Tangier, Chefchaouen, and Assilah

Enjoy our luxury VIP arrival services with personal assistance through immigration and customs formalities before meeting your warm, expert and English-fluent guide for the next four days.  You’ll be chauffeured to your hotel.

After a sumptuous breakfast, our guide will begin by leading us through the legendary Kasbah, a fortified hillside enclosure built around a 17^th century royal palace, now a museum with lovely gardens which we’ll visit.  We’ll then descend through the narrow streets of the Kasbah into the ancient Medina to encounter the only U.S. National Historic Site in an overseas location, The American Legation.  The Moroccan Sultan was the first national leader to recognize American Independence in 1777 and provided this extensive mansion as a gift in 1821.  The curator of the building will guide us through its long history and collections before a lunch thoughtfully suggested by your guide.  This afternoon, we’ll drive and stop along the beautiful Mediterranean coast for views to Gibraltar and Spain. The evening is free and your guide will make dining suggestions.  Tangier has an extensive culinary tradition. Meals B

Following breakfast this morning, we head into the picturesque Rif Mountains to the southeast with our guide for the two-hour drive to the blue city of Chefchaouen, with one of the most beautiful Medinas in Morocco.  Formerly a protectorate of Spain, this picturesque town of blue and white wasn’t really known to the world until 1920 when Spanish forces overcame a local warlord.  During World War II, Jews sheltered here and the town became better known.  We’ll be guided through the colorful Medina, its markets and its Kasbah before enjoying lunch and free time afterwards to explore its meandering narrow streets.

On-route back to Tangier, we’ll enter Assilah through the Bab el Bahr or Sea Gate, the entry point for successive occupation over the centuries by Romans, Spaniards and Portuguese.  Its seaside bastions, towers and ramparts offer great walking paths and this artistic town has become famous for its annual summer world music festival.  Colorful and fantastic art designs cover many of the walls in Assilah. We’ll return to Tangier in the early evening in time for dinner. Meals B
 

This morning, following breakfast, we’ll be chauffeured to the Tangier Rail Terminal for a two-hour first class ride to Casablanca where we’ll be met and chauffeured to your hotel to begin your tour. Meals B