema studios in Ouarzazate before enjoying lunch in town. The tour guides in the film studios are great with children.

In the afternoon we start our way back to Marrakech going through the mountain pass of Tizi n’Tichka with some stops to take pictures. Here we leave back the moonlike landscape to reach another one full of colors. We will arrive to Marrakech around 6pm where your adventure ends.

If you want to extend your trip, you can add extra days – for example a couple of nights by the coast in Essaouira.