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Fes to Marrakech desert tour – overview:
A significant cultural experience on a Moroccan holiday is a trip to the red sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. It offers a golden opportunity to view a spectacularly diverse and beautiful part of Berber Morocco.
On the way, you cross the Middle Atlas Mountains, stop in the apple capital of Midelt for lunch, view the date palms along the Ziz Valley and wonder at the innumerable fossil finds in Erfoud.
Once in the desert, a “ship of the desert”, the patient camel, will carry you to the camp to watch the sun slowly sinking beyond the horizon. A magical evening follows with Berber music and drumming round a camp fire and the night in a luxury tent.
The famous Toudgha Gorges and the Dades Valley, the Rose Valley with sweetly scented Damascene rose cosmetic products, the Skoura Oasis and fascinating Kasbah Amredhil are typical examples of different activities in rural Berber life on the trip westwards.
Berber mountain life and typical architecture can be further witnessed on visits to Morocco’s two most famous kasbahs, Aït ben Haddou and Telouet, both set in the High Atlas Mountains,
So experience the trip of a lifetime with our awe-inspiring 3-day Fes Desert Tour from Fes to Ouarzazate and Marrakech. Book your trip now and discover the true beauty and authenticity of authentic Moroccan culture.
3-day Fes to Marrakech desert tour – highlights:
- Crossing the Middle Atlas Mountains and watching the Barbary apes in the cedar forests
- Stopping off too admire and winder at the vast numbers of fossils at the museum in Erfoud
- Taking a sunset camel ride in the Erg Chebbi Dunes to your luxurious camp
- Participating in Berber music and drumming around a fire camp after dinner
- Driving through he Toudgha Gorges and the Dades Valley, the Rose Valley, Kasbah Amredhil
- The UNESCO World Heritage Kasbah of Aït ben Haddou and Kasbah Telouet
What is included in this 3-day tour from Fes to Marrakech:
- Transport in a private air-conditioned vehicle; 4×4 Toyota Prado TX or deluxe van and fuel
- Pick-up from your riad or hotel in Fes and drop-off at your riad or hotel in Marrakech
- Experienced local English/French/Spanish/Italian-speaking Berber and nomad driver/guide
- Accommodation in air-conditioned rooms/suites with private bathroom
- Overnight in a luxury desert camp in Erg Chebbi in Merzouga 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!
- Berber drumming and music
- Free time to explore the sites such as Aït ben Haddou, Kasbah Amredhil, for walks, photos, tea/coffee
- Entrance fees and local guide
- Tea, coffee and mineral water in the desert
What is not included:
- Drinks
- Tips
- Extras
Good to know about Fes to Marrakech desert tour:
- This Fes desert trip package can be customised according to your individual area of interests
- It is possible to do this tour the other way around, starting from Marrakech to Fes desert tour
- Activities such as day trips from Fes or Marrakech, a full day’s trekking in the Sahara Desert, an extra day relaxing in the Erg Chebbi dunes, a cooking class and/or sightseeing tour in Fes and/or Marrakech can be added to this tour
- You can always consult your driver about skipping places and/or spending more time elsewhere
- You can choose to go to the camp either on camelback or by 4×4 (then you go for a camel ride from there)
- 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 |
|---|
| 460 € * |
| 920 € * |
| 3 Persons |
|---|
| 425 € * |
| 1275 € * |
| 4 Persons |
|---|
| 395 € * |
| 1580 € * |
| 5 Persons |
|---|
| 365 € * |
| 1825 € * |
| 6 Persons |
|---|
| 365 € * |
| 2190 € * |
Fes to Marrakech 3-day desert tour – itinerary:
1st day: Fes – Merzouga
Departure from Fes at 8 o’clock, travelling past Ifrane, where the houses have sloping roofs to cope with the yearly snowfall. Near Azrou, 1250 metres you will find Barbary apes in the oak and cedar woods. Along the N13 south over the Middle Atlas, Timahdite (a Berber name which is a feminine word as it begins and ends with the letter “t”) We reach Midelt, 1508M, called “the apple capital” of Morocco lying 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.
After lunch in Midelt, you continue south over the Tizi-n-Talghemt pass, known as the “she-camel” pass. We come to the Ziz Valley, renowned for its great extent of date palms. Everywhere there are innumerable “ksars”, = small villages of individual houses.
The next towns are the mining town of Er Rachidia (e.g copper and malachite) and Erfoud, famous for both its date festival in November and the fossil finds. It is truly awe-inspiring to see how these millions of fossils have been worked into artefacts.
You continue to Rissani and finally the famous red Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga. From the very edge of the dunes you take a camel ride to the camp, although you can also request to go by 4×4.
You have dinner and spend the night at 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
Early risers will be rewarded by the colours the rising sun throws as shadows. These colours will only be repeated again the following morning at sunrise. On the way to Tinghir and the Toudgha gorges, 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. Later the itinerary continues to the Dades Valley. The area surrounding the Dades Gorges once lay at the bottom of the sea. Over the millennia, great quantities of sediment were deposited around giant coral reefs, becoming compacted into different sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone. Slowly the upward thrust of the earth’s crust formed the Atlas Mountains and its typical landscapes. The night is spent in a hotel or kasbah.
3rd day: Dades Gorges – Marrakech
After breakfast, the trip continues through the Valley of the Roses, famous for its Rose Festival in May. In Skoura, you can visit the interesting and whole Kasbah Amredhil, once depicted on the 50 dirham banknote.
In Ouarzazate, you will pay us a brief visit for tea and biscuits at the Desert Majesty office, before continuing to Kasbah Aït ben Haddou, a World Heritage site and the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters. It is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco.
From there the road continues to Telouet, set right in the midst of the mountains and once the seat of the last Pasha of Marrakech, El Glaoui. It was from there that he controlled the highest pass in Africa, Tizi-n-Tichka.
Sadly, the entire Kasbah is presently closed due to the destruction caused by the earthquake that hit Morocco in September 2023. Nonetheless, you can still enjoy the exterior with a local guide to uncover its fascinating history.
At the end of the afternoon, we arrive in Marrakech and your Morocco desert tour from Fes to Marrakech ends as your driver escorts you to your riad.
