5 Days / 4 Nights Desert Trip from Fes to Marrakech

Day 1: A Night in the Desert from Fes – Atlas

The driver will pick you up from your hotel or Riad at 7 a.m. for the fantastic trip from Fes to Marrakech into the Middle Atlas Mountains. The delightful town of Ifrane, built by the French in the 1930s and known as Morocco’s Switzerland due to its Alpine chalet-styled architecture and aspect, will be the first stop. In the winter, it is snow-covered, and there is a ski resort nearby, Michliffen.

Following that, you will travel through the massive cedar forests surrounding the Berber village of Azrou, known as The Rock in the local Berber dialect, where the famous Barbary apes, actually macaque monkeys, will try to share your lunch in their natural habitat.

After passing through the Atlas Mountains, said to hold up the sky, winding your way through forested peaks, twisting mountain streams and gushing springs, and passing jagged rock walls, you will continue south and be amazed by the startlingly sudden appearance, as if by magic, of the Erg Chebbi dunes. These dunes are massive, reaching heights of up to 50 meters and extending all the way east into Algeria’s Sahara Desert. Your Kasbah/hotel awaits you at the foot of the dunes, along with a refreshing glass of hot sweet mint tea, where you can relax after the long journey and enjoy a delicious dinner while listening to the sweet strains of traditional Berber music until it is time to sleep.

Day 2: Share in the Beauty of the Sahara Desert

After breakfast, you can choose your own desert trip experience; perhaps a refreshing dip in the hotel swimming pool, or perhaps a shopping trip to the nearby villages of Merzouga. There are only fifty kilometers from the Algerian border, which boasts Morocco’s largest underground natural reservoir. Then we will visit the tiny Khamlia, known as the village of the black people because descendants of slaves taken from Africa inhabit it. At dusk, your camel will be waiting to whisk you away into the glorious sunset for an unforgettable 90-minute camel trek through the shifting Sahara desert sands before arriving at a traditional Berber desert encampment where you will spend the night in a tent surrounded by mountainous dunes. Your guide will prepare an authentic Moroccan meal for you while you relax and enjoy the stars, which are so numerous and bright that you feel you could reach out and touch them, and listen to the soft sounds of traditional Berber music. A truly unforgettable day will be spent in the Sahara Desert.

Day 3: Sahara Desert – Erfoud – Todra Gorges

An early start, as you are awoken to witness the splendor of the sun rising over the dunes in the amazing Sahara desert. then you will ride your camel gently back to your hotel for breakfast, during which you will notice the shifting and changing of the shadows cast by the dunes, lengthening and shrinking as the day progresses.

The journey to The Todra Gorge begins after breakfast with a drive to Rissani, the main Sahara edge town and the first capital of the Alaouite dynasty. Then it is on to Erfoud, famous for its fossils; be sure to pick up a beautiful bargain, but do not forget to haggle! You can also visit the wonderful workshops where men prepare the fossils by carefully removing them from the rocks and cleaning them up.

The desert trip from Fes to Marrakech continues through the 300-meter-deep canyon of the Todra Gorges, which cuts through the easternmost tip of the High Atlas Mountains, close to the village of Tinghir, where you will have the opportunity to do some relaxed hiking. The Tinghir and Todra Gorges are the highest and narrowest in Morocco, as well as the most beautiful, according to some. Dinner will be served, and you will spend the night peacefully deep within the Todra Gorge.

Day 4: Todra Gorges – Touring Taourirt – Ouarzazate

After a hearty breakfast, Fes Desert Trips will take you to the charming Dades Valley, cut deep through banded sandstones and limestone, over an off-road trail past cave dwellings where a few of the world’s last troglodytes still live. Then it is on to the lovely Berber town of Kelaat M’Gouna, which will be celebrating the annual Festival of the Roses if you arrive in May. This allows the people of the region to get together and trade many products made from roses, including the famous rose water, which you will be able to try to purchase if you wish. The lovely aroma of this scent will linger on your clothes and skin long after you have left this charming place, and when used on one’s bed linen, it can be a pleasure to freshen up one’s night chamber.

Following that, you will travel to Skoura, a fertile oasis surrounded by vast groves of palm trees with breathtaking views of the mighty Atlas Mountains. The UNESCO World Heritage site of Taourirt’s Kasbah, a remarkably preserved and quite lovely place exhibiting the best of traditional Moroccan architecture and beloved by both tourists and locals alike, will be your next stop. Finally, you will end your day with an evening arrival in Ouarzazate, where you will have dinner and spend the last night of your desert trip from Fes to Marrakech in a hotel.

Day 5: Ouarzazate – High Atlas Mountains – Marrakech

After a hearty breakfast, spend some time exploring the film sets and studios of Ouarzazate, Africa’s Hollywood, where the breathtaking scenery and topography have enticed some of the world’s leading filmmakers and directors to use the landscape. These are the most well-known and largest film studios on the African continent. You can go to the studio museum to see props and other items from films like Babel, The Mummy, and Hideous Kinky, as well as the popular TV show Game of Thrones, which were all made here.

Later, you can go to another UNESCO World Heritage site, the Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah, which is the largest in the world. In Morocco, a timeless, ancient village that has served as the setting for over twenty Hollywood films, including Lawrence of Arabia, Indiana Jones, and Gladiator. Take a stroll to examine the traditional Moroccan architecture that makes up the Kasbah, which is now home to the Glaoui family. This vibrant and exciting central region of the country is undoubtedly one of the most romantic regions in Morocco, huddled between fertile, green river valleys with extensive Palmaris, and burnished redbrick houses roasting in dazzling colors beneath an azure sky.

Then it is time to continue your journey, over two and a half kilometers above sea level, along twisting, turning mountain roads dotted with picturesque Berber villages and crystal clear waterfalls until you arrive in Marrakech. The desert trips from Fes to Marrakech end when drop you off at your hotel or Riad.