3 Days Marrakech to Fes Desert Tour

Day 1: Marrakech – Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah – Ouarzazate – Dades Valley [328 km]

Your driver will pick you up from your Marrakech hotel or riad around 8:30 AM to begin the drive south. The road climbs into the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi n’Tichka pass, the highest paved mountain crossing in Morocco, with Berber villages and long mountain views along the way.

The first stop is Ait Ben Haddou, a fortified earthen village recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and used as a filming location for a number of international productions. You’ll have time to walk through the ksar, see how the traditional pisé (rammed-earth) construction has held up over centuries, and climb to the viewpoint above the village.

After lunch near Ait Ben Haddou, the route continues to Ouarzazate, sometimes called the gateway to the Sahara because of its position between the mountains and the desert region to the south. From there, you’ll pass through the Valley of the Roses and the town of Kelaat M’Gouna, which hosts an annual rose festival, before reaching the Dades Valley by evening. You’ll spend the night at a hotel or riad in the valley, known locally as the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs for the fortified structures built into its rock formations.

Day 2: Dades Valley – Todra Gorges – Merzouga Desert [272 km]

After breakfast, the drive continues east along the Dades Valley toward Tinghir, an oasis town surrounded by palm groves and traditional mud-brick villages. If time allows, you can walk through part of the oasis with your driver-guide and see how the local irrigation system still supports agriculture in this arid region.

From Tinghir, you’ll head into the Todra Gorges, where limestone cliffs rise sharply on either side of a narrow river. It’s a good spot to get out of the vehicle, walk along the canyon floor, and take photos before continuing toward the desert.

By afternoon, you’ll reach Merzouga and the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes, where camels take over from the vehicle. Most travelers ride out to the desert camp timed so you arrive as the sun sets over the dunes. Dinner at the camp is followed by Berber music around the fire, and you’ll sleep in a private tent under a sky with very little light pollution.

Day 3: Merzouga Desert – Ziz Valley – Ifrane – Fes [463 km]

Many guests wake up before sunrise to watch the light change over the dunes, either from camelback or on foot near the camp, before breakfast and the drive out of the desert.

From Merzouga, the route follows the Ziz Valley, lined with palm groves and older kasbahs, toward Midelt, a Middle Atlas town where the group usually stops for lunch. The road then climbs through the cedar forests around Azrou, home to a population of Barbary macaques that often gather near the roadside.

The last stop before Fes is Ifrane, a planned town built in a European alpine style during the French colonial period, with stone chalets and a noticeably cooler climate than the desert you left that morning. From Ifrane, it’s a short drive to Fes, where your driver will drop you at your riad or hotel in the late afternoon, usually around 6 PM, ending the tour.