4 days · 3 nightsMarrakech → Merzouga → FezEasyPrivate
The relaxed way to cross Morocco from Marrakech to Fez: a night in Ait Ben Haddou, a night in the Dades valley, a night in our camp and the Ziz valley.
With one day more than the classic route, this tour lets you enjoy the High Atlas, the kasbahs and the gorges without long hours in the car. You sleep in front of the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou and among the red cliffs of the Dades before reaching the Sahara.
After the camel ride and the night in our camp in Erg Chebbi, the last day crosses the palm canyon of the Ziz and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas and ends at the door of your riad in Fez.
Highlights
Telouet kasbah and the old caravan road
Night facing Ait Ben Haddou
Dades valley and Todra gorge
Camel ride and night in our camp
Ziz valley, cedar forest and Fez
Day by day
Day 1
Marrakech – High Atlas – Ait Ben Haddou
Departure from Marrakech in the morning towards the High Atlas. Without any hurry, we stop in the Berber villages along the road, at an argan oil cooperative run by women and at the viewpoints of the Tizi n'Tichka pass, the highest road pass in Morocco. In the early afternoon we descend to the valley of the Ounila river and, instead of the main road, we can take the old caravan route through the kasbah of Telouet, the palace of the Glaoui family who ruled the south of Morocco a century ago, with its painted ceilings and carved wood. We arrive at Ait Ben Haddou in time for a calm visit of the ksar in the golden afternoon light, when the earth walls glow red and the tourists of the day have left. Dinner and night in a kasbah hotel facing the village.
Day 2
Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Skoura – Valley of Roses – Dades gorge
A gentle day of kasbahs and palm groves. We pass through Ouarzazate, where you can visit the kasbah of Taourirt or the film studios, and continue to Skoura, an oasis where dozens of earth kasbahs stand among the palms; the kasbah of Amridil, the most beautiful, is still lived in by the same family and can be visited inside. We follow the 'road of the thousand kasbahs' to Kalaat M'Gouna, the town of the Valley of Roses, famous for its rose water and its festival in May. In the afternoon we enter the Dades gorge, with its red cliffs and the famous zigzag road climbing the mountain. Your driver can leave you for a walk among the fields and the 'monkey fingers' rocks before dinner at a guesthouse by the river.
Day 3
Dades – Todra gorge – Erfoud – Merzouga, camel ride and night in our camp
After breakfast we drive along the Dades valley, where the river has carved the red rock into strange shapes known as the 'monkey fingers', and then towards Tinghir, a town surrounded by a huge green palm grove. Just beyond it, the Todra gorge opens: a narrow canyon with walls up to 300 metres high and a clear stream running at the bottom. You can walk inside the gorge and watch the climbers on the cliffs. We continue east across the plateaus to Erfoud, the town of dates and fossils, and then to Merzouga, where the orange dunes of Erg Chebbi appear suddenly on the horizon. In the late afternoon your camel is waiting at the edge of the dunes: you leave the big luggage in the car and ride with your cameleer for about an hour and a half, stopping on a crest for the sunset. At our camp you will find your tent with a real bed and private bathroom, a Moroccan dinner and Berber drums around the fire under a sky full of stars.
Day 4
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
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.
