Best 5 days desert tour from Fes to Marrakech

5 days desert tour from Fes to Marrakech itinerary

1,025 km

5 days & 4 nights

All seasons

5 days desert tour Fes to Marrakech overview:

You get the chance to visit a significant portion of the Sahara Desert via the Atlas Mountains, Valleys, and Kasbahs on the 5 days desert tour from Fes to Marrakech. Enjoy a camel ride and a camping trip at night in the Sahara. The itinerary comprises three nights: two in Dades Valley, one in Ouarzazate, and one in the Merzouga desert.

Our 5 days desert trip Fes to Marrakech highlights:

Ifrane , Switzerland of Morocco
See a lot of Berber villages
Explore Erg Chebbi dunes
camping at berber tent
Ouarzazate atlas studio
Visit Ait Benhaddou Kasbah
Pass by Tizi n’Tichka Pass

5 days desert trip from Fes to Marrakech itinerary:

Day 1: Fes » Azrou (Ceder forest) » Midelt » Erfoud » Merzoug

Around 8:30 am, your driver will pick you up from your Fes riad/hotel and begin your five-day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech via Merzouga. From there, you’ll travel to the Sahara Desert, where the Erg Chebbi sand dunes are located.

Tafilalet, the largest oasis in southern Morocco, is reached after an 8-hour journey across the Atlas Mountains. Tafilalet is made up of numerous villages, palmers, and two significant Saharan towns, Erfoud and Rissani.

We will stop frequently along the way in the mountain village of Ifrane, the Azrou cedar forest, where monkeys live, Midelt for lunch, and Ziz valley for its breathtaking views of the palm trees and for its lush valley in the heart of the Sahara. The Erg Chebbi sand dunes will thereafter be our destination.

The dunes finally materialize in the midst of nowhere as we go farther into the arid terrain. On the first night of your five-day desert vacation from Fes to Marrakech, have dinner and spend the night in a hotel with a pool along the Erg Chebbi dune line.

Day 2: Explore Merzouga area & Night at Hotel/Riad

Today, we’ll investigate the desert area and the magnificent Erg Chebbi sand dunes. We’ll do a tour of the dunes in the desert so you can witness how nomads live and the incredible shifting contrasts of the landscape.

Then, go witness the Gnawa musicians in the “black village” of Khamlia. In the historic capital of Rissani, lunch should also include a classic Berber pizza. After viewing the afternoon sun set over the sand dunes, we will ride camels back to the desert camp where we will spend the night.

As the moon rises over the magnificent Sahara Desert, we will enjoy a traditional tagine meal, savor some delectable mint tea, and watch the stars.

Day 3: Merzouga » Ziz Vally » Todra Gorges & Dades Gorge

Before heading back to our desert hotel, we’ll rise early to see the most spectacular sunrise of your life, which will cast various shadows and hues across the tallest sand dune sea in all of Morocco.

Following breakfast, we’ll head on to Tinghir and the breathtaking Todra Gorge, one of Morocco’s tallest and tiniest gorges. The gorge is an excellent place for trekking, sitting by the river, and enjoying some regional Berber cuisine.

After eating lunch in the midst of the canyon, we’ll travel through the Dades Valley before completing the day by spending the night at a luxury hotel perched atop a mountain.

Day 4: Todra Gorge » Ait Ben Haddou » Ouarzazate

After breakfast at the hotel, we set out on our journey along the “Road of 1000 Thousand Kasbahs” because it is flanked on both sides by enormous kasbahs. Unfortunately, many of those old fortified homes are in ruins; only a few of them have been restored.

We proceed through the Dades Valley and ascend to the mountainous region via an off-road trail where there are numerous Berber villages and a small number of cave-dwelling nomads. Here, we will have the opportunity to visit one of these families and get a glimpse of their daily routines and primary occupation, which is tending to goat, sheep, and other livestock herds.

Before we get to the Skoura palm grove, the vivid rose valley will leave an impression on us. We travel another 45 kilometres to reach Ouarzazate, where we will have supper and spend the night at a hotel.

Day 5: Ouarzazate » Ait Ben Haddou » High Atlas » Marrakech

We will visit Taourirt Kasbah after breakfast before traveling to Ait Benhaddou to see the World Heritage Site. The Kasbah el Glaoui and Telouet, a classic High Atlas Berber settlement, will be our next stops.

Before descending the Tizi-n-Tichka to Marrakech, where our 5-day desert journey from Fes to Marrakech through Merzouga Sahara concludes, we will eat lunch at a small eatery in Telouet.