5 Days tour from Marrakech to Fes via Sahara

Day 1: Marrakech – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate (204 Km)

You depart in the morning by 4×4 car from Marrakech and travel to Ouarzazate. We will pass through the stunning High-Atlas Mountains via the famous Tizi-n-Tichka pass (2260m). At panoramic viewpoints, there will opportunities to stop and take photos. Our first scheduled stop of the day is to visit the once glorious kasbah of Telouet. We then drive from Telouet through the lunar landscapes of the valley of Ounila to the kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, where we have lunch. Ait Ben Haddou is a Unesco World Heritage site, where films such as Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia were filmed. In the afternoon, we explore the famous 11th century kasbah before leaving for Ouarzazate for the night in a hotel.

Day 2: Ouarzazate – valley Roses – Dades gorge – Todra Gorges (168 km)

You depart Ouarzazate in the morning where we will enter the Dades valley, which is known as the valley of a thousand kasbahs. Then we pass through the oasis of Skoura where architectural marvels are to be discovered at every turn. From here, our route takes us through Kela’a M’gouna, the valley of the roses, where over 4000 tons of roses are harvested every spring from this desert oasis! Next we drive off-road to the Dades gorges for lunch. The Dades gorge is breathtaking with its sheer red rocks and lush oasis, we will spend part of the afternoon strolling along the Boumalne Dades river. We are off to the Todra gorges for the second night. The Todra gorge, with its crystal clear waters, is a fantastic experience for any nature lover!

Day 3: Tinghir – Ziz valley – Erfoud – Merzouga (199 Km)

After breakfast we can stroll along the Tinghir palm grove, where you can see dates and figs. Then we drive through the Ziz valley, the oasis of Tafilalt and arrive in Erfoud in time for lunch. The geography along the Ziz valley is spectacular with Jurassic-sized rock formations contrasting against the cool green oasis. Erfoud is a boisterous little town on the edge of the Sahara, known for its marble workshops and its fossil beds. In the afternoon we continue to Merzouga, at the western edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes, and check in to a hotel there for the night. On the shorter 4-day version of this tour you would ride out to the camp this same afternoon; here the evening is unhurried, and the whole of tomorrow is yours in the desert.

Day 4: Nomad families – old coal mines – Khamlia and Gnawa music – camel trek – luxury camp

The day the extra night buys you, and it is spent in the desert rather than on the road. After breakfast you head out by 4×4 into the deeper Sahara to meet a nomad family still living in tents on the hamada, and to hear how they move with the seasons and the water. Nearby are the old coal mines, worked by hand, which are the main living for many families out here. Then on to Khamlia, the village south of Merzouga settled by descendants of the Saharan trade routes, where the Gnawa musicians still play the rhythms their families brought with them. Lunch is berber pizza (madfouna), baked in the sand. In the late afternoon your local camel guide takes you out into the dunes: the sunset from the top of Erg Chebbi is sensational, and riding on camel back to camp under the big Saharan night sky is a memory you will cherish forever. Dinner is traditional Moroccan, followed by singing and drumming round the fire, and the night is spent in a luxury camp at the foot of the dunes — private tents with real beds and en-suite bathrooms.

Day 5: Merzouga – Errachidia – Midelt – Ifrane – Fes (471 Km)

If you wake up early enough, you can watch the spectacle of the sunrise over the dunes. After breakfast you return on camel back and depart for Erfoud. From there the road leads north to Errachidia and the Ziz valley, remarkable for the extent of its palm trees. Lunch is in Midelt, called “the apple capital”, in the Middle Atlas at the foot of the Ayachi Mountain. We cross the Tizi-n-Talremt pass, travelling along a beautiful road bordered by green oaks and cedar trees to reach Azrou and Ifrane, the alpine-looking town known as the Switzerland of Morocco, where Barbary macaques live in the cedar forest. We reach Fes at the end of the afternoon.