One-way desert crossing · From Marrakech
The classic crossing to Fes, with a full day to discover the desert around Merzouga.
About this tour
The Marrakech to Fes desert crossing is one of the great road trips of North Africa, and four days is the length we most often recommend. It gives you all the highlights of the three-day version, from Aït Benhaddou to the dunes of Erg Chebbi, plus a full day to explore the desert around Merzouga without looking at the clock.
That extra day changes the whole experience. Instead of arriving at the dunes and leaving the next morning, you have time to visit a nomad family, listen to Gnawa musicians in Khamlia, see the abandoned mines of Mifis and walk in the palm gardens at the edge of the sand. Driving days are shorter too, which makes this route especially good for families.
You sleep in a comfortable hotel in the Dades Valley, a hotel at the edge of the dunes and a desert camp reached by camel. Your private driver-guide stays with you for the whole trip and drops you at your riad or hotel in Fes on the fourth evening.
Best for: First-time visitors, families and anyone who wants a relaxed pace with a proper day in the Sahara.
Marrakech · Tizi n'Tichka · Aït Benhaddou · Ouarzazate · Skoura · Valley of Roses · Dades Valley · about 321 km · About 6 hours of driving, with stops
Day one is a journey through three landscapes in a single drive. After an 8:00 am pick-up in Marrakech, the road winds up into the High Atlas, where terraced barley fields and walnut trees surround villages built from the same red earth as the mountains. Photo stops are built in, and the best one is near the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, where on a clear day you can look back across the whole range.
Coming down the southern slopes you soon reach Aït Benhaddou, the most famous kasbah village in Morocco. Take your time here: cross the stepping stones over the river, explore the tangle of lanes and climb to the hilltop for the view before lunch. The afternoon follows the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs past Ouarzazate's film studios and the palm oasis of Skoura to Kalaat M'Gouna, where cooperatives sell rosewater from the Valley of Roses. Families usually find this pace comfortable, and you check in to your Dades Valley hotel in the late afternoon.
Dades Valley · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Tinjdad · Erfoud · Merzouga · about 250 km · About 5 hours of driving
After breakfast, drive up the Dades Gorge for the view over the Tissadrine switchbacks and the Monkey Fingers rock formations, then head east to Tinghir. Walk into the Todra Gorge, where orange limestone walls rise around 300 metres above a clear stream and narrow to just a few metres at their tightest point.
The road continues through the palm groves of Tinjdad, past lines of khettara irrigation wells, to Erfoud and Merzouga. Check in at a hotel at the foot of Erg Chebbi, then spend the evening as you like: relax by the pool, or climb a dune behind the hotel to watch the sunset turn the sand deep orange.
Merzouga · Khamlia · Mifis · nomad camps · Erg Chebbi · About 2 hours of off-road driving
After breakfast your guide takes you on a 4x4 loop around the dunes, a side of the Sahara most visitors never see. Visit the abandoned mines of Mifis, where lead and kohl were once extracted, then stop at a nomad family's tent to share tea and freshly baked bread and hear how life works far from any town. In the village of Khamlia, descendants of West African families play Gnawa music, a hypnotic mix of drums, iron castanets and chanting.
Depending on the season and recent rain, you may also see the seasonal lake of Dayet Srji, where flamingos sometimes gather, and walk through the palm gardens at the edge of the sand, irrigated by the old khettara system. In the late afternoon you meet your camel guide and ride into the dunes for about an hour, stopping on a high crest for sunset and sandboarding. At camp: mint tea, dinner, drumming around the fire and a night under the stars.
Merzouga · Rissani · Erfoud · Ziz Valley · Midelt · Azrou cedar forest · Ifrane · Fes · about 458 km · About 7 hours of driving
Set your alarm early: the sunrise over Erg Chebbi is one of the highlights of the whole trip. Climb a dune near camp and watch the sand change colour from grey to pink to gold, then ride back by camel (or 4x4) for breakfast and a hot shower. The first stop of the day is Rissani, the old caravan capital of the Tafilalet, whose covered souk and donkey park are liveliest on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. In nearby Erfoud, workshops cut fossil-filled black marble into tables and bowls.
Heading north, the road follows the Ziz River through a deep canyon of red rock lined with date palms and old fortified villages. After the Tizi n'Talghemt pass you reach Midelt, known for its apple orchards and set against the peaks of Jbel Ayachi, for lunch. The final stretch climbs into the Middle Atlas, with Barbary macaques in the cedar forest near Azrou and a short stop in alpine-style Ifrane, before you arrive at your riad in Fes in the early evening.
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.
Day trips and short escapes from the city, from mountain villages to waterfalls and kasbahs.
A practical packing list for medinas, mountains and a night in the Sahara, with what to wear in each season.
Related tours
Short on time? Cross the High Atlas, walk the lanes of Aït Benhaddou, follow the palm-lined Drâa Valley and spend a night under Saharan stars near Zagora.
A one-way crossing that turns a long transfer into an adventure: kasbahs, the Dades and Todra gorges, a camel ride into Erg Chebbi, then cedar forests on the road to Fes.
Our most requested route. Two days of mountain passes, gorges and oases lead to a sunset camel trek and a night in a Berber camp beneath the tallest dunes in Morocco.
A round trip that shows both faces of the south: out through the Drâa Valley and N'kob to the dunes, back via the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and the Valley of Roses.
