Roots & Ancestral Jewish Morocco — 12-Day Sephardic Heritage Tour

This 12-day Jewish tour of Morocco is for travellers tracing family names, ancestral towns, and Sephardic origins. See here for more Jewish tours of Morocco.

The journey follows the fuller arc of Moroccan Jewish life – from Casablanca and the thousand-year mellah of Fez, through the imperial Jewish heritage of Meknes, out to the Sahara and the oasis communities of the south, and into Marrakech's living Jewish quarter. Along the way, a Moroccan Jewish culinary heritage workshop, a family table, and the desert shrines of revered rabbis.

Your guide provides the historical context that helps bring family histories and Sephardic traditions to life at each site.

Roots & Ancestral Jewish Morocco 12 Days — tour specification
Duration 12 days / 11 nights
Cities Casablanca · Rabat · Meknes · Fez · Sahara (Merzouga) · Skoura · Marrakech
Accommodation 4-star hotels & riads (luxury tier available)
Guiding Same licensed Moroccan guide & driver throughout
Group Small-group scheduled departure
From price from $8,028pp

What's Included on This Tour Package

  • Private air-conditioned transfers throughout, with driver, mineral water and WiFi
  • Fast-track arrival assistance at Casablanca Airport
  • A professional English-speaking guide across the journey
  • All entrance fees to the sites and synagogues in the itinerary
  • 11 nights' accommodation with daily breakfast (full-board in Skoura)
  • The Moroccan Jewish culinary heritage workshop at Palais Amani (Day 4)
  • The Sahara desert camp – 4x4 transfer, camel ride and dinner (Day 5)
  • The Jewish family home dinner (Day 9, soft drinks included)
  • The Ourika Valley excursion with a local tea break (Day 10)
  • The vintage sidecar experience in Marrakech (Day 11)

Pricing & How to Book This Tour

The itinerary below is priced from $8,028 per person, based on our 4-star accommodation, sharing a double or twin room. This covers everything listed in "What's Included" – private guiding, transfers, the culinary workshop, the Sahara camp, the family dinner, and all site entrances.

Prefer to travel at the highest level? The luxury hotels named in the day-by-day below – including Riad Fes, Dar Ahlam in Skoura, and Villa des Orangers in Marrakech – are available as an upgrade, from $10,266 per person.

To book this tour at either price range please contact us.

And if you'd like this journey shaped around you, we can build a bespoke version – tailored to your budget, your ideal itinerary, and your own private tour group, travelling on the dates that suit you. Contact us and we'll design it together.

12-Day Roots & Ancestral Jewish Morocco Itinerary

This twelve-day journey is built for travellers tracing Sephardic family names and ancestral towns across Morocco. It opens in Casablanca with Temple Beth-El and the Museum of Moroccan Judaism, then reaches the imperial Jewish heritage of Meknes — its New Mellah and Jewish cemetery — and Roman Volubilis, before three nights in Fez, city of Maimonides and Rabbi Isaac Alfasi, with its 650-year-old mellah and restored Ibn Danan Synagogue. From there it crosses to the Sahara at Merzouga, the southern Jewish communities of Tinghir and the Dades Valley, and the oasis of Skoura, closing with four nights in Marrakech — the Lazama Synagogue, a Jewish family table, and the Ourika Valley tombs of Rabbi Haim Ben Diwan.

Day 1 — Arrival in Casablanca

Welcome to Morocco, with fast-track arrival assistance and a private transfer into the city. If time allows, an afternoon tour of Casablanca: Temple Beth-El, the Museum of Moroccan Judaism – the only one of its kind in the Arab world – and the old mellah with its cemetery, plus an optional stop at the Hassan II Mosque.

Explore the sites in depth in our guide to Jewish Casablanca.

  • Stay: Hotel le Casablanca, Casablanca (or similar)
  • Included: Fast-track airport assistance · private transfer

Overnight in Casablanca.

Day 2 — Rabat, Meknes & Volubilis: Imperial & Jewish Heritage

Travel via Rabat, the kingdom's capital, to the imperial city of Meknes – a UNESCO World Heritage site where Jewish heritage survives in Hebraic epitaphs – visiting the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum, the New Mellah, and the Jewish cemetery of Meknes, alongside the Roman ruins of Volubilis. Dinner and a tasting at the Château Roslane winery before continuing to Fez for a three-night stay.

  • Stay: Riad Fes (or similar 4-star) — three nights
  • Drive: Casablanca → Fez via Rabat & Meknes, approx. 3 hrs final leg

Overnight in Fez.

Day 3 — Fez, the Intellectual Heart

A full day in the 650-year-old mellah of Fez – the first to bear the name. Step inside the restored Ibn Danan Synagogue, visit the hillside cemetery holding more Jewish saints than any other in Morocco, and walk the medieval medina where Maimonides and Rabbi Isaac Alfasi once lived, with the El Qaraouiyyin university, souks, and tanneries.

If you're looking to locate your ancestors in the Fez cemetery this is the day for exploration. Our guides know the guardian of the Fez cemetary and can secure archival records to facilitate your search.

More on the quarter in our guide to the Fez Mellah.

  • Stay: Riad Fes (or similar 4-star)

Overnight in Fez.

Day 4 — Moroccan Jewish Culinary Heritage Workshop

A morning at leisure, then in the afternoon a Moroccan Jewish culinary heritage workshop at Palais Amani: shop the medina souks with a chef for ingredients, then a hands-on cooking session exploring the flavours and techniques shaped by Morocco's Jewish community over two millennia, finishing with the meal you've prepared.

  • Stay: Riad Fes (or similar 4-star)
  • Included: Culinary heritage workshop & self-prepared meal at Palais Amani

Overnight in Fez.

Day 5 — Across the Middle Atlas to the Sahara

A full travel day south through the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, past Ifrane and through the Ziz Valley to Erfoud and Rissani, arriving at the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga. Welcomed with mint tea at a desert camp, a sunset camel ride, and dinner under the stars.

  • Stay: Merzouga Luxury Camp (or similar) – one night
  • Included: 4x4 desert transfer · sunset camel ride · camp dinner
  • Drive: Fez → Merzouga, approx. 7 hrs (a long but scenic day)

Overnight in Merzouga.

Day 6 — Sahara to Skoura, via Tinghir & the Dades Valley

Travel west toward the palm oasis of Skoura. En route, stop in Tinghir to explore its historic mellah and the story of the Jewish community that once flourished in the oasis, and pass through the Dades Valley, long home to Jewish communities among its oasis villages.

  • Stay: Dar Ahlam, Skoura (or similar 4-star) – two nights, full-board
  • Drive: Merzouga → Skoura, approx. 5 hrs

Overnight in Skoura.

Day 7 — Skoura at Leisure

A slower day in the oasis. Your hotel offers optional experiences to arrange in advance – a guided walk, bike or horse-drawn carriage through the palm groves, a private lunch, or a Moroccan cooking class.

  • Stay: Dar Ahlam, Skoura (or similar 4-star), full-board

Overnight in Skoura.

Day 8 — Skoura to Marrakech, over the High Atlas

Cross the High Atlas toward Marrakech, stopping at the Atlas Film Studios of Ouarzazate and the UNESCO-listed kasbah of Aït Benhaddou, an earthen fortress on the Ounila River. Arrive in Marrakech for a four-night stay.

  • Stay: Riad XO, Marrakech (or similar 4-star) – four nights
  • Drive: Skoura → Marrakech, approx. 4.5 hrs

Overnight in Marrakech.

Day 9 — Jewish Marrakech & a Family Table

A full day in the Red City's Jewish heart, with your guide providing the historical and genealogical context for travellers tracing Sephardic origins: the mellah, the still-active Lazama Synagogue, the Old Spice Market, and the Rabbi Hanania Hacohen cemetery, alongside the Bahia Palace, Ben Youssef Madrasa, and Jemaa el-Fnaa. In the evening, an intimate dinner in the private home of a Moroccan Jewish family — hospitality, storytelling, and traditional cooking, with your guide translating.

Read our guide to the Marrakech Mellah for more on the sites.

  • Stay: Villa dels Orangers, Marrakech (or similar 4-star)
  • Included: Jewish family home dinner (soft drinks included)

Overnight in Marrakech.

Day 10 — High Atlas: Ourika Valley Excursion

A 4x4 morning into the Ourika Valley to the ancient Jewish zaouia and the tombs of Rabbi Mordekhai, Rabbi Abraham Ben Hammou, and Rabbi Haim Ben Diwan, with centuries-old menorahs, Torah-scroll crowns, and Hebrew inscriptions, and a tea break with local hosts. A free afternoon back in Marrakech.

  • Stay: Villa dels Orangers, Marrakech (or similar 4-star)
  • Included: Ourika Valley 4x4 excursion & tea break

Overnight in Marrakech.

Day 11 — Majorelle Garden & a Vintage Sidecar Ride

The cobalt-blue Majorelle Garden and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in the morning, then an afternoon vintage sidecar ride through the medina, the palm grove, and the Kasbah district for a local view of the city.

  • Stay: Villa dels Orangers, Marrakech (or similar 4-star)
  • Included: Vintage sidecar experience (1.5 hrs)

Overnight in Marrakech.

Day 12 — Departure

  • Included: Private departure transfer

End of service.

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