Southern Spain & Morocco Itinerary (14-15 days)

Hi jj, Your plan looks like a well-considered, solid itinerary. If I were to make any change at all, it would be day 13 in going to Chefchaouen— the “blue city.” From Fes, Chefchaouen is a 3:40 drive. It’s a further 4-hour drive from there to Rabat. Chefchaouen certainly is touted as an attraction in a lot of travel guides, but, in reality, I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. Some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in North Africa are just 90 minutes away from Fes in the ancient city of Volubilis. You might want to visit Volubilis, or add an extra day to Marrakech before returning to Spain for your return flight home. Flights from Fes to Madrid start at $17.
Viewing a few YouTube videos on Morocco will likely help you in fine-tuning what already is a fantastic itinerary.
Have a great trip!

Early, mid or late October? October 12 is a huge holiday in Spain and in many places it's a 3-day weekend, probably lots of crowds at sights, restaurants and on public transportation. Alhambra tickets sell out. Most people secure their tickets before making any reservations (hotels, flights, trains. . . ) that they can't cancel. Madrid is not nearly as interesting as the other cities. You could go to Toledo from the airport for 2 nights, then go to Cordoba. Toledo is much better as an overnight stay. I love Barcelona, but you really don't have time to squeeze in a couple of days and that just isn't nearly enough. OTOH it's easy to combine Barcelona with France and/or Italy on a future trip.

I was on a guided tour of Morocco and we spent 1 night in a desert hotel arriving early afternoon, went on camel ride to watch sunset, back for the night and left the next morning. Friends went on a different tour that spent 2 nights, so they could see and sunset and a sunrise. Honestly, riding a camel isn't much fun, though it is an "experience". The camels go in single file with locals walking with the lead and rear camels. The sunset was meh. I'm past the days of roughing it, so I would not have enjoyed sleeping in tents in the desert. My tour was in the first two weeks of October, 6 years ago, and the weather was mostly comfortable - not too hot most of the time, clear blue skies, and chilly in the mountains (which were more interesting than the sand dune). Chefchaouen was mostly photo ops, it is very pretty, but as Kenko pointed out, it's a long way there and back. The tour did a day trip to Essaouira while based in Marrakech. Everyone enjoyed that more.

Have you bought plane tickets yet? I don’t see nonstop flights from Granada to Marrakesh but there are from Seville. Instead of taking a direct train from Madrid to Cordoba go to Granada instead (3h 30m). From Granada take a direct train to Seville's Santa Justa station (2h 45m) and visit Cordoba as a day trip from Seville (45m).
Fly nonstop from Seville to Marrakesh and from Marrakesh fly nonstop to Fez. As already mentioned Chefchaouen is not a day trip from Fez. Fly home from Fez.

You may have heard that Barcelona is nicer than Madrid, but I am one of many who much prefer Madrid!
Consider a few days there too.

Just as an FYI. We took an overnight dessert tour. and did sleep in a tent but our tent had electricity, a bathroom with running water, a heater, and a comfortable bed. And the food was delicious! Not exactly roughing it!

We leave next week on a Morocco-only trip that is similar to yours but in reverse.

Day 13: day trip to Chefchaouen, then train to wherever is best to fly out from (Rabat or back to Fes, or maybe Casablanca)
What is the plan for getting from Fes to Chefchaouen and back? Chefchaouen is not served by train. We are taking a bus between the two points and it takes 3 1/2 hours. Not a fun day trip. If you can't stay overnight in Chefchaouen, I would drop that from the itinerary and spend an extra day in Fes.

FWIW our itinerary is:
1. Ferry from Algeciras to Tanger Med. Private car from Tanger Med to Chefchaouen.
2. Chefchaouen.
3. Bus from Chefchaouen to Fes.
4. Fes.
5. Desert Tour Day 1, from Fes to Erg Chebbi.
6. Desert Tour Day 2, from Erg Chebbi to Boulmane Dades.
7. Desert Tour Day 3, from Boulmane Dades to Marrakech.
8. Marrakech.
9. Marrakech.
10. Fly from Marrakech to London.

When we went to Morocco in December 2013, we were conflicted about doing a stay in the desert...worried about commercialization and primitive facilities. But, ultimately we did and it was an unforgettable experience. We stayed at Ali and Sara’s Desert Palace. The camp is set well away from everything but pristine dunes and consists of a cluster of attractive, authentic Berber tents. The camel trek into (and out of) the camp was fun, relaxing and helped to ease into the rhythm of the desert. The silent beauty of the desert dunes, the amazing night sky, and the warm hospitality of the Berber people (and Sara) is very special. Your itinerary, Morocco and Spain, looks awesome!

Thanks, you guys are incredible - thank you everyone for your input! Hope it's okay to follow up with some questions:

@Chani

Chefchaouen was mostly photo ops, it is very pretty, but as Kenko pointed out, it's a long way there and back. The tour did a day trip to Essaouira while based in Marrakech. Everyone enjoyed that more.

& @Kenko

Chefchaouen certainly is touted as an attraction in a lot of travel guides, but, in reality, I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. Some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in North Africa are just 90 minutes away from Fes in the ancient city of Volubilis.

Thank you both for mentioning this! Based on this, I'm getting the sense that Chefchaouen isn't really worth the extra time and we should instead add Essaouira or Volubilis to the trip. Or maybe just added time in Marreksh or Fes? Or Rabat? Casablanca?

@Chani:

Early, mid or late October? October 12 is a huge holiday in Spain and in many places it's a 3-day weekend, probably lots of crowds at sights, restaurants and on public transportation. Alhambra tickets sell out.

Wow, thank you for mentioning this because I would have had no idea. The plan had been to get there around October 6-7, so I'm grateful you mentioned this. Question: aside from tickets selling out, is it a GOOD thing or NOT SO GREAT thing to spend this holiday in Spain? I suppose it could be fun to see local celebrations, but since our focus/interest is generally Andalucian architecture, history, and good food, maybe steering clear of a national holiday is better.

@MaryPat

Fly nonstop from Seville to Marrakesh and from Marrakesh fly nonstop to Fez.

Since you mentioned flight from Marrakesh to Fez, does this mean you would scrap the multi-day Sahara desert tour that supposedly starts in Marrakesh and ends in Fes? So skip the desert and just spend a couple of days each in Marrakesh & Fez?
Also are trains pretty accessible between these cities or is a flight the best way to do it?

@Darrenblois
Thanks for sharing your itinerary!! Would you mind sharing which Desert tour you went with?
As for the day trip to Chefchaouen, I was considering a bus or one of those Viator group tours. But based on everything all of you have said, it might not be worth the time.

Thank you, @Suki & @Carol & @mml for your input!

Lastly to everyone, if I may ask a general question: If you have 5-7 days to spend in Morocco, what itinerary/cities would YOU prioritize?

If we scrap the desert tour and Chefchaouen trip, and maybe do 2ish days in each of Marrakesh and Fes (plus travel time), that could be about 5 days total in Morocco. Plus the 8ish days in Spain, I feel like that is probably an easier trip financially.

Is there somewhere you would prioritize in Morocco over these 2 cities (Marrakesh & Fes), or are these the two places to maximize?

We loved everywhere on our two week self-drive tour of Morocco. Favorites were: 1) Fes; 2) the desert; 3) Essaouira.

does this mean you would scrap the multi-day Sahara desert tour that supposedly starts in Marrakesh and ends in Fes?

No, I didn't realize you were taking a desert tour so no need to fly from Marrakesh to Fez.

Would you mind sharing which Desert tour you went with?

We have booked with Morocco Fabulous Travel (https://moroccofabuloustravel.com/). They give a lot of details in their website, and have been really good to work with through the booking process. And they have outstanding public reviews. Can't say more until we meet them to start our tour in about a week!

darrenblois- wondering how the desert tour was because I am looking for a good company.
Thanks.

It was fantastic! I definitely recommend Morocco Fabulous Travel.