Imperial Cities
Marrakech, Fez and the medinas, opened by name through the artisans. A private, tailored journey of 7-9 days in Morocco, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$10,000 per traveler.
- Culture · Craft
- Ideal length: 7-9 days
- Best time: March to May and September to November, when the days are warm, the light is clear and the desert nights turn crisp rather than cold.
- Private guiding, access and transfers throughout
- From US$10,000 per traveler — a starting point, tailored to you
- Designed one-to-one by a Forest Travel advisor
- Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels
Marrakech, Fez and the medinas, opened by name through the artisans. A private, tailored journey of 7-9 days in Morocco, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$10,000 per traveler.
Few countries move so effortlessly from imperial medinas to snow-touched mountains to the immense silence of the Sahara, all within a few hours' drive.
When to go
March to May and September to November, when the days are warm, the light is clear and the desert nights turn crisp rather than cold. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
The experiences
A sense of what this journey can hold — each one arranged privately and shaped to you:
- A private walk through the Fez medina, its doors opened by name at the workshops of coppersmiths and weavers.
- An afternoon with a master zellige artisan, watching the tiles cut and set entirely by hand.
- A guided passage through the imperial ramparts of Meknes, unhurried and free of the crowds.
- A private dinner in a restored palace, with a table set in a courtyard scented by orange blossom.
A sense of the rhythm
This is a journey through the country's four historic capitals, and it moves at the measured pace of the medinas themselves. You spend enough time in each city to let a guide open the workshops and studios that most visitors never see. Mornings are for the labyrinths of the old towns; afternoons belong to the courtyards and gardens.
How to do it well
The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:
- Fez rewards patience; give it two nights so the medina reveals itself slowly.
- Ask us to arrange access to a private artisan workshop, closed to the general public.
- Wear comfortable shoes for the cobbled lanes, which climb and turn without warning.
- Let us time your Fez tannery visit for the morning light, when the colours are at their richest.
What only your advisor can open
The difference between a good trip and an unrepeatable one is access — and access is a relationship, not a booking. Every guide, room and moment is chosen and sequenced for you.
Who it's for
Travelers who value privacy, time and doing it once — beautifully — and who would rather have one trusted advisor orchestrate every detail than assemble it themselves.
Estimated investment
From US$10,000 per traveler, based on double occupancy — scaled to your dates, party size and level of privacy. A starting point, not a final quote; confirmed once your advisor tailors the itinerary.
Designed entirely around you
Nothing here is a package. A Forest Travel advisor shapes the whole journey and stays one message away before and throughout your trip.
Your Virtuoso privileges
As a Virtuoso member, Forest Travel includes benefits reserved for Virtuoso guests at the finest luxury hotels, at no added cost: a room upgrade on arrival when available, daily breakfast for two, a property credit toward dining or spa, and early check-in with late check-out when the hotel allows.
Continue exploring Morocco
Part of our Morocco travel guide. Related private journeys:
Begin the conversation
Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design Imperial Cities around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →
Questions, answered.
If your interest lies in craft, history and the living medinas, the imperial cities are complete in themselves. When you would rather trade one city for the dunes, we would point you instead towards Marrakech and the Sahara.
Give Fez two nights. Our advisors find that Fez rewards patience, and two nights let the medina reveal itself slowly rather than all at once. That time allows a private walk through the medina, with the workshops of coppersmiths and weavers opened by name, and a tannery visit timed for the morning light, when the colours are at their richest.
Yes. Ask your advisor to arrange access to a private artisan workshop, closed to the general public. On this journey a guide opens the workshops and studios that most visitors never see, from the coppersmiths and weavers of the Fez medina to an afternoon with a master zellige artisan, watching the tiles cut and set entirely by hand.
Wear comfortable shoes. The cobbled lanes of the old towns climb and turn without warning, and mornings on this journey are spent in those labyrinths, walking with a private guide. Afternoons are gentler, given over to courtyards and gardens, so the most demanding walking comes early in the day, when you are exploring the medinas on foot.
Plan on 7-9 days. The journey moves through the four historic capitals at the measured pace of the medinas, with enough time in each city for a guide to open the workshops and studios most visitors never see. Mornings are for the labyrinths of the old towns; afternoons belong to courtyards and gardens. Give Fez two nights so its medina reveals itself slowly, with the tannery visit timed for the morning light, and leave room for the imperial ramparts of Meknes and a private dinner in a restored palace.
As a private, tailored journey it starts from roughly US$10,000 per traveler (double occupancy) and scales with your dates, party and level of privacy — a starting point, never a fixed package price. Your advisor confirms the figure once the itinerary is tailored.
March to May and September to November. In these months the days are warm and the light is clear, which suits mornings in the labyrinths of Fez and Marrakech and afternoons in courtyards and gardens; the desert nights turn crisp rather than cold. Within that window, your advisor times the journey to the light, the crowds and your own calendar, including a Fez tannery visit set for the morning, when the colours are at their richest.
On the Imperial Cities journey in Morocco, Meknes is seen through a guided passage along its imperial ramparts, arranged privately, unhurried and free of the crowds. It belongs to a route through the country's four historic capitals, which moves at the measured pace of the medinas. Mornings go to the labyrinths of the old towns, and afternoons are kept for courtyards and gardens.
Yes. The Imperial Cities journey in Morocco can include a private dinner in a restored palace, with the table set in a courtyard scented by orange blossom. Like every experience on this route, it is arranged privately and shaped to you. It suits the rhythm of the journey, where afternoons belong to courtyards and gardens after mornings spent in the medinas.
The Imperial Cities journey in Morocco can include an afternoon with a master zellige artisan, watching the tiles cut and set entirely by hand. It is arranged privately and fits the journey's focus on craft, history and the living medinas. A guide opens workshops and studios most visitors never see, alongside the coppersmiths and weavers of the Fez medina.
Morocco
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