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Marrakech to Fes desert tour of 5 days – overview:
The reward of this slower, more leisurely Marrakech to Fes itinerary is the opportunity to spend an extra day savouring the beauty, the calm, the tranquility of the desert; an incomparable experience.
The first night in the desert allows for a first camel ride to the luxurious camp set amongst the dunes. Here you spend a night of beauty and calm far from any village or light pollution.
The Dades and Toudgha valleys and gorges give time to explore the Berber gardens and fields to view the rural Berber way of life – so different from the cities and the desert.
Typical Berber architecture are in the High Atlas at Kasbah Telouet, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kasbah Aït Ben Haddou and at the beautifully restored Kasbah Amredhil in Skoura.
Experience the majesty and wonder of our unique range of Marrakech Desert tours. Discover the tour itinerary below. Your journey starts here!
5-day Marrakech to Fes desert tour in Morocco – highlights:
- Driving over the High Atlas and the Middle Atlas Mountains with breathtaking views
- Exploring Kasbah Telouet, Kasbah Aït ben Haddou, and Kasbah Amredhil in Skoura
- Hiking in the Toudgha Gorges and Dades Valley with a local guide, or walking by the river
- Spending peaceful nights in a private luxury tent with private bathroom in Erg Chebbi
- After dinner, joining in an evening of local Berber music and drumming around a fire camp
- Enjoying a full day’s camel trekking in Merzouga, or a half day’s drive round the dunes
What is included in this 5-day/ 4-night Marrakech to Fes trip:
- Transport in a private air-conditioned vehicle; 4×4 Toyota Prado TX or deluxe van and fuel
- Pick up from your hotel or riad in Marrakech and drop-off at your hotel or riad in Fes
- Experienced local English/French/Spanish/Italian-speaking Berber and nomad driver/guide
- Accommodation in air-conditioned rooms/suites with private bathroom
- Two nights in a luxury camp in Erg Chebbi with a private toilet and shower, lamps, and traditional handmade Moroccan furnishings
- 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!. Plus a whole day trekking in the dunes
- The option of going to and from the camp by 4×4
- Luggage service to the luxury desert camp and all accommodation
- Berber drumming and music
- Free time to explore the sites such as Ait Ben Haddou, the Ounila Valley, 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 5-day desert tour from Marrakech to Fes:
- This Marrakech to Fes desert tour 5 days can be tailored to accommodate your points of interest
- On the second day in Merzouga, you can choose a full day trekking in the desert, or a half a day 4×4 tour around the dunes to Khamlia village.
- According to weather conditions from May to the end of September, it may be necessary to find an alternative to the second day trekking in the dunes
- You can choose to go to the luxury desert camp either by camel or 4×4 ( you go for your camel ride from the camp)
- You can always consult your driver about skipping some spots to spend more time elsewhere
- It is possible to do this tour the other way around, starting this desert trip from Fes to Marrakech
- 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 |
|---|
| 645 € * |
| 1290 € * |
| 3 Persons |
|---|
| 615 € * |
| 1845 € * |
| 4 Persons |
|---|
| 585 € * |
| 2340 € * |
| 5 Persons |
|---|
| 545 € * |
| 2725 € * |
| 6 Persons |
|---|
| 545 € * |
| 3270 € * |
Marrakech to Fes Desert Tour 5 days – Itinerary:
1st day: Marrakech – Skoura
Morning departure at 8.30 from your hotel or riad in Marrakech to cross the High Atlas Mountains. After the Tichka pass, you leave the main road and take a side road to the Telouet Kasbah, which belonged to the Lords of the Atlas, the Glaoui family, and which now stands in ruins after the last Pasha’s property was confiscated for his having plotted the King’s exile.
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.
From there you continue for lunch at Ait Ben Haddou along the newly asphalted connecting road. This is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which we visit after lunch.
After visiting the Kasbah, you continue to Ouarzazate, where you visit us in the office for tea and to pay your balance. From here you travel another short distance to Skoura to the oasis and a night’s quiet rest.
2nd day: Skoura– Dades Gorges
Skoura Oasis has numerous ancient kasbahs, with many sadly in ruins, standing amongst the palm trees. In the morning you can visit the restored and fascinating Kasbah Amredhil and walk in the oasis with its innumerable olive and fruit trees.
