Journey Overview: Discover the golden dunes of Erg Chebbi on this exciting 4 days desert tour from Fes to Marrakech with a full day in Merzouga, a guided journey through Morocco’s Sahara that reveals the remarkable cultural and natural diversity of the south. Over 4 days and 3 nights, you’ll travel to Merzouga through the Middle Atlas Mountains and the scenic Ziz Valley, then spend a full day in the desert visiting a local nomadic family, riding a camel across the dunes and sleeping at a desert camp. Next, you’ll head to the spectacular Todra and Dades Gorges, before following the famous “Road of 1000 Kasbahs” to Ait Ben Haddou and crossing the High Atlas Mountains to Marrakech. The tour is available in two formats. As a private tour, it’s fully flexible: you set the pace, choose your accommodations, and enjoy your guide’s full attention, privacy for your group, and more chances to meet local people and visit lesser-known places. As a shared small-group tour with a maximum of 10 travelers, it offers great value and a friendly atmosphere, while you still enjoy your own room in carefully selected accommodations and a private tent at a luxury desert camp in Merzouga.
Tour Highlights:
Your tour begins with a morning pick-up from your hotel or riad in Fes. We leave the city and drive to Ifrane for a short 15-minute break, perfect for a quick coffee, before continuing to the cedar forest of Azrou in the Middle Atlas Mountains, where you can watch the Barbary monkeys. We then travel on to Merzouga via Midelt and the palm-filled Ziz Valley. You’ll arrive in Merzouga in the afternoon and check into a beautiful riad overlooking the golden dunes that surround the town.
After breakfast at your riad, your day of desert exploration begins. First, we visit the small village of Khamlia to hear Gnawa, a unique style of music played by locals whose ancestors came from sub-Saharan Africa. Next, we head off-road to M’Fis, an abandoned village with galena mines, a mineral once used to make mascara. You’ll then learn about the nomadic way of life with a family living beyond the Erg Chebbi dunes near the border, sharing a glass of tea in their traditional Berber tent. It’s a fascinating chance to discover how this community has chosen to live far from modern life. In the afternoon, set off on a camel ride across the high dunes of Merzouga to your desert camp. On the way, you’ll stop on a high dune to try sandboarding as the sun goes down. After dinner, relax around the campfire under a starry sky while the camp team plays drums and happily teaches you how to join in.
Get up early to watch a beautiful sunrise, then enjoy breakfast at the desert camp. Today’s road trip takes you through Rissani, Erfoud, Tinghir and the Todra Gorge on the way to the Dades Gorge. If it’s market day in Rissani (Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday), you can visit its traditional souk, a wonderful cultural experience filled with local handicrafts, spices and street food you won’t easily find elsewhere. There will be plenty of other stops along the way for photos and to learn about local people and their traditions. We arrive in the Dades Gorge in the afternoon, where you’ll check into your hotel for dinner and the night.
After breakfast at your hotel, take some time to explore the area before we drive along the “Road of 1000 Kasbahs” to Ouarzazate. Here you can visit Atlas Studios or simply take photos from outside. We then continue to Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has been used as a filming location for many famous movies, including Gladiator and Prince of Persia, as well as the TV series Game of Thrones. After lunch, we cross the magnificent High Atlas Mountains toward Marrakech, passing charming Berber villages and making plenty of stops along the way. Your 4 days desert tour from Fes to Marrakech with a full day in Merzouga ends with a drop-off at your accommodation in Marrakech.
