5 Days tour from Fes to Marrakech is the perfect way to explore Morocco’s desert and high atlas Mountains. Starting with a stone statue of a lion, and a cedar forest in Azrou ; the unique place where wild monkeys come down the trees to grab food from tourists. Not to mention the camel trek experience and overnight stay at the desert camp with its magical sunrise/sunset views over the golden dunes. This 5 days tour will give you the opportunity to spend more time in the Sahara, explore the merzouga area, visit Berber nomad families in their camps and tents, walk around in local traditional weekly markets, explore the palm fields of ziz valley and the fossil exhibitions of Arfoud and many more sites.
Fes to Marrakech via Merzouga 5D
Tour Overview
Tour Itinerary
The tour starts At 8 a.m, we drive to Ifrane short stop to visit swizrland of Morocco, and then through Azrou where you can watch wild monkeys in the woods of the middle Atlas mountains, next we head to Midelt. It is widely known for apples farming. We stop for lunch there. later, we take back on the road by the pass of Tizi-n-Talremt through the Ziz Valley. The valley is famous for its large oasis of Palm. Along the way, we will enjoy views of many palaces, small traditional villages until we arrive in Er Rachidia and we continue to Erfoud, which is famous for fossil bazars and festival of Dates. We spend the night and dinner in a traditionally –designed hotel.
Overnight Options
GOLD
Morning at your leisure in Erfoud, then we will head to the village of Merzouga via the holy city of Rissani, a site where the ancestors of the Alaouite Dynasty are buried in the Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Sherif. Visit of the ruins of Ksar Abbar, a Kasbah that dates from the 17th century. Continuation to the village of Khamlia known for its Jazz and Gnawa music before we arrive to the auberge close to the dunes, we will then have lunch, relax for couple hours before we start the Camel adventure for an hour seen the sunset over the Golden dunes of Erg Chebbi and arriving to the