5-Day Fes to Marrakech Desert Tour

Five days is the most relaxed way to cross from Fes to Marrakech through the south of Morocco. After a single long drive on the first day, every day that follows is short, which leaves time to explore instead of just passing through. You spend a night at our luxury camp in the dunes of Erg Chebbi and a second night at a riad at their edge, with a 4x4 day around the desert in between. Then you follow the gorges and kasbahs west, with a full morning in the Dades Gorge, a night in Ouarzazate, and a final day through Ait Ben Haddou and the Glaoui palace at Telouet.

It’s a private tour, so the pace is yours. The extra day makes room for the details that shorter tours have to skip: the Amridil kasbah in Skoura, a hike among the red rock formations of the Dades, and the old caravan road through the Ounila Valley.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Fes → Ifrane → Azrou cedar forest → Midelt → Ziz Valley → Merzouga, then by camel to camp (about 470 km)
• Day 2: Erg Chebbi by 4x4: nomads, Mfis and Khamlia, then a riad at the foot of the dunes (about 60 km)
• Day 3: Merzouga → Rissani → Tinghir → Todra Gorge → Dades Valley (about 310 km)
• Day 4: Dades Gorge → Kelaat M’Gouna → Skoura → Ouarzazate (about 145 km)
• Day 5: Ouarzazate → Ait Ben Haddou → Ounila Valley → Telouet → Tizi n’Tichka → Marrakech (about 210 km)

Day 1: the long drive south

We collect you in the morning from your riad or the closest medina gate. The day’s journey takes you from the imperial city to the Sahara in one sweep: up into the Middle Atlas to Ifrane, through the Azrou cedar forest with its Barbary macaques, across the high plateau to Midelt, and down through the Ziz Gorges into a valley of date palms.

This is the only long day of the tour, about seven and a half hours with stops, and it ends in style. At Merzouga you climb onto a camel and ride into Erg Chebbi as the sun sets over the dunes. Your luggage follows by 4x4. At camp, dinner is served and the evening ends with Berber drums around the fire.

Day 2: nomads, mines and music

Wake up for the sunrise, then have breakfast at camp. The day is spent exploring by 4x4 around the edge of the erg. You visit a nomad family for tea in their tent, walk through Mfis, a mining village near the Algerian border that was abandoned when the lead mines closed, and hear Gnawa music in Khamlia, a village founded by people who came north with the Saharan caravans.

In the afternoon you check in to a riad at the foot of the dunes. Relax in the shade, or climb a dune for one more desert sunset. Dinner is at the riad.

Day 3: Rissani and the Todra Gorge

After breakfast you drive to Rissani, where the Alaouite dynasty rose to power in the 17th century. On Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays its souk draws farmers and traders from across the oasis.

West of Rissani, you cross the pre-Saharan plateau to Tinghir, where a long palm grove follows the river below the mountains. In the Todra Gorge the cliffs close in to a narrow corridor, and you walk along the canyon floor between walls around 300 metres high. You spend the night at a kasbah hotel in the Dades Valley.

Day 4: the Dades Gorge and the Valley of Roses

This is the day that sets the five-day tour apart. With only about three hours of driving, you have the morning to explore the Dades Gorge properly. A local guide can take you on a hike among the “monkey fingers”, the rounded red rock formations that rise above the valley, through narrow side canyons most visitors never see.

After lunch, the road follows the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through Kelaat M’Gouna, the capital of the Valley of Roses. In late April and May the fields are edged with pink damask roses, harvested at dawn for rosewater and oil. Further on, in the palm grove of Skoura, you visit the Amridil kasbah, a 17th-century family fortress that still belongs to its founding family and is one of the best-preserved in the south. The day ends with a relaxed evening at a riad in Ouarzazate.

Day 5: Ait Ben Haddou and Telouet

Start with Ait Ben Haddou, the fortified village of earth and straw on the banks of the Ounila river. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and you have time to walk up through its lanes to the granary at the top.

Instead of returning straight to the main road, you follow the Ounila Valley north on the old caravan route, past earthen villages and green terraces. It leads to Telouet, where the Glaoui family, the powerful pashas of Marrakech in the early 20th century, built a palace whose plain walls hide rooms of carved cedar, painted ceilings and intricate zellige tilework. From Telouet you rejoin the Tizi n’Tichka pass and descend to Marrakech, arriving in the middle of the afternoon.

Where you’ll sleep

• Erg Chebbi (1 night): our luxury desert camp, with a private tent for your booking, en-suite hot shower and flushing toilet, comfortable beds and electricity for charging. Heavy blankets are provided in winter, and family tents are available on request.
• Merzouga (1 night): a riad at the foot of the dunes.
• Dades Valley (1 night): a kasbah hotel.
• Ouarzazate (1 night): a riad in town.

All four nights include dinner and breakfast. If you’d like both Merzouga nights in the dunes, we can book the camp for both.

Best time to go

The best months are March to May and September to November. Late April to mid-May is the season for the roses on day four. In winter, the desert is sunny and pleasant by day and cold at night, and the Middle Atlas and High Atlas passes can see snow; we’ll adjust the route if needed. In summer, the short driving days make the heat much easier to manage than on shorter tours.

Who this tour is for

Families, photographers and anyone who’d rather explore than sit in the car. It’s the most complete way to see the south of Morocco between Fes and Marrakech, and it suits older travellers who prefer shorter days on the road.

Good to know

• Day one is the only long drive (about 7.5 hours with stops). From then on, days are short and relaxed.
• Entrance fees at Ait Ben Haddou, Telouet and the Amridil kasbah are paid on the spot.
• Carry cash: card payment is rare outside the cities, so bring dirhams for lunches, entrance fees and tips.
• Short on time? The 4-day and 3-day versions follow the same direction with fewer stops.