3 Day Desert Tour from Marrakech to Fes

The best way to travel south and then west in Morocco is to enjoy a 3 day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech.

Fes is the undisputed cultural capital of Morocco. Ancient and yet modern, home to dynasties, sultans and kings, Fes is the heart of artisanal goods and Moroccan handicrafts. Housing the world’s older university and one of the most intricate and fascinating medina’s in the world (walled city), Fes is on every tour of Morocco.
Stop for a visit at Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah and Ouarzazate before settling for the night in a full service hotel in the Dades Valley.

First you will pass through Ifrane, the Switzerland of Morocco, stopping for a quick look around. Then its on through the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas Mountains and through the pastures tended by nomads. Stop in to Midelt around mid day for a delicious lunch of lake trout and then you will drive through the amazing Ziz Valley as you travel closer and closer to the desert.

The best way to get from Marrakech to Fes, or from Fes to Marrakech, has to be by camel! Through the Sahara Desert. Well, maybe not the entire trip as they did in centuries past. We will take you by road much of the way.

Starts from Marrakech

3 Days

Desert Tour

2 Breakfast, 2 Dinner

Your Trip At a glance

Day 1: Ifrane, Middle Atlas, Midelt, Ziz Valley, Rissini, Merouzga
Pass through Ifrane, the “Switzerland of Morocco” and a popular ski resort, (right? A ski resort?), then on through the cedar forest of the Middle Atlas to visit with the barbary apes.

Stop for a lunch break in Midelt and learn about the fossils there. Did you know the Sahara Desert was once at the bottom of the ocean?

Passing through the stunning Ziz Valley with its broad sweeping valley filled with date palms, and onto Rissini you will end the day on a camel, trekking off to your desert camp for the night. Enjoy the sunset over the dunes and a fabulous dinner made for you in camp.

Day 2: Arfoud, Tinjedad, Tinghir, Todgha Gorge
First you will want to watch the sunrise on this bright new day over the dunes of the Sahara Desert before heading back to your vehicle for the start of your day.

The next stop is Arfoud, home to some of the world’s oldest fossils but more importantly the date capital of Morocco. Dates of all varieties are here and make fantastic road trip snacks for the car.

Then its on through Tinejedad and Tinghir, two very important points in the south before stopping for the day in Todghra Gorge.

Cut through the mountain by a river over thousands of years of persistence, you will walk along the gorge basin, and hopefully spot some rock climbers. The rock face jutts out of the basin at a 300m vertical!

Spend the night here.

Day 3: Dades Valley, Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah, High Atlas Mountains, Marrakech
After breakfast you will travel along the wide and sweeping Dades Valley, home to all the roses that you see in Morocco. Mostly in bloom in April, this valley is lush and beautiful all year. (As long as there is a little rain in the forecast once in awhile.)

Stop into Ouarzazate to see this important southern city and the movie capital of Morocco before getting to Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah.

Next you will enjoy one of the most spectacular driving routes in the world, up and over the highest mountain pass in North Africa – Tizi n’ Tichka. Stop at the top of Tichka pass for photos before descending into the foothills and on to Marrakech.

Once in Marrakech we will deliver you to your stated address there in time for dinner.