Captivating Tour through Lisbon and Morocco (12 days)

Arrive in Lisbon. Private transfer to your hotel on arrival.

Alfama & Old Town Foodie Tour with Tuk Tuk (up to 4 hours)

With your food expert guide you will explore Alfama, the oldest area in Lisbon, and learn about its rich culture and history.

Continue to the Old Town, where you will visit traditional stores, taste pastries and “petiscos” where the locals eat, and end your tour with a glass of “ginjinha” (sour cherry liqueur) at a century old tavern.

You will have at least 4 tasting stops which include 8+ tastings and beverages. Due to Lisbon's many hills, part of this tour will include transportation by tuk tuk.

Return to hotel.

Half Day Tour of Lisbon (4 hours)

Enjoy a panoramic drive through Lisbon along the Tagus River to the Praça do Comércio, and through the Baixa financial district with its elegant late 18th-century architecture. Continue to Belem where you will visit the Monastery of the Jerónimos. Then see the Tower of Belem and the Monument to the Discoveries.

End your tour with a stroll through one of Lisbon’s historic neighborhoods, such as Baixa or Chiado. Chiado is full of studios, original shops, renovated spaces and marvelous cafés. Baixa is more traditional and authentic, with souvenir shops, famous bakeries and restaurants.

Rest of the day at leisure.

Full Day Tour to Sintra, Cascais & Estoril (up to 8 hours)

Depart to Sintra, a haven of peace and greenery. For six centuries the town was the favorite summer residence of the kings of Portugal. Visit the National Palace, which dates from the 14th century. The interior is interesting for its remarkable decoration of 16th and 17th century tiles, especially in the Arabic Hall.

Have lunch on your own at a restaurant overlooking the beach.

After lunch, depart for Lisbon via the coast to visit the traditional fishing villages of Cascais and Estoril. Time permitting, you will also drive to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in Continental Europe in Cascais.

Return to hotel.

Private transfer to the airport for departure.

Flight tickets to Casablanca.

Land at Casablanca airport and meet your driver for the 1½-hr transfer to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. With a morning arrival, you may stop to see some highlights along the way, such as the Ain Diab coastline and the Hassan II Mosque, Africa’s largest. The remainder of the day is free to relax from the journey.

Full Day Tour of Rabat (8 hours)

Start the morning at the Chellah fortress, an ancient citadel with Roman vestiges surrounded by lush vegetation. It also contains the intricate necropolis of the 14th-C. Marinid Dynasty.

Next, visit the Museum of History and Civilizations, the country's prime archaeological museum renowned for its prehistoric and Roman collections. Continue to the Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, housed in a striking structure of neo-Moorish architecture.

Have lunch on your own at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, take a leisurely stroll through the picturesque Oudaya Kasbah, a former lair of Barbary Coast corsairs, its Andalusian Gardens and 12th-C. Oudaya Gate, a reference of the Moroccan architectural style developed by the Almohad Dynasty.

Finish the tour with the ornate mausoleum of modern Morocco’s “father”, King Mohamed V, set on the grounds of what had been meant to be the world’s largest mosque in the 12th century.

Transfer to Fez with stops in Meknes & Volubilis

Depart to the Imperial City of Meknes, the capital of 17th/18th-C. Sultan Moulay Ismaïl. See the immense granary he built to feed the city’s population and his thousands of horses. Next, visit Ismaïl’s mausoleum, to some a pilgrimage site, and the nearby Mansour gate, Morocco's largest.

Continue north to the ruins of Volubilis, Rome’s commercial capital in northwestern Africa until the 3rd C. CE, renowned for its numerous mosaics. It is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Finally, make your way to the spiritual capital of Fez. Rest of the day at leisure.

Full Day Tour of Fez (8 hours)

Begin the day with a walk through the labyrinth of the 9th-C. “Old” city, considered the last true example of a typical, medieval Arab town. See the stunning mausoleum of city founder Idriss II, as well as the famed leather tannery where they make leather using 11th century techniques.

Explore the bazaars around the world’s oldest still functioning university, the Qaraouïne. Just in front is the 14th-C. Attarine Medersa, a jewel of Marinid-era interior art. Visit the Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts & Crafts.

Have lunch on your own at a local restaurant.

Then proceed on a driving tour of the ramparts and visit 14th-C. "New" Fez, with the Bou Inania Medersa, to some scholars the highest achievement of Marinid architecture, along with the famed Boujeloud "Blue" Gate. Also see Fez’s renowned pottery and mosaic tile workshops just beyond town.

Transfer to Marrakech by plane or car.

If done by car, you will have a full day of driving. Travel through the Middle Atlas mountains, the most scenic route, with a chance to see the last forest of giant Mediterranean cedars, their Barbary macaques and rolling farmland.

Tour of Majorelle Garden and the Red Medina

Take a morning stroll through the exotic Majorelle garden, established in the 1920s by French painter Jacques Majorelle and restored by Yves Saint-Laurent. Within the garden, visit the unique Museum of Berber Arts (and, if interested, the brand new YSL museum next to it).

Then head into the old city to admire its prime monuments:

–The Koutoubia: This late 12th-C. minaret is the symbol of the city and a "reference" of World Islamic art, the prime example of the purely Moroccan architecture developed under the Berber Almohad Dynasty.

–The Saadian Tombs: This site is a necropolis for Saadian royal families, established by Saadian Sultan Mansour ed-Dehbi. The mausoleum displays the splendor of early 17th-C Saadian art.

–The Bahia Palace: The late 19th-C. palace of powerful vizier Ba Ahmed. It features some of the finest ceiling decor to be seen in Morocco, along with the Arab culture’s cherished garden patios.

Into the Souq Tour

Enjoy a morning walking tour of the extensive reed-covered bazaar, the country’s largest, still divided into specialty quarters. Stop at the exquisite Dar el Basha palace of a former city overlord, with its museum of confluences between Islam, Judaism and Christianity as expressed in crafts and beliefs.

Also stop at the Ben Youssef Medersa, another jewel initially built by the 14th-C. Marinids. Then see the crafting of a myriad decorative objects and browse through the shops selling them.

Rest of the day at leisure.

We suggest you visit the infamous Jemaa el Fna square, the vibrant heart of the city, where the circus-like atmosphere is at its highest around sunset.

Mt. Toubkal National Park Tour

Depart south to the magnificent High Atlas mountains, Africa’s longest range, until you reach Imlil hamlet at the foot of Mt. Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak at nearly 14,000 ft. There you will meet your mountain guide for a hike or a mule ride through walnut-shaded, terraced fields and local hamlets. Here you'll get to observe village life and field work of the Berber tribesmen, Morocco's original settlers, nearly unchanged in centuries.

Then reach the Kasbah du Toubkal, a former fortress above Imlil, now converted to an award-winning eco-lodge, for a traditional lunch.

After lunch, return to Marrakech.

Departure

Private transfer to Marrakech airport for departure.