3 Day Desert Tour from Fez to Marrakech: Private Tour

Day 1

Fez to the Sahara

Fez To Ifrane To Midelt To Merzouga

We leave Fez early and climb into the Middle Atlas. In Ifrane, a town of alpine chalets often called Little Switzerland, you stop for photos before the road winds through cedar forests where Barbary macaques live.

After lunch in Midelt the landscape changes, and the road follows the Ziz Valley, a ribbon of palm groves and old ksour beneath the cliffs. In the late afternoon you reach Merzouga, where camels wait to carry you into the dunes of Erg Chebbi for the sunset. Dinner is served at the camp, followed by music under the stars.

Overnight: Desert camp in Erg Chebbi, dinner included

Day 2

Merzouga to the Dades Valley

Merzouga To Rissani To Todra Gorge To Dades Valley

You wake before dawn to climb a dune and watch the sunrise over the Sahara, then ride back to Merzouga for breakfast. We continue to Rissani, an old caravan town with a lively market of dates, spices and silver.

The road then enters the Todra Gorge, where you walk along the river between walls about 300 meters high. In the afternoon we follow the Dades Valley, the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, with a stop at the Monkey Fingers rock formations, and settle into a hotel with views over the valley.

Overnight: Kasbah hotel in the Dades Valley, dinner included

Day 3

Dades Valley to Marrakech

Dades Valley To Ouarzazate To Ait Benhaddou To Marrakech

After breakfast we pass through the Valley of Roses, fragrant in April and May, on the way to Ouarzazate and its Taourirt Kasbah. We continue to Ait Benhaddou, the UNESCO listed citadel, and climb through its lanes to a viewpoint over the Ounila Valley.

In the afternoon we cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n’Tichka pass, with Berber villages and terraced fields along the way, and a stop at a women’s argan cooperative. You arrive in Marrakech in the early evening.