Your four-day Fes to Marrakech desert vacation begins at 8:30 a.m. when our driver from Sahara Camel Trips organisation picks you up from your accommodation in Fes. We’ll have a leisurely drive through Berber communities on the way to Merzouga. Stop in the lovely city of Ifrane (often referred to as “Moroccan Switzerland”) before continuing to Azrou, a famous cedar forest where you may see monkeys, before stopping for lunch in the town of Midelt. Then, we’ll travel via the lovely Ziz Valley to Erfoud, which is famed for its annual dates market and fossils, where we’ll stop to observe a lovely panoramic view with the landscape of the oasis. By the time we get there, it will be time for supper and an overnight stay at a hotel in Merzouga.

The Merzouga 4×4 adventure will begin after breakfast at your accommodation. We’ll visit the Hassi Labied oasis to witness its irrigation canal and land agriculture before continuing our exploration of the Erg Chebbi dunes. If you’d want to hear the Gnawa music of the dark-skinned people who were brought to Morocco as immigrants more than a century ago and who were working as slaves, we’ll travel south to the seasonally active Srij lake (if there is water in it) and then on to Khamlia village. Then, in addition to being a popular tourist destination, the Merzouga Desert is also known for its minerals and fossils. We will have the chance to meet a nomadic Berber family who are still residing in their tent in the heart of the Sahara on our Merzouga 4×4 desert tour. We will share a drink of mint tea with them and learn about their way of life in the desert. After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we’ll make stops at several panoramic vistas to soak in the scenery and take pictures of the sights before returning to the village. To get to our Berber Camp in Merzouga from here, you must engage in camel trekking. The camel ride lasts between one to one and a half hours with a break on top of the dunes to watch the sunset, try sandboarding if you’re interested in that activity, enjoy the sights, and take pictures. Following these lovely moments, you’ll proceed to the camp where you’ll be greeted with a glass of tea and given time to unwind before dinner. Following dinner, there will be some traditional Berber drumming music, and you can then enjoy the starry sky before retiring to your nomadic tent for the night.

Since you’re already in the desert, it’s worth getting up early to catch the sunrise close to your camp this morning. After these lovely moments, you’ll eat breakfast and take a shower at the camp, after which you can either ride camels or take a 4WD transfer back to the starting point to meet your driver. Continue your 4-day desert excursion after that. From Fes to Marrakech, we’ll pass via tiny Berber towns like Touroug, Tinjdad, and the Tinghir where we’ll stop to enjoy its stunning Todra valley full of palm trees and vegetation. If it’s a market day (Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday), you’ll visit the weekly market of Rissani. We continue to the Todra Gorge, a well-known destination for rock climbers that is situated at the base of the tall Atlas Mountains. We’ll have some free time to explore the area’s deep gorges, take a lunch break, and then journey to Boumaine Dades in the late afternoon. Once there, we’ll have supper and spend the night at a hotel or riad.

We have a four-day desert tour that ends today. Our route from Fes to Marrakech continues through Kalaat M’gouna, Rose Valley, and Skoura Palm Grove. We go to the Ouarzazate film studios and the Kasbah Taourirte (optional). Then we’ll travel to Ait Benhaddou to see its renowned and oldest kasbah (declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986). Famous movies like Gladiator, Obelix, the Mummy, the Jewel of the Nile, and Sahara with Penélope Cruz have all been filmed in this breathtaking location. There is now time for lunch. Our journey continues as we traverse the High Atlas highlands via Tizi N’tichka, the highest road pass in Morocco at 2260 metres above sea level, which provides breathtaking views of the surrounding valleys, mountains, and several Berber communities. Your four-day desert excursion from Fes to Marrakech comes to a close when you arrive in the afternoon or evening in Marrakech.