Journey Moroccan Odyssey

Arrive Fes
Riad Fes, a Relais & Chateaux luxury hotel. Begin with a privately guided tour of souks and tanneries. Sunset dinner served with a backdrop of stunning vistas and night skies.Your visits will include: Volubilis Roman Ruins from 3rd century BC and still displays intact colorful mosaics. Souk Tasting Trail, amazing traditional Moroccan street food tour with Fes expert.

A private Artisan tour with a “happening” young Moroccan Designer whose fascination of handicraft was inspired by Berber graphic colors, began early and continues to grow. The artists collaborate with different artisans and is passionate about celebrating their creativity by drawing inspiration from traditional techniques whilst embracing a contemporary style.

A private textile session with a Fashion and Interior Designer, textile authority and enthusiastic collector of Islamic carpets and textiles. The artist launched fashion which incorporates 19th century textiles into contemporary designs.

Drumming workshop if you would like to learn ancient music technique.Arrive Ouarzazate via private plane
Dar Ahlam, Maisons des Reves, a Relais & Chateaux luxury hotel.

Ait Benhaddou, visit a fortified city or ksar, along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech.

Activities may include camel riding and picnicking at the lake.
Dinner in the Sidi Flash Gorge followed by stargazing with a local astronomer.

Arrive Ouled Driss via helicopter for a luxury desert overnight stay.
Morning begins with an exhilarating 4-wheel drive adventure through sandy trails, blooming acacia and tamarisk trees to the dunes, reaching the most elaborate and important kasbahs in the Dades Valley. You have seen these vistas used by movie makers for years including Lawrence of Arabia and Jesus of Nazareth.

Meet your decorated camels at end of day for a ride to the highest dunes climbing to the peaks for a spectacular sunset over the Sahara Desert. Chilled drinks, known as sun downers, in hand. A leisurely ride back to your private luxury desert tent erected in the middle of the desert.

Imagine the quiet and the vastness of gazing as far as you can see – the expansive horizon seems to stretch forever. As dusk descends, local nomadic Tuareg joins the family for supper and teaches everyone traditional drumming.morocco-123976_128Sitting beneath an endless blanket of twinkling stars, an astronomer points out distant galaxies and identifies the stars, originally named by ancient Arabs who navigated these sands. Camped in the historic and legendary Caravan Route from Marrakech to Timbuktu, dreams of exotic adventures are guaranteed. Sunrise is glorious with a dawn camel trek to greet the rising sun.

Arrive to the soaring Atlas Mountains via private transport from Marrakech.
Bab Ourika Hotel. Activities include river rafting, repelling and a privately guided trek through Atlas Mountains.

Arrive Marrakech via private transportation.
La Mamounia Hotel in a private riad. This is a legendary location an original oasis in the desert. Begin your day with an exhilarating sunrise Hot Air Balloon excursion. Continue with quad biking, or discover hidden sides of Marrakech with more souk tours sampling street food, meeting local textile and leather designers in their studios.Morocco is easily reached from Europe – hop over for an exotic odyssey!

Saffron Season Fall Harvest Marrakech

Experience the Saffron harvest at a cooking workshop in Marrakech at the petite luxury hotel Maison Arabe. Staying in the heart of the medina near the souks adds to the exotic experience of all that is Marrakech.  Harvest dates run October 25 through November 20.Saffron crocus is a fall bloomer with purple petals, yellow stamens and a three-part red-orange stigma that becomes the saffron strands. Derived from the dried stigmas of the crocus sativus, it takes 70,000 crocus plants to make a pound of finished saffron. Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, is costly because more than 225,000 stigmas must be hand picked to produce one pound. In its pure form, saffron is a mass of compressed, threadlike, dark orange strands.

Saffron Harvest
Enjoy an early morning 45-minute drive to the beautiful Ourika Valley, watch the saffron harvest on-site and up close. A private tour provided by the director of the saffron farm, will explain everything about the cultivation and preparation of this precious spice. A delicious lunch will be served at the end of this half-day excursion. Take your new knowledge to the professional kitchens of La Maison Arabe. The off property location is an oasis in the medina, driving past, one would never guess this overgrown, yet cultivated garden and chef kitchen is hidden behind colorful gates, in a peaceful garden compound.

Cooking Workshop
During a half-day workshop at La Maison Arabe’s renowned cooking school, you will learn from a dada, a traditional Moroccan chef, how to make various Moroccan dishes that use saffron as a key ingredient, as well as how to prepare a refreshing saffron tea.

Pamper yourself at the beautiful Wellness Center within the Maison Arabe Hotel. Enjoy a relaxing Marhaba treatment hammam, traditional kessa body scrub, clay body masque, and relaxing 30 minute massage.

Expert guiding through the myriad stalls of the souks, bargaining assistance provided if necessary!