From here, our route takes us through Kela’a M’gouna, the Valley of Roses, famous for its Rose Festival in May. Here we stop to see the cosmetic articles which are made locally from the valley’s abundant flowers. These products are well-known throughout Morocco and are highly valued.
From here, you take an off-road route to have a better impression of the landscape. Along the way, you will stop at caves, used by whichever Berber nomads happen to pass and claim residence there. We will have a glass of tea with them before continuing to the Dades Gorge for lunch. This leaves you half a day to walk in the valley or to spend it relaxing or simply strolling by the fields and gardens, or having tea with a Berber family. You spend the night in a guest house.
3rd day: Dades Gorges – Merzouga
After breakfast, the trip continues a short distance to Tinghir and the very different Toudgha gorges where you can take a short walk to appreciate the steep sides to the gorge and the narrow expanse of the sky above.
From there, you continue to the Chebbi dunes via Tinjdad, and the Oasis of Tafilalet near Erfoud, famous for its Date Festival, and Rissani, which is the seat of the Alaouite family of the present king of Morocco. Between Tinjdad and Erfoud, you can stop to go down into the fascinating underground water channels deep below the earth, always cool and preventing the evaporation of this source of irrigation. Lunch will be in a Berber village along the way.
Im Merzouga you will take camels to reach the desert camp, where you will be welcomed with tea and biscuits. As the sun goes down, you can walk to the summit of the nearest and highest dunes to watch the full splendour of the sunset.
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.
4th day: Merzouga
After breakfast, you take the camels, either riding or walking behind, as they carry everything needed to cook your lunch, which will be prepared out in the dunes by your camel man. You’ll walk about three hours in the morning, followed by another three in the afternoon returning to the bivouac for dinner and the night.
Alternatively, after breakfast, you will explore the desert area more fully. First of all, you will be visit the Gnawa people in the village of Khamlia. They specialize in Gnawa music brought from sub-Saharan Africa with the slave trade. They will play some for you.
Afterward, you will visit the old city of Rissani. This small town was the foundation of the Alaouite dynasty – the current ruling royal family in Morocco. It is surrounded by 360 ksars (a ksar is a fortified village with many towers) and has a large souk (an open market) held three times a week. Here you’ll walk through the souk, which sells spices, vegetables, household goods, and handicrafts. Rissani has been built on the site of Sijilmassa, which was the meeting place for the salt caravans, coming from Timbuktu in Mali.
And then in the afternoon, you will mount your camel, and be led by an experienced camel man through the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi at Merzouga for an hour to an hour and a half to watch the sunset and spend the night back in your chosen luxury camp.
Weather conditions and temperatures in South Morocco are rarely stable. Should it become too hot from May through to the end of September, we may have to advise you not to attempt the trekking in the dunes but to take this alternative instead.
5th day: Merzouga – Fes
After breakfast, you make a departure for Rissani and possibly a visit to the local souk. In Erfoud, there will be a stop to see how the abundant locally found fossils are worked into furniture and artefacts. They bear witness to the fascinating geological history of the area, which used to lie beneath the ocean.
From here, the road leads north to Er Rachidia, a main mining town, and the Ziz Valley, remarkable for the extent of its palm trees. Lunch is in Midelt, known as “the apple capital”, in the Middle Atlas and at the foot of the Ayachi Mountain. This town is also one of the main mining areas of Morocco.
Lunch is in Midelt, 1508M, which is called “the apple capital”, in the Middle Atlas and at the foot of the Ayachi Mountain. The town serves as the commercial agricultural center for the surrounding area and is also one of Morocco’s principal cities for the mining of several minerals, such as fluorite, vanadinite, quartz, and cerussite.
You cross the Tizi-n-Talremt pass to reach Azrou on the edge of the mountains. Here you can see Barbary apes looking out for tidbits in the cedar forests. This fragrant cedar wood is used for wonderful chests of drawers and wardrobes. We reach Fes, a truly historic Imperial city in the early evening.
Your driver will escort you to your riad, bringing your Marrakech to Fes desert tour 5 days to a close.
Map of 5-day Marrakech to Fes Desert Tour in Morocco :
