From the medina of Fez to the dunes and back: the Middle Atlas, the Ziz valley, a full day around Merzouga and a night in our camp.
Fez is the closest imperial city to Merzouga, and this round trip is the most relaxed way to see the Sahara from the north. The road is beautiful from the very first hour: cedar forests, high plateaus, the snowy Jebel Ayachi and the endless palm canyon of the Ziz.
Unlike shorter tours, you arrive in Merzouga the first evening and spend a whole day there: the market of Rissani, nomads, Gnawa music and, at sunset, the camel ride to our camp. The third day takes you back to Fez through the Middle Atlas.
Highlights
Ifrane and the cedar forest of Azrou
The palm canyon of the Ziz valley
A full day around Merzouga
Rissani market and Gnawa music
Sunset camel ride and night in our camp
Day by day
Day 1
Fez – Ifrane – Azrou cedar forest – Midelt – Ziz valley – Merzouga
We pick you up at your riad in Fez at around 8:00 and drive south into the Middle Atlas. The first stop is Ifrane, a clean and green town of chalets and gardens built in the 1930s, where the stone lion is the favourite photo of Moroccan families. Just after, in the cedar forest of Azrou, some of the trees are hundreds of years old and Barbary macaques live among them; you can watch them from very close. We cross the high plateaus, where shepherds still live in tents, to Midelt for lunch, with the Jebel Ayachi, often covered in snow, as a backdrop. In the afternoon the road descends through the Ziz gorges into a canyon of palm trees and old ksour, passes Errachidia and Erfoud and reaches Merzouga at sunset, where the dunes of Erg Chebbi glow orange. Dinner and night in a comfortable hotel at the foot of the dunes.
Day 2
A day around Merzouga: Rissani, nomads, Khamlia, camel ride and night in our camp
A whole day to live the desert. In the morning we drive to Rissani, the old caravan capital, to walk through its market, one of the most authentic in Morocco, with its spices, its dozens of varieties of dates and its animal market; we also see the old ksar and the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif. Back in the desert, we visit a nomad family in the black hamada, who welcome us for tea in their tent of goat hair, and the village of Khamlia, where the Gnawa musicians play their hypnotic rhythms. After lunch and a rest in the hotel, you can add a quad, buggy or sandboard session if you wish. Before sunset your camel is waiting: the caravan enters Erg Chebbi, stops on a crest for the sunset and reaches our camp, where dinner, drums and the stars are waiting.
Early wake-up for the sunrise from the dune behind the camp, one of the most beautiful moments of the trip, and breakfast in the camp before riding back to Merzouga. We take the road north again, with stops where you like: the palm grove of Aoufous, the blue lake of the Hassan Addakhil dam, the tunnel of the Legionnaire and the gorges of the Ziz. Lunch in Midelt, then across the Middle Atlas and its cedar forests, where you may see the macaques again, and the town of Ifrane. We arrive in Fez in the late afternoon and your driver leaves you at your riad, with time to walk in the medina in the evening.
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.
