4 DAYS DESERT TOUR FROM MARRAKECH TO Fes

At eight in the morning, a driver will pick you up from your Marrakech lodging and take you to the High Atlas highlands in southern Morocco. Along the way, you’ll stop at Tizi N’Tichka port for panoramic views and to take pictures of the Berber hamlet settlements that blend into the surrounding terrain. Then we go farther south to Ait Ben Haddou, a ksar (fortified settlement), where we will explore the well-known Kasbah, which was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. Famous movies like Gladiator, Obelix, The Mummy, The Jewel of the Nile, Sahara with Penélope Cruz, etc. were filmed on this magnificent set.

Lunchtime in the town is free. Then we proceed to Ouarzazate, also referred to as “The Gate of the Desert” and translated from Berber as “noiseless or without confusion.” The Taourirt kasbah, one of Morocco’s most impressive ksars, may be found here. The Rose Valley, which passes through the expansive Skoura palm grove, is the next destination to see. It’s a lovely place to admire the more than 700.000 palm trees there as well as the numerous kasbahs that have been constructed nearby. Damascene roses are grown in this valley for use in beauty products like the highly prized rosewater. This location hosts the Rose Festival every year in May and is a significant museum for Moroccan culture. We arrive to the Dades valley, where we will spend the night, at last.

After breakfast, we’ll take in one of the most stunning views of the Dades Valley from a well-placed mountain lookout, where we can take in the abundance of kasbahs and their individual aesthetic qualities. From the city of Tinerhir, a very nice asphalt road ascends the valley to the gorge and then to the desert. We will arrive in the Todra Gorges after a few stops along the road. The view is breathtaking. Local residents can be observed in their adobe villages, where they reside. These gorges are famous with rock climbers because of their rocky sides with numerous uneven surfaces.

After a brief stroll through the Todra gorges, you’ll have some free time to grab lunch in Tinejdad or Touroug before we continue on to the desert and the magnificent Merzouga dune system. From there, we will go on an hour-long camel journey to Erg Chebbi, the site of our nomadic camp. We’ll watch the sunset from a dune’s top before dinner, and we’ll spend the night in a tent under a starry sky.

This whole day is in the desert. If you’re in the midst of the desert, making a “Sunrise Appointment” to watch the most amazing sunrise you’ve ever seen from the top of a dune close to your tent is definitely worth the early wake-up call.

We ride camels back to Merzouga after sunrise, where a substantial breakfast is waiting for us. Then we will circumnavigate the Erg Chebbi, a vast stretch of sandy desert where we can find the tallest dune in all of Africa, standing at more than 250 meters. After that, we travel along a route where we may observe nomad villages and discover their customs.

Then, we will arrive in Khamlia Village, which is originally from Mali, where we will enjoy a soothing cup of tea while we take in a performance of Gnawa spiritual music. Transfer to your opulent lodging. Spend the afternoon exploring the town or the dunes next to the hotel to catch the sun setting. Have dinner and spend the night at your hotel or back in your individual nomadic tent.

After breakfast, we begin our final day’s journey north via Morocco’s largest palm oasis, Tafilalt. A 20 kilometer stretch of palm trees can be seen here. We reach Ziz Valley via this route.

We’ll stop at Midelt, which is right in the middle of the Atlas Mountains, where you may have some free time to eat lunch and take a break. We proceed into the Cedar forests in the afternoon, where, if we’re lucky, we might come across some Atlas monkeys.

Ifran City, located at 1630 meters above sea level on the western slope of the middle Atlas mountains, will be our next stop. Its vast avenues, spotlessly clean urban development, green spaces, and striking architecture give the impression that this is a Swiss town. Because of this, it is known as the Moroccan Switzerland. At around 6 p.m., we arrive in Fes, where we will then take you to your hotel or riad and end our services.