3-Day Tour from Errachidia to Fez via the Merzouga Dunes
3 days · 2 nightsErrachidia → Merzouga → FezEasyPrivate
Fly into Errachidia, spend two nights in our camp in the Sahara and continue to Fez through the Ziz valley and the Middle Atlas.
A clever way to include the desert in a trip to Morocco: fly to Errachidia from Casablanca, enjoy two nights among the dunes of Erg Chebbi and finish in Fez, ready to discover the imperial cities.
The last day crosses the palm canyon of the Ziz, the town of Midelt and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, where you can see the Barbary macaques.
Highlights
Pick-up at Errachidia airport
Two nights in our desert camp
Free day in the dunes
Ziz valley and Midelt
Cedar forest and arrival in Fez
Day by day
Day 1
Errachidia – Ziz valley – Erfoud – Rissani – Merzouga, camel ride and night in our camp
Your driver meets you at the airport of Errachidia, at the bus station or at your hotel. We leave the town and drive south along the Ziz valley, stopping at the viewpoint of the Source Bleue of Meski, a natural pool among the palms, and at the panoramas over the canyon, where thousands of date palms grow along the river below the old ksour of Aoufous. In Erfoud you can visit a workshop where marble full of fossils is cut and polished, and in Rissani we walk through the market and see the ruins of the medieval city of Sijilmassa. We arrive in Merzouga in the afternoon, and before sunset your cameleer takes you into the dunes of Erg Chebbi. After an hour and a half of riding and a sunset from a high crest, you reach our camp for dinner, drums around the fire and a night under the stars.
Day 2
A second day in the Sahara: free day in the dunes and second night in our camp
Today there is no car waiting for you: the whole day belongs to the desert. After the sunrise and a slow breakfast in the camp, you can climb the highest dune nearby, the Big Dune, for a view over the whole sea of sand and, on clear days, the Algerian border. Many guests choose a sandboarding session on the soft slopes, a visit to a nomad family who live with their goats and camels in the hamada, or a quad or buggy ride with our guides. Others simply rest in the shade of the lounge tent with a book and endless mint tea, listening to the silence. In the late afternoon a short camel ride takes you to a crest for another sunset, and the evening brings a new dinner cooked in the camp, drums around the fire and, if the moon allows it, a short stargazing session with your guide. Second night in your private tent with bathroom.
Day 3
Merzouga – Ziz valley – Midelt – Ifrane – Fez
After the sunrise over the dunes and breakfast in the camp, you return to Merzouga by camel and we set off north. We follow the Ziz valley, a deep canyon filled with thousands of palm trees and dotted with old ksour, and stop at a viewpoint over its blue lake near Errachidia. The road climbs through the Ziz gorges and the tunnel of the Legionnaire to Midelt, the 'apple city', at the foot of the Jebel Ayachi, where we stop for lunch. In the afternoon we cross the Middle Atlas, with its cedar forests where Barbary macaques come close to the road, and pass through Ifrane, a mountain town with sloping roofs nicknamed 'the Switzerland of Morocco'. We arrive in Fez in the early evening and your driver accompanies you to your riad in the medina.
Included
Private air-conditioned vehicle
Local driver-guide
Pick-up and drop-off at your riad, hotel or airport
Nights in riads, kasbahs and guesthouses
Dinners and breakfasts
Camel ride with cameleer
Night in our desert camp in Erg Chebbi
Visit to a nomad family
Not included
Lunches
Local guides in the cities (on request)
Entrance fees to monuments
Tips
Good to know
Pick-up between 7:00 and 8:00 at your riad, hotel, airport or port. Bring a small bag for the desert night: big luggage stays in the vehicle. Hotels can be upgraded on request.
No payment is needed to book: you pay on arrival in cash (dirhams or euros). Free changes if the weather is not good.
Questions
Are the tours private?
Yes. Only your group travels in the vehicle, with your own driver, and the program can be adapted.
Where do the tours start?
Wherever you are: your riad or hotel in Marrakech, Fez, Tangier, Casablanca, Agadir, Ouarzazate, Errachidia or Essaouira, or the airport or port when you land.
Which camp do we sleep in?
In our own camp in Erg Chebbi, with private tents, bathrooms with hot shower, dinner and breakfast, and Berber music by the fire.
Can I change the itinerary?
Yes, every tour is private and flexible: add nights in the desert, a quad or buggy ride, a different finishing city or better hotels. Just tell us when you write.
