5-Day Marrakech to Chefchaouen Desert Tour via Fes

This tour crosses Morocco from south to north in five days and links four of its most memorable places: the kasbahs of the High Atlas, the dunes of the Sahara, the medieval medina of Fes and the blue town of Chefchaouen. It’s a one-way private journey that starts at your riad in Marrakech and ends wherever suits your onward plans: Tangier port for the ferry to Spain, Tangier airport, a hotel in Tangier, or back in Fes for the train.

If you’ve flown into Marrakech and are leaving from the north, it saves you from doubling back, and turns the trip between the two into the heart of your holiday.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Marrakech → Tizi n’Tichka → Ait Ben Haddou → Ouarzazate → Skoura → Dades Valley (about 350 km)
• Day 2: Dades Valley → Todra Gorge → Merzouga, then by camel into Erg Chebbi (about 290 km)
• Day 3: Erg Chebbi → Ziz Valley → Midelt → Azrou → Ifrane → Fes (about 470 km)
• Day 4: Guided morning in the Fes medina → Rif foothills → Chefchaouen (about 200 km)
• Day 5: Chefchaouen → Tangier (port, airport or hotel), or back to Fes (about 115 km to Tangier)

Four landscapes in five days

Few itineraries show how varied Morocco is as clearly as this one.

• The High Atlas: snowy peaks in winter, terraced Berber villages and the Tizi n’Tichka pass at 2,260 metres.
• The Sahara: the oases and gorges of the south-east, and the orange dunes of Erg Chebbi.
• The Middle Atlas: cedar forests, highland lakes and pastures, with Barbary macaques by the road.
• The Rif: green, rolling hills and olive groves leading to the whitewashed and blue villages of the north.

Days 1 to 3: over the mountains and into the desert

Your driver picks you up in Marrakech in the morning and heads over the High Atlas. The first major stop is Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO-listed ksar of earthen towers and houses on the old caravan route. The afternoon continues past Ouarzazate and the Skoura oasis to the Dades Valley, where you spend the night at a kasbah hotel.

On day two, you walk through the Todra Gorge, where the canyon walls rise about 300 metres, then cross the desert plateau to Merzouga. At the edge of Erg Chebbi, you climb onto your camel for the sunset ride into the dunes and spend the night at our luxury camp, with dinner, drumming around the fire and a sky full of stars.

Day three begins with sunrise over the sand. Then comes the long drive north: through the palm-filled canyon of the Ziz Valley, over the Middle Atlas via Midelt, through the cedar forests near Azrou and the tidy mountain town of Ifrane, and down to Fes in the late afternoon. You spend the night at a riad in the medina.

Day 4: Fes el-Bali with a local guide

Fes el-Bali, the old medina of Fes, was founded in the 9th century and is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world. Its lanes are so tangled that even locals use landmarks to find their way, which is why a licensed guide makes all the difference. Your morning tour usually includes:

• The Chouara tanneries: seen from a terrace above, where leather is still dyed in stone vats as it has been for centuries.
• The Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas: 14th-century Koranic schools, covered in carved cedar, stucco and zellige.
• The Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university: founded in 859 and considered one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world. Non-Muslims can look in from the doors.
• The craft souks: coppersmiths hammering on Place Seffarine, weavers, dyers and leather workers.

After lunch, you leave Fes for the Rif. The road winds through olive groves and farmland to Chefchaouen, and you arrive in time to walk up to the Spanish Mosque for sunset over the blue town.

Day 5: Chefchaouen, then north to Tangier

Chefchaouen was founded in 1471 as a mountain fortress and remained closed to most outsiders until the 20th century. Today it’s famous for its blue-washed houses, painted in every shade from sky to cobalt. There are many theories about the colour, from a tradition brought by Jewish refugees to a way of keeping insects away, and nobody agrees on the answer.

Spend the morning wandering. Start at the central square of Outa el-Hammam, with the red-walled kasbah and the Great Mosque, then climb through the lanes to the Ras el-Maa spring, where women still wash clothes in the stream. The town is compact, calm and made for photographs.

After lunch, your driver takes you north to Tangier, about 2.5 hours away, for drop-off at the port, the airport or your hotel. If you’re continuing by train, we can take you back to Fes instead.

Onward travel from Tangier

• Ferries to Spain: boats to Tarifa leave from Tanger Ville port in the city centre. The crossing takes about an hour. Most ferries to Algeciras leave from Tanger Med, about 45 km east. Tell us your ferry and we’ll drop you at the right port.
• Flights: Tangier Ibn Battuta Airport has direct flights to many European cities.
• Trains: the high-speed Al Boraq line runs from Tangier to Rabat and Casablanca.

Allow a comfortable margin: we recommend booking ferries and flights for the evening of day 5 or later.

Where you’ll sleep

• Dades Valley: a kasbah-style hotel with a private room and bathroom.
• Erg Chebbi: our luxury desert camp, with a private tent for your booking, an 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.
• Fes: a riad in the medina.
• Chefchaouen: a riad in the old town.

Dinners in Fes and Chefchaouen aren’t included, so you’re free to try local restaurants; your driver will happily recommend favourites.

Who this tour is for

Travellers who arrive in Marrakech and leave from the north, whether by ferry to Spain or a flight from Tangier, and want to see the Sahara, Fes and Chefchaouen without backtracking. It’s ideal for a first trip to Morocco that ends with a crossing to Europe.

Good to know

• This is a one-way tour. Book your onward ferry or flight from Tangier for the evening of day 5 or later.
• Day 3 is the long one, about 7.5 hours. Day 4 starts with a walking tour, so bring comfortable shoes for the medina’s steep, uneven lanes.
• Prefer to start in the north? Our 7-day Tangier to Marrakech tour covers this route in reverse at a slower pace.
• Want more time in Fes? Add a night for a full day in the medina.