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4-day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech – overview:
The two Imperial cities of Fes and Marrakech are magic oriental places, and beyond them, the desert holds its own mystery.
The beauty of the Middle Atlas and the Barbary apes in the cedar forests make a panoramic start to your trip. Further south, you will wonder at the vast numbers of date palms in the Ziz Valley, and the innumerable fossil finds from millions of years ago around Erfoud.
The Erg Chebbi sand dunes offer a camel ride for a phenomenal desert experience, matched by the spectacle of the final glows of the sun. A typical Moroccan dinner is prepared by the nomads and followed by Berber and nomad music round a camp fire.
Further geological surprises are in the famous Toudgha Gorges and the Dades Valley, also full of Kasbahs and Berber villages. At the Skoura Oasis, the fascinating Kasbah Amredhil acts as a museum of rural, multi-generational Berber life. This is witnessed again with visits to Morocco’s two most famous Kasbahs: Aït ben Haddou and Telouet en route to Marrakech.
Book this 4 day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech to discover the beauty, authenticity and variety of Moroccan culture and landscapes.
4-day Fes to Marrakech desert tour – highlights:
- Driving across the Middle Atlas Mountains and watching Barbary apes in the cedar forests
- Enjoying a sunset camel ride in Erg Chebbi Dunes followed by evening of Berber music and drumming around a fire camp
- Walking in the Toudgha Gorges and the Dades Valley along the river
- Driving off-road along the Valley of the Roses and visiting the small museum of Kasbah Amredhil in Skoura
- Exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Kasbah of Aït ben Haddou, and Kasbah Telouet
What is included in this 4 day Fes to Marrakech desert tour:
- Transport in a private air-conditioned vehicle; 4×4 Toyota Prado TX or deluxe van and fuel
- Experienced local English/French/Spanish/Italian-speaking Berber and nomad driver/guide
- Accommodation in air-conditioned rooms/suites with private bathroom
- The night in a luxury camp in Erg Chebbi with private toilet and shower
- All meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner – with vegetarian and vegan options available
- A camel ride with a guide. And if you wish to do some sandboarding, just speak to the camp staff!
- Option to go to and return from the camp by 4×4
- Luggage service to the camp and all accommodation
- Berber drumming and music
- Free time to explore the sites such as Aït ben Haddou, Ounila Valley, Kasbah Amredhil in Skoura, for walks, photos, and tea/coffee breaks
- The opportunity to ask the driver to stop when and where you wish
- Entrance fees and local guide
- Tea, coffee and mineral water in the desert
What is not included:
- Drinks
- Tips
- Extras
Good to know about your 4 day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech:
- This desert trip from Fes to Marrakech can be customised to cover your areas of interest
- It is possible to do this tour the other way around, starting from Marrakech to Fes desert tour 4 days
- Activities such as day trips, cooking classes or sightseeing tours in Fes or Marrakech, a full day’s trekking, or an extra day relaxing in the Erg Chebbi dunes can be added to this Fes to Marrakech desert tour
- You can choose to go to the camp either on camelback or by 4×4 (then you go for a camel ride from there)
- You can always consult your driver about omitting places and/or spending more time elsewhere
- Here is a downloadable packing list to help plan for your Moroccan desert tour
- We require a 30% deposit of the total price to book the car, while the balance is payable to us in the office in Ouarzazate
- We accept payment through PayPal, bank transfers in Europe, by credit card, or cash (USD, Euro, GBP or MAD)
- We offer a 25% discount for children under 12, and one child under 3 per family travels free of charge
- These prices are liable to fluctuation according to the current exchange rate
- Our prices can be subject to an increase over the busy season, and, in particular, the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period
Prices per person
| No Days | Meals |
|---|---|
| All-inclusive | |
| Total price | |
| 2 Persons |
|---|
| 595 € * |
| 1190 € * |
| 3 Persons |
|---|
| 555 € * |
| 1665 € * |
| 4 Persons |
|---|
| 545 € * |
| 2180 € * |
| 5 Persons |
|---|
| 495 € * |
| 2475 € * |
| 6 Persons |
|---|
| 495 € * |
| 2970 € * |
Here is the Fes to Marrakech desert tour 4 days – itinerary:
1st day: Fes – Merzouga
Departure from Fes at 8 o’clock, travelling past Ifrane, where the houses have sloping roofs, remarkable and unusual in Morocco. This is to cope with the yearly snowfall. Near Azrou, 1250 metres, with the geomorphologic Berber name which means “stone” or “rock”, you can see Barbary apes in the oak and cedar forests of the Middle Atlas.
From here we drive along the N13 south over the Middle Atlas, passing through Timahdite (once again a Berber name, and as the word begins and ends with the letter “t”, it signifies it is feminine.) We reach Midelt, 1508M, which is called “the apple capital” of Morocco and lies at the foot of the Ayachi Mountain. The town serves as the commercial agricultural centre for the surrounding area and is also one of Morocco’s principle cities for the mining of several minerals, such as fluorite, vanadinite, quartz and cerussite. This is where we will stop for lunch.
We continue south travelling over the Tizi-n-Talghemt pass known as the “she-camel” pass. We descend through the Ziz Valley, which is particularly well-known for its palm trees and the length of the oasis. All along the road, there are innumerable “ksars”, small villages of individual houses. From here, we reach the mining town of Er Rachidia (e.g copper and malachite) and then Erfoud, famous for its date festival and fossils. It is fascinating to see how these millions of fossils have been worked into artifacts and so the shops are worth a visit. There is no obligation to buy anything!
You continue to Rissani and finally the famous red Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga. You take a camel ride either setting out from the camp or to it. There is also the possibility to take the 4×4 to the camp.
Your dinner and overnight are in a luxury camp with private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
2nd day: Merzouga – Dades Gorges
If you wake up early enough, you can watch the spectacle of the sunrise, when the colour of the dunes and the play of shadows are an awesome sight. After breakfast at the camp, we leave for Tinghir and the Toudgha gorges. On the way, you pass the water channels – “khettarat” – which you can descend into to appreciate the architecture and genius behind this form of irrigation which prevents evaporation in the summer heat. The channels start at a higher gradient at one end until they finally emerge at the surface of the soil where they are fed into the fields. You can find out more about these channels by reading Andrew Wilson’s work.
In the gorge and the valley, there are opportunities to walk beyond the gorge itself or by the village gardens and fields before you reach it. Later the itinerary continues to the Dades Valley. The area, which now forms the Dades Gorges, lay at the bottom of the sea millions of years ago. Great quantities of sediment were deposited around giant coral reefs, and over time this material became compacted into a variety of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone. Eventually, the movement of the earth’s crust caused the region to rise above the sea, forming the Atlas Mountains and surrounding landscape. The night is spent in a hotel or kasbah.
3rd day: Dades Gorges – Ouarzazate
After breakfast, a visit to the Dades gorges and a short walk there is scheduled. Back at the car, your 4-day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech continues, going off-road along the Boutaghar piste to visit Berber nomads in their caves and partake of a glass of tea with them. This visit makes it clear to the visitor just how hard the existence is for these nomads in this very dry landscape, trying to feed their goats and bring up their children.
From here we continue through the Valley of the Roses, famous for its Rose Festival in May. Cosmetics and toiletry items are produced and valued throughout the country.
In Skoura and the oasis there, Kasbah Amredhil waits for a very worth-while visit. The kasbah has been beautifully restored and gives a clear idea of life within such housing. It is made entirely of adobe, an excellent building material; warm in winter and cool in summer, due to the thickness of the walls. 45 minutes later you reach Ouarzazate, where you spend the night in a guest house.
4th day: Ouarzazate – Marrakech
After breakfast, the route goes on to Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, one of Morocco’s seven World Heritage sites, and the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters. It is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and some of the buildings date back to the 17th century.
From here you drive along the beautiful and awe-inspiring Ounila Valley, full of bends in the roads and surprises at the hues of the rock and soil, Berber villages and gardens, as well as smaller Kasbahs.
We continue to Telouet set right in the midst of the mountains and once the seat of the last Pasha of Marrakech, El Glaoui, from where the highest pass in Africa, Tizi-n-Tichka was controlled. Each addition to the building now stands in ruins exposed to the wind and the rain, having been abandoned and plundered after Thami El Glaoui, left Morocco for France, where he died. Wait to be pleasantly surprised by the traditional interior decoration as you reach the farthest end of the Kasbah.
Regrettably, the entire Kasbah is now closed because of the harm from the earthquake in Morocco in September 2023. However, it’s well worthwhile looking at the outside with a local guide to learn about its interesting history.
At the end of the afternoon, having crossed the Tichka pass, we arrive in Marrakech. Your 4-day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech comes to an end as your driver escort you to your riad.
