One-way desert crossing · From Marrakech
From the arrivals hall in Marrakech to the oldest medina in Morocco, with the Sahara in the middle.
About this tour
This is the Marrakech to Fes crossing for travellers who do not want to rush it. Where the three-day version drives hard, this one gives each stretch of the south its own day: the High Atlas and Aït Benhaddou, the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, the gorges, and then the desert.
You spend two nights at Merzouga, one in a camp among the dunes and one in a hotel at their edge, with a full day by 4x4 in between to meet nomad families and hear Gnawa music in Khamlia. Guided visits at both ends of the journey frame the trip with the two cities that shaped Moroccan history.
The tour starts the moment you land: your driver meets you at Marrakech Menara airport, and a guided visit of the city fills the first day. Driving days then average four to five hours, with only one long day, from the desert to Fes, and the tour ends at your riad door or the airport there.
Best for: Travellers flying into Marrakech and out of Fes who want time in both cities and a relaxed pace through the south.
Marrakech Menara airport · riad · Koutoubia · Bahia Palace · Saadian Tombs · souks · Jemaa el-Fna · 15-minute airport transfer, then a walking tour
Your driver is waiting in the arrivals hall of Marrakech Menara airport with a sign bearing your name. The drive to the medina takes about fifteen minutes; leave your bags at your riad, have a glass of mint tea and meet the licensed city guide who will show you Marrakech.
The guided tour begins at the Koutoubia, whose minaret has been the city's landmark since the 12th century, and continues to the painted cedar ceilings of the Bahia Palace and the marble chambers of the Saadian Tombs, hidden for two centuries behind a wall. Your guide then leads you into the souks, where each trade keeps its own alley, and finishes on Jemaa el-Fna as the food stalls are wheeled into place. The length of the visit is fitted to your landing time.
Marrakech · Tizi n'Tichka · Telouet · Ounila Valley · Aït Benhaddou · Ouarzazate · About 5 hours of driving
Leave the city at 8:00 am and climb into the High Atlas. The road loops up through walnut groves and stone villages to the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, with stops for photographs wherever the view demands it. On the far side we turn onto the old caravan road to Telouet, where the half-ruined palace of the Glaoui pashas still hides rooms of astonishing tilework.
The Ounila Valley, a ribbon of green between red cliffs, leads down to Aït Benhaddou. Cross the river and climb through the lanes of the ksar to the granary at the top, then continue the short distance to Ouarzazate for the night.
Ouarzazate · Skoura · Kalaat M'Gouna · Boumalne Dades · Dades Gorge · About 3 hours of driving
A short and scenic day. In Ouarzazate, see the Taourirt Kasbah from outside or step into the film studios where desert epics are shot, then follow the road east to the palm grove of Skoura. Kasbah Amridil, a 17th-century family fortress, shows how a household stored its grain, pressed its oil and defended itself.
Beyond Skoura lies Kalaat M'Gouna, centre of the rose harvest each May, and then the Dades Valley, where the river has cut through bands of red and ochre rock. Drive up the gorge past the rock formations known as the Monkey Fingers to the hairpin bends at its narrowest point, and settle into your hotel above the river.
Dades Valley · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Erfoud · Merzouga · Erg Chebbi · About 4.5 hours of driving
Follow the valley to Tinghir, where a balcony road looks down on a river of palm trees, and walk into the Todra Gorge. The limestone walls rise 300 metres on either side, and climbers are often at work on the cliffs above the stream.
After lunch the mountains fall away and the road crosses the stony plain to Erfoud and Merzouga. Leave your main luggage at the hotel, mount your camel about two hours before sunset and ride into Erg Chebbi. Watch the light fade from the top of a dune, then walk down to camp for dinner and drums by the fire.
Erg Chebbi · Khamlia · M'ifis · nomad camps · Hassi Labied · Merzouga · About 2 hours of off-road driving
Climb the dune behind camp for the sunrise, have breakfast and return to the village by camel or 4x4. Then set out on a loop around the sand sea. In Khamlia, musicians whose ancestors crossed the Sahara play Gnawa songs; at M'ifis, the shafts of an abandoned mine look out over the black desert towards Algeria.
A nomad family welcomes you into their tent for tea and bread baked in the embers. In the afternoon, walk through the vegetable gardens of the Hassi Labied oasis, watered by channels shared between families, before checking in to a hotel at the foot of the dunes, where a pool and a hot shower are waiting.
Merzouga · Erfoud · Ziz Valley · Midelt · Azrou · Ifrane · Fes · About 7.5 hours of driving
The longest drive of the week, and one of the most varied. Beyond Erfoud the road follows the Ziz, first through a broad oasis of date palms seen from the Aoufous viewpoint, then into a red-walled canyon. Lunch is in Midelt, a market town of apple orchards at the foot of Jbel Ayachi.
In the afternoon you cross the high plateau, where shepherds graze their flocks in summer, and enter the cedar forest near Azrou, home to troops of Barbary macaques. A coffee stop among the chalet roofs of Ifrane follows, and you reach Fes in the early evening.
Fes el-Bali · Royal Palace gates · Mellah · Borj Sud · Walking tour
Begin with the view from Borj Sud, where the whole medina fills the valley below, and the seven brass doors of the Royal Palace. Then enter Fes el-Bali with your local guide. Its 9,000 lanes hold the Bou Inania Madrasa, the Nejjarine fountain, the doorways of the Al Quaraouiyine and the dye pits of the Chouara tannery.
The tour ends in the mid-afternoon at your riad, or with a transfer to Fes airport if you are flying out tonight. Extra nights in Fes, or an onward transfer to Chefchaouen, can be arranged on request.
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.
The same classic crossing at an easier pace, with an extra day in the dunes to explore nomad life, Gnawa music in Khamlia and the oasis around Merzouga.
