5-Day Tangier to Marrakech Desert Tour

Tangier is where many travellers first set foot in Morocco, stepping off the ferry from Spain or landing at Ibn Battouta Airport. This private five-day tour takes you from that northern gateway all the way to Marrakech, crossing the country from the Mediterranean to the Sahara. You spend your first night in the blue town of Chefchaouen, the second in the medina of Fes after an afternoon with a licensed guide, and the third at our luxury camp in the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Then you head west through the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and Ait Ben Haddou, and over the High Atlas to Marrakech.

In five days you see the green Rif Mountains, one of the great medieval cities of the Islamic world, the Sahara and the kasbahs of the south, without backtracking once.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Tangier → Rif Mountains → Chefchaouen (about 115 km)
• Day 2: Chefchaouen → Fes, with a guided medina afternoon (about 200 km)
• Day 3: Fes → Ifrane → Middle Atlas → Ziz Valley → Merzouga, then by camel to camp (about 470 km)
• Day 4: Erg Chebbi → Rissani → Todra Gorge → Dades Valley (about 310 km)
• Day 5: Dades Valley → Ouarzazate → Ait Ben Haddou → Tizi n’Tichka → Marrakech (about 350 km)

Arriving in Tangier

We meet you wherever you arrive: Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport, your hotel, or one of the two ferry ports. Tanger Ville, in the city centre, is where the fast ferries from Tarifa dock after a crossing of about an hour. Tanger Med, about 45 kilometres east of the city, serves the ferries from Algeciras and other Spanish ports. Tell us your port and ferry time when you book, and your driver will be waiting when you come through. On ferries from Tarifa, Moroccan passport control is often done on board, so join the queue early to disembark promptly.

If you arrive early and would like to see something of Tangier before heading south, we can add a short tour of the city: the whitewashed Kasbah above the port, the lighthouse at Cap Spartel where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and the Caves of Hercules.

Day 1: into the Rif

From Tangier, the road runs south through farmland and climbs into the Rif Mountains, arriving in Chefchaouen in about two and a half hours. The town sits on a steep slope beneath two peaks, and its medina is famous for the blue that covers its walls, doors and stairways. Spend the afternoon exploring the lanes, where local weavers sell wool blankets and djellabas, then walk up to the Spanish Mosque, a small ruined mosque on the hillside opposite, to watch the sunset turn the town gold and blue. Dinner in Chefchaouen isn’t included, so you can pick from the town’s small restaurants.

Day 2: Fes with a licensed guide

The morning is free in Chefchaouen. Visit the Ras el-Maa spring at the top of the town, or have breakfast on the main square beneath the red walls of the kasbah. Then you drive south through the hills to Fes, about four hours away.

In the afternoon, a licensed local guide leads you into Fes el-Bali, the oldest part of the medina, a walled city of narrow lanes founded in the 9th century. You visit the Chouara tanneries, where hides are still dyed by hand in rows of stone vats, the Al-Attarine Madrasa with its carved cedar and zellige tilework, and the Nejjarine fountain, and walk through the souks around the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university. You spend the night at a riad in the medina.

Day 3: to the Sahara

This is the longest day of the tour, about seven and a half hours with stops, but the landscape changes constantly. You pass through Ifrane, an Alpine-style town in the Middle Atlas, and the cedar forest near Azrou, where Barbary macaques gather by the road. After lunch in Midelt, you cross the mountains and follow the Ziz river south through its gorge and palm-filled valley.

By late afternoon you reach Merzouga, where the dunes of Erg Chebbi rise from the plain. You swap the car for a camel and ride into the sand for the sunset, while your luggage goes ahead by 4x4. At camp, dinner is served and the evening ends with Berber drums around the fire.

Day 4: the Todra Gorge

Wake early to watch the sunrise over the dunes, then have breakfast. You head west through Rissani, the old caravan town, whose souk is busiest on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The road crosses the pre-Saharan plain to Tinghir and turns into the Todra Gorge, where you walk along the stream between limestone walls around 300 metres high. You spend the night at a kasbah hotel in the Dades Valley.

Day 5: kasbahs and the High Atlas

On the last day, you follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through the Valley of Roses to Ouarzazate. At Ait Ben Haddou, you explore the earthen ksar that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has appeared in many films. Then you cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres, and arrive in Marrakech in the early evening, at your riad or the airport.

Where you’ll sleep

• Chefchaouen (1 night): a riad in the medina, with breakfast.
• Fes (1 night): a riad in the medina, with breakfast.
• 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. Dinner and breakfast are included.
• Dades Valley (1 night): a kasbah hotel with dinner and breakfast.

Best time to go

Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the best seasons. In winter, the Rif can be rainy and cool, and desert nights are cold. In summer, the Strait of Gibraltar is at its busiest, so ferries can be crowded; inland, Fes and the desert are hot, and we plan the medina tour and the camel ride for the cooler hours.

Who this tour is for

Travellers arriving from Spain by ferry, or flying into Tangier, who want to cross Morocco to Marrakech with the Sahara on the way. It suits couples and friends who want to see the highlights in a short time.

Good to know

• Check your ferry port. Tanger Ville (from Tarifa) and Tanger Med (from Algeciras) are about 45 km apart, so tell us which one when you book.
• Passports: Moroccan passport control on ferries from Tarifa is often done on board, so join the queue early to disembark promptly.
• Day three is the long one (about 7.5 hours from Fes to the dunes).
• Returning to Spain? Our 5-day Marrakech to Chefchaouen tour runs the opposite way and ends in Tangier.