7-Day Tour from Marrakech to Tangier via the Sahara, Fez & Chefchaouen
7 days · 6 nightsMarrakech → Merzouga → TangierEasyPrivate
From the red city to the Strait of Gibraltar: the kasbahs, the dunes of Merzouga, a day in the medina of Fez and the blue town of Chefchaouen.
Perfect if you fly into Marrakech and leave Morocco from Tangier, or take the ferry back to Spain. In one week you cross the whole country from south to north, with no road done twice.
After the High Atlas, the kasbahs and a night in our camp in Erg Chebbi, you spend a full day with a guide in the medina of Fez, then go up into the Rif to sleep in Chefchaouen before the last drive to Tangier.
Highlights
Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades valley
Camel ride and night in our camp
Guided day in the medina of Fez
Night in blue Chefchaouen
Ends in Tangier, port or airport
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.
Day 5
Fez: a full day in the medina with a local guide
Fez el Bali is the largest medieval medina in the world still alive, a maze of more than 9,000 alleys where cars cannot enter and donkeys still carry the goods. With a licensed local guide you discover its treasures: the Bou Inania and Al Attarine medersas, decorated with zellige tiles, carved cedar and stucco as fine as lace; the Qarawiyyin, founded in the year 859 and considered the oldest university in the world; the fountain of Nejjarine; and the souks of the coppersmiths, weavers and spice sellers. From a terrace you watch the famous Chouara tannery, where leather is still dyed in stone vats as it was centuries ago. In the afternoon your driver takes you to the Royal Palace with its golden doors, the Jewish quarter of the Mellah and the panorama from the Merinid tombs at sunset. Dinner and night in your riad.
Day 6
Fez – Rif mountains – Chefchaouen, the blue town
We pick you up at your riad in Fez and drive north towards the Rif mountains. The landscape becomes greener with every kilometre: olive groves, fields of wheat, small villages on the hills and, in spring, meadows full of flowers. After about four hours we arrive in Chefchaouen, the town founded in the 15th century by Muslims and Jews expelled from Andalusia, whose houses are painted in every shade of blue. You have the afternoon to get lost in its quiet alleys, climb the stairs decorated with flower pots, visit the red kasbah and its garden in the square of Outa el Hammam and taste the local goat cheese. At sunset, a short walk up to the Spanish mosque gives you the most beautiful view over the blue town and the mountains. Dinner and night in a riad in the medina.
Day 7
Chefchaouen – Tetouan – Tangier, end of the tour
After a last coffee in the blue medina, we drive north through the Rif to Tetouan, whose white medina, classified by UNESCO, keeps the memory of the Andalusian families who settled here; its souks of craftsmen and its Spanish-style avenues make a pleasant walk. We continue to the coast of the Strait of Gibraltar and arrive in Tangier, the legendary city of writers and painters. Before saying goodbye, you can visit Cap Spartel, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and the Caves of Hercules, or walk up to the kasbah for the view over the port and, on clear days, the coast of Spain. Your driver leaves you at your hotel, the port of Tangier Med or the airport. End of our services.
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.
