Imperial Tour

The imperial cities route is the cultural alternative to the standard Marrakech-to-Sahara run. Rather than heading straight for the dunes, it strings together the four cities that have taken turns as the seat of Moroccan power, and treats the riding between them as the connective tissue rather than the whole point. Marrakech starts and finishes the loop. From there the route heads north to Fes, whose medina is among the largest car-free urban areas anywhere and where the tanneries, the medersas and the sheer density of the old city are worth a full stop rather than a photograph. Meknes follows, quieter and more open, built on a monumental scale by Moulay Ismail and easier to walk in an afternoon. The road west then reaches Rabat, the modern capital on the Atlantic, where the kasbah above the river mouth and the sea air make a change from the interior. The return south to Marrakech closes the circle across the plains and rolling farmland that fill the middle of the country, the part of Morocco most tour itineraries skip entirely. Overland Motorcycle Tours keep group sizes small and run their Morocco trips on light rental machinery, the Honda XR 250 historically and the BMW 310 more recently, a sensible choice for riders who are unfamiliar with Moroccan traffic and would rather not wrestle a heavy adventure bike through a city gate. The difficulty is rated moderate and the emphasis is on comfortable daily distances with time to stop. Accommodation, guiding, bike rental and meals are included in the package as listed, while insurance, fuel and personal expenses are not. Because this particular itinerary does not currently appear on the operator's published tour list, it is worth contacting them directly to confirm that it is still running, along with dates, the exact route and current pricing, before booking flights. Riders with more time may also want to ask about the operator's longer Morocco itineraries, which reach further south into the Atlas and the desert.

A six-day loop from Marrakech that links Morocco's imperial cities rather than chasing the desert. The route as listed runs north to Fes, across to Meknes, west to the Atlantic capital at Rabat and back south to Marrakech, which puts four of the country's historic capitals into a single week of riding. Overland Motorcycle Tours run their Moroccan trips in small groups on rental bikes, traditionally Honda XR 250s and more recently BMW 310s, machinery light enough to be easy going on unfamiliar roads and in city traffic. The riding is rated moderate, with accommodation, guiding, bike hire and meals covered and insurance, fuel and personal spending left to the rider. Dates and current pricing are not published on this listing, so confirm both with the operator before booking flights.