8-Day Ouarzazate to Marrakech Grand Loop: Sahara, Fes & Chefchaouen

Most grand tours of Morocco start in the north and end in the desert. This private eight-day loop does it the other way round. Starting in Ouarzazate, on the southern side of the High Atlas, you head straight for the kasbahs, gorges and dunes, with two nights around Erg Chebbi. Then you cross the Atlas north to Fes for two nights and a guided day in the medina, continue to Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains, spend a night in the capital, Rabat, and visit the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca before taking the motorway to Marrakech.

It’s the ideal itinerary if you’re flying into Ouarzazate, or ending a stay in the south, and want to see the whole country before leaving from Marrakech.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Ouarzazate → Ait Ben Haddou → Skoura → Valley of Roses → Dades Valley (about 210 km)
• Day 2: Dades Gorge → Todra Gorge → Merzouga, then by camel to camp (about 290 km)
• Day 3: Erg Chebbi by 4x4: nomads, Mfis and Khamlia, then a riad by the dunes
• Day 4: Merzouga → Ziz Valley → Midelt → Azrou cedar forest → Ifrane → Fes (about 470 km)
• Day 5: Full day in Fes with a licensed guide
• Day 6: Fes → Rif Mountains → Chefchaouen (about 200 km)
• Day 7: Chefchaouen → Rabat (about 250 km)
• Day 8: Rabat → Casablanca (Hassan II Mosque) → Marrakech (about 330 km)

The south: kasbahs, gorges and dunes

We pick you up at Ouarzazate Airport or your hotel and start with Ait Ben Haddou, the fortified village of earth and straw that rises above the Ounila river. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most filmed places in Africa. Then you drive east along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, through the palm grove of Skoura and the Valley of Roses, to spend the first night in the Dades Valley.

On day two you see the hairpin bends of the Dades Gorge and the rounded “monkey fingers” rocks, then walk along the floor of the Todra Gorge between cliffs around 300 metres high. In the afternoon you cross the pre-Saharan plain to Merzouga, where camels are waiting to carry you into the dunes of Erg Chebbi for the sunset. You spend the night at our luxury camp.

Day three is spent in the desert. After the sunrise, a 4x4 excursion takes you to meet a nomad family, to the abandoned lead-mining village of Mfis and to Khamlia, where Gnawa musicians play the music their ancestors brought from West Africa. In the afternoon, you relax at a riad at the foot of the dunes.

Across the Atlas to Fes

Day four is the only long drive of the tour, about seven and a half hours. You head north through the Ziz Valley, with its long palm groves and earthen villages, and through the Ziz Gorges, then climb over the Middle Atlas to Midelt. In the afternoon, you pass through the cedar forest near Azrou, where Barbary macaques live, and the mountain town of Ifrane, before arriving in Fes.

Day five is a full day in the medina with a licensed guide. You visit the Royal Palace gates, the Mellah, the Al-Attarine and Bou Inania madrasas, the Chouara tanneries and the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university, founded in 859, and finish at the Merenid Tombs as the sun sets over the city.

The Rif and the Atlantic

On day six, a morning drive through the Rif foothills brings you to Chefchaouen around lunchtime. Spend the afternoon among its blue lanes and walk up to the Spanish Mosque for the sunset over the town.

On day seven you drive south-west to Rabat, Morocco’s capital. In the afternoon, you explore the Kasbah of the Udayas, a whitewashed fortress above the mouth of the Bou Regreg river with an Andalusian garden, then the Hassan Tower, the unfinished minaret of a 12th-century mosque, and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. You spend the night at a riad in the medina, which is quieter and more relaxed than those of the other imperial cities.

On the last day, you drive down the coast to Casablanca for a guided tour inside the Hassan II Mosque, built partly over the Atlantic, with a minaret about 210 metres tall. After lunch, the motorway takes you to Marrakech, where we drop you at your riad or the airport.

Why start in the south?

Starting in Ouarzazate means your first days are spent on the desert side of the mountains, without the long climb over the High Atlas that most desert tours begin with. The Sahara comes early in the trip, when you have the most energy, and the second half moves from the desert to the cities, finishing with the Atlantic coast. By stopping in Rabat on the way, the last day is a relaxed four hours rather than a long drive.

Where you’ll sleep

• Dades Valley (1 night): a kasbah hotel.
• 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.
• Fes (2 nights): a riad in the medina.
• Chefchaouen (1 night): a riad in the medina.
• Rabat (1 night): a riad in the medina.

Breakfast is included every day, and dinner in the Dades Valley, at the desert camp and at the Merzouga riad.

Best time to go

Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the best seasons for this loop, with pleasant weather from the desert to the coast. In late April and May, the Valley of Roses is in bloom on day one. In winter, the desert is cold at night and the north can be rainy. In summer, the south and Fes are hot, while the coast is cooler.

Who this tour is for

Travellers starting in the south who want to see the whole country (the Sahara, the imperial cities, the Rif Mountains and the Atlantic) before finishing in Marrakech. It works well for travellers who have already spent time in Marrakech and fly or bus to Ouarzazate to begin the loop.

Good to know

• Longest day: day four, from the dunes to Fes (about 7.5 hours). Every other day is 4–5 hours or less.
• Dress code: cover shoulders and knees for the Hassan II Mosque and in the medinas of Fes and Rabat.
• Book your onward flight from Marrakech for the day after the tour ends, or tell us if you’d prefer to finish at Casablanca airport.
• Film fans: you can add a visit to the Atlas Film Studios before leaving Ouarzazate.