Private Rabat Imperial City Day Trip from Casablanca

Rabat is an hour and a half up the coast from Casablanca and the quietest of Morocco's four imperial cities: a working capital of wide avenues and gardens rather than a tourist town. Your English speaking driver/guide handles the motorway, the parking and the order of the stops, so the day is yours. You begin at the Royal Palace, seen from the public approaches. Then Chellah, the surprise of the day: a walled Marinid necropolis built over the Roman town of Sala Colonia, where fourteenth century minarets stand among columns almost two thousand years old, with storks nesting on top. Next is the Hassan Tower, the stump of what was meant to be the world's largest minaret when work stopped in 1199, facing the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. The Kasbah of the Udayas follows, a twelfth century fortress of blue and white lanes with an Andalusian garden and Atlantic views. The day closes in the Rabat medina. Entrance fees are paid on the day. Return to Casablanca in the late afternoon.