5 Days Tour from Fes to Marrakech via Merzouga Desert

Day 1: Fes meeting and city tour

Your driver and guide will meet you at your hotel or at the airport then you will start a city tour of Fes. You will first proceed to Fes El Jadid (a part from the fourteenth century), the Jewish neighborhood (Mellah), the synagogue or cemetery, and the renowned royal palace gates. The final stop on your exterior tour is the pottery part, where you can see the craftspeople creating mosaics and tiles. After that, we travel to the Borj Nord for a panoramic view. You will afterwards tour the Fes El Bali (9th century part) of the old medina with your guide. The Quaraouiyine University, the oldest university in the world, one of the great Medersas from the 14th century, the suffering (bronze) the Nejjarine Fountain and Fondouk, the Moulay Idriss II Mausoleum, the Najjarine (Carpenters) Souk, and the part of Fez. After visiting the tanneries (the leather industry), you’ll have lunch in a Moroccan restaurant. You can extend the journey if you’d want to explore the medina further.

Day 2: Fes – Ifrane – Erfoud – Merzouga

Our 5-day desert trip from Fes to Merzouga begins with a breakfast at your hotel/riad, then we drive through the Middle Atlas and a cedar forest from your hotel or riad in Fez. We go via Ifrane, a well-known ski resort, and Midelt, a city well-known for its minerals and apples. To go to Erfoud, which is well-known for its fossil products, and subsequently to Rissani, we proceed via Ziz valley.

After that, we meet our camel man who will guide us to the Erg Chebbi desert. We enjoy camel trekking in the Sahara desert then we attend the beautiful sunset over Merzouga sand dunes. We end the day with a soiree at Erg Chebbi desert with Berber Gnawa enjoying traditional music and the starry sky around a fire.

Day 3: Merzouga Desert – Erg Chebbi Dunes

You should get up early on the second day of the 5-Day Tour from Fes to Merzouga Desert to take in the beauty of a desert dawn and the incredible quiet of the Sahara. This is a good time to appreciate the silence and to watch the panoramic sunrises on the dunes.

You will ride your camel back to the departure point after returning to the camp, where breakfast will be ready and a hot shower will get you ready for the day’s adventure.

We will pick you up and begin your Merzouga desert trip by taking you to all the noteworthy locations around the Erg Chebbi dunes, including the cyclical Lake of Merzouga known as “Lake Sirji,” the Khamlia hamlet for GNAWA music, the Mines for a variety of stones known as “Mefes,” and nomad homes.

After arriving in the afternoon, you’ll have the rest of the day to yourself before spending the night in the Merzouga desert at a small hotel or riad.

Day 4: Merzouga – Dades Gorges – Todgha Gorges

You should wake up early to watch the beautiful sunrise before you drive to Dades Gorges in Tinghir leaving behind wonderful memories of the desert. We head through the RISSANI traditional Market, the largest souk in the region, then to Erfoud, a small town famous for carving fossils and marble, and we reach Todgha Gorges. An impressive gorges located between high walls of rocks know for hiking activities. You will have your lunch here and walk along the beautiful river of Todgha. Later, you continue to Todgha Gorges where you will spend the night and have your dinner at a hotel on the foot of the mountain.

Day 5: Todgha Gorges – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Marrakech

The last day of our tour begins with a Berber breakfast then we leave for Marrakech and travels into the High Atlas Mountains via the Thousands Kasbahs Road. After navigating the highlands, we will arrive at one of the tour’s high points: Kasbah Ait ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Along the old caravan road between the Sahara and Marrakech, it is a fortified settlement. Ait ben Haddou has served as the backdrop for several well-known movies that were filmed in Morocco because of its old, medieval appearance. Then, we will continue through Ouarzazate (the gate of the Sahara Desert) we can stop to visit the filming studios before driving to Marrakech. On our way, we will cross the Tizi n’Tichka pass at a height of 2260 meters. Beautiful mountain scenery may be seen from the high mountain pass. And finally we reach the red city of Marrakech where our 5-day desert tour from Fes ends.