Our Destinations
Five days give the Marrakech to Fes crossing room to breathe. You spend two nights in southern hotels before the desert camp, take a morning for Rissani and the date palms of Erfoud, and reach Fes through the Ziz Valley, Azrou’s cedar forests and Ifrane. The route covers the High Atlas, the Skoura oasis, the Dades and Todra gorges and a night in a nomad tent among the Erg Chebbi dunes.
Tour highlights
- Kasbah Telouet and Ait Ben Haddou on the first day
- The Kasbah of Taourirt, the Skoura oasis and Kasbah Amridil
- The Rose Valley, the Tamnalt Hills and the Dades Gorge
- The tall, narrow walls of the Todra Gorge
- A two-hour camel trek at sunset and a night in a nomad tent in the Erg Chebbi dunes
- Sunrise over the dunes, a seasonal lake and the market and old kasbah of Rissani
- The date palms of Erfoud
- The Ziz Valley, the woodworkers of Azrou, cedar forests with monkeys and the Alpine-style houses of Ifrane
Good to know
- The tour starts at your Marrakech hotel early on day 1 and ends with a drop-off at your riad in Fes in the late afternoon of day 5.
- It is a private tour: your own driver, plus a guide and camels for the dune trek.
- Nights 1 and 2 are half-board hotel stays, night 3 is in a nomad tent with dinner and breakfast, and night 4 is in Erfoud.
- The seasonal lake visited on day 4 usually holds water only from November to April or May.
- Nights in the desert can be cold in winter and days hot in summer, so pack layers, a scarf and sun protection.
- Send us your dates and group size and we will get back to you with availability and a quote.
Looking for a quicker version? See the 3 day Marrakech to Fes tour or the 4 day Marrakech to Fes tour, or ask us to tailor a route. You can also read what past travellers say or get in touch.
Included and Excluded
- Private tour with your own driver
- Hotel pick-up in Marrakech on day 1
- Nights 1 and 2 in hotels in Ouarzazate and at the Dades Gorge, half board
- Sunset camel trek of about two hours to the desert camp on day 3
- Night 3 in a nomad tent, with dinner and breakfast
- Night 4 in Erfoud
- Drop-off at your riad in Fes on day 5
- Anything not listed here – please confirm meals, drinks and entrance fees with us when you book
Tour route
- Marrakech – Tizi n'Tichka – Telouet – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Skoura – Rose Valley – Dades Gorge – Todra Gorge – Merzouga – Erg Chebbi – Rissani – Erfoud – Ziz Valley – Azrou – Ifrane – Fes
Itinerary
Your driver picks you up at your hotel early in the morning for the drive to Ouarzazate over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with panoramic views of the High Atlas, big landscapes and small Berber villages. On the way you visit Kasbah Telouet, a palatial residence and former headquarters of the powerful Glaoui clan, and Ait Ben Haddou, the UNESCO-protected ksar that has inspired many film makers. You spend the night in a hotel in Ouarzazate on half board.
In Ouarzazate you see the Kasbah of Taourirt, once the residence of the Pasha of Marrakech. The route then follows the Road of One Thousand Kasbahs to the Skoura oasis, with an off-road stretch through the palm grove past local homes and a visit to Kasbah Amridil, a favourite of Moroccan travel brochures. You cross the Rose Valley, known for its roses and beauty products, pass the Tamnalt Hills, whose rocks look like monkey feet, and end the day at the Dades Gorge, a deep canyon of red and mauve rock, with a half-board night in a hotel.
Leave the Dades Gorge for the Todra Gorge, a deep canyon with tall, narrow walls, and take time to enjoy it before heading on toward the Sahara. At Merzouga, the doorway to the desert, your guide and camels carry you into the dunes. As the sun sets, a two-hour camel trek brings you to the desert camp, where a traditional nomad tent is your home for the night. Your guide prepares a simple tagine and pours the traditional mint tea of welcome, and you sleep in the tent with dinner and breakfast.
Watch the sun rise over the dunes; the camels then take you back to Merzouga, where a shower and breakfast wait. Next comes a seasonal lake that usually fills between November and April or May and looks very different from the dry dunes beside it. In Rissani, an old city tied to early Arab dynasties, you see men in the indigo robes typical of the Sahara, walk through the old kasbah, which is still inhabited, and browse the market. The private tour continues to Erfoud, known for its date palms and its annual date festival, where you spend the night.
Leave Erfoud and follow the Ziz Valley, with its palm groves and green valleys. Along the way you may see local nomads herding their animals and living in tents in the fields. Azrou, known for its woodwork and red carpets, comes next, followed by cedar forests where colonies of monkeys live, and Ifrane, which looks like a Swiss ski-resort village. You arrive in Fes in the late afternoon and are dropped off at your riad.
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