One-way desert crossing · From Fes
The Fes to Marrakech crossing with room to linger in the desert.
About this tour
Four days lets you slow down on the journey from Fes to Marrakech. You spend two nights around Merzouga, including a full day to explore the desert, and break the return west with a night in Ouarzazate before crossing the High Atlas.
Beyond the dunes, the route takes in the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley, the Valley of Roses, the Skoura oasis and a guided walk through Aït Benhaddou. If you like, the last day can include a detour to see the kasbah of the Glaoui pashas at Telouet and the Ounila Valley.
Shorter driving days mean more time for the moments that matter: tea with a nomad family, a walk through the gorge and golden light on the walls of the old kasbahs.
Best for: Travellers heading to Marrakech who want more time in the desert and shorter driving days.
Fes · Ifrane · Azrou cedar forest · Midelt · Ziz Valley · Erfoud · Merzouga · about 458 km · About 7 hours of driving
We collect you in Fes at 8:00 am. The road climbs gently into the Middle Atlas, a region of cedar and oak forest, volcanic lakes and high pastures. Stop in Ifrane, sometimes called the Switzerland of Morocco for its snowy winters and chalet architecture, then look for Barbary macaques in the forest near Azrou, at around 1,250 metres.
After lunch in Midelt, at the foot of Jbel Ayachi, the road climbs over the Tizi n'Talghemt pass and drops into the palm-filled canyon of the Ziz Valley, with viewpoints over ruined kasbahs. Continue through Errachidia and Erfoud to Merzouga, where you check in to a hotel beside the dunes. Tonight is for resting; tomorrow is a full day in the desert.
Merzouga · Khamlia · Mifis · nomad camps · Erg Chebbi · About 2 hours of off-road driving
With nothing to rush for today, enjoy a relaxed breakfast before your guide takes you exploring. Bounce along desert tracks to the deserted mining hamlet of Mifis, visit a nomad family to share tea and hear about life in the hamada, and see the vast dark plains that stretch south towards the Algerian border.
After lunch in Khamlia, enjoy a Gnawa music performance, then walk among the palms of a small oasis garden. If the Dayet Srji lake has water, flamingos may be resting there. In the late afternoon, change pace completely: meet your camel guide and ride into the dunes for sunset. Tonight you sleep in a Berber camp, with dinner and drumming around the fire, before continuing west tomorrow.
Merzouga · Rissani · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Dades Valley · Kalaat M'Gouna · Skoura · Ouarzazate · About 6 hours of driving
After sunrise and breakfast, drive through Rissani and Tinjdad to Tinghir and walk into the Todra Gorge between its 300-metre cliffs. Continue to the Dades Valley for the Monkey Fingers rock formations.
In the afternoon, follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through Kalaat M'Gouna, known for its rosewater cooperatives, and the Skoura oasis, where you can visit the restored Kasbah Amridil, before reaching Ouarzazate.
Ouarzazate · Aït Benhaddou · Ounila Valley · Telouet (optional) · Tizi n'Tichka · Marrakech · about 200 km · About 4 hours of driving
Visit Aït Benhaddou in the morning light, before the day-trippers arrive, and climb to the granary above the village. If you wish, follow the Ounila Valley past small kasbahs and Berber villages to Telouet, where the kasbah of the Glaoui pashas can be seen from outside (its interior has been closed since the 2023 earthquake).
Cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass and arrive at your accommodation in Marrakech in the afternoon.
Every tent is private. Pick the comfort level that suits you; tell us your choice when you book.
Private tents with their own en-suite bathroom, offering a good balance between comfort and the authentic feel of a Berber camp.
Spacious, elegantly furnished tents equipped with air conditioning and heating, so you stay cool on summer nights and warm in winter. Ideal for couples and families.
Absolutely. Every tour is private, so you can add or remove nights, change the camp style, combine routes or start on a different date. Tell us what you have in mind and we will adapt the plan and price.
A private, air-conditioned minivan or 4x4, depending on group size. Our vehicles are under five years old, regularly inspected and insured for tourist transport.
Yes, families travel with us often. Children love the camel ride and the camp. For young children we usually recommend a longer version of the route, with shorter driving days.
Comfortable clothes, a warm layer for the evenings, a hat or scarf, sunglasses, sun cream and closed shoes. For the desert night, a small backpack is enough; your main luggage stays safely in the vehicle.
Both camps have private tents with en-suite bathrooms, hot showers and comfortable bedding. The mid-range luxury camp offers a good balance between comfort and authenticity. The luxury camp adds air conditioning and heating in every tent, plus more spacious, elegantly furnished tents, so you stay comfortable on hot summer nights and cold winter ones.
Before you go
Where the dunes are, the best season to visit and what a night in Erg Chebbi is really like.
Tanneries, madrasas, viewpoints and craft quarters in Morocco's oldest imperial city.
A practical packing list for medinas, mountains and a night in the Sahara, with what to wear in each season.
Related tours
A fast but unhurried taste of the Sahara from Fes: cedar forests and Barbary macaques, the Ziz Valley canyon, sunset on the dunes and a night in a desert camp.
The favourite round trip from Fes. Two nights in the south give you a full day to explore Merzouga's lakes, nomad families and villages before your camel trek.
Link Morocco's two great cities through its wild heart: Middle Atlas forests, a night in Erg Chebbi, the Todra Gorge, the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs and Aït Benhaddou.
Eight days from Fes to Marrakech: a guided medina day, Meknes and Roman Volubilis, two nights at the Merzouga dunes, the gorges and kasbahs of the south and a guided day in Marrakech.
