KM ~560 · as far as Merzouga — Erg Chebbi
3 Days / 2 NightsDeparts from Fes → Marrakech
3-Day Tour from Fes to the Desert and Marrakech
Three full days: Middle Atlas macaques, a Berber night at Merzouga, the Todra gorge and the arrival in Marrakech.
The route
Day by day
Day 01 · Merzouga · ~713 m
Cedars, Monkeys and the Ziz Valley to the Dunes
Fes → MerzougaDrive — approx. 290 mi / ~8h
In a single day you cross three Moroccos. First Ifrane, a town of steep roofs and flower beds built by the French in the 1930s, so tidy it earned the nickname 'Moroccan Switzerland'; a little beyond, the cedar forest of Azrou, where Barbary macaques — the only wild primates north of the Sahara — come down to study you among thousand-year-old trees. Then the long descent along the Ziz Valley, a canyon where the river draws a green snake of palms at the foot of bare rock. The light changes, the air warms, and suddenly the road opens onto the desert. You reach Merzouga, mount a dromedary, and the caravan carries you to camp as the sun touches the crests of the erg.
Overnight · tented camp among the Erg Chebbi dunes
- Ifrane
- Azrou Cedars & Macaques
- Ziz Valley
- Caravan to Camp
Day 02 · Dades Valley · 1,562 m
Dawn, the Todra Gorge and the Dades Valley
Merzouga → DadesDrive — approx. 160 mi / ~5h
After dawn on the crests and the morning dromedary, you leave the erg westward along the road of kasbahs. You stop at Rissani for the souk — dates, spices, livestock, as a thousand years ago — and at the Moulay Ali Sherif Mosque. Then you climb the Todra Gorge, where the river has cut a cleft between walls nearly a thousand feet high, so close that at noon they let through a single blade of light: climbers trace routes here from all over Europe. You cross the Jebel Saghro and reach the Dades Valley, among mud fortresses that once controlled the passage of goods to the north. When the sun drops, the packed earth glows red.
Overnight · hotel in the Dades Valley
- Rissani Souk
- Todra Gorge
- Jebel Saghro
- Dades Valley
Day 03 · Marrakech · 466 m
From the Dades to Marrakech through Roses and Kasbahs
Dades → MarrakechDrive — approx. 210 mi / ~7h
The last great day of driving climbs back through the Valley of Roses and passes Skoura, the oasis of a thousand palms where the Amridil kasbah — the one printed on the fifty-dirham note — mirrors itself in the water. You reach Ait Ben Haddou unhurried, with time to climb to the granary at the top of the ksar and grasp why filmmakers from around the world have returned here for sixty years: the light on raw earth has no equal. Then the car turns toward the High Atlas and takes on the Tizi n'Tichka, the hairpins, the sellers of amethyst and fossils at the switchbacks, the views opening at every bend. You descend to the Marrakech plain as the sun sets; the Red City waits with its lanterns.
Overnight · riad in Marrakech
- Amridil Kasbah, Skoura
- Ait Ben Haddou (UNESCO)
- Tizi n'Tichka Pass
- Return to Marrakech
Distances, driving times and properties shown are approximate: every figure is reconfirmed in detail at booking.
What the journey includes
Included
- Private, air-conditioned 4WD SUV/minivan
- Fuel
- Vehicle insurance
- Italian-speaking driver
- Pick-up and drop-off
- Local tour guide
- Accommodation as shown in the itinerary
- Camel ride in the Merzouga desert (one camel per person)
- Overnight stay in a Desert Luxury Camp
- Private rooms — tents and breakfast
- One-of-a-kind experiences
Not included
- Lunch
- Drinks
- Travel insurance
- Entrance tickets
- Tips
- Extras
You may also like
Contact
Your Morocco begins with a message
Tell us your dates, dreams and curiosities: together we'll sketch the perfect itinerary, no strings attached.
“we touch minds and hearts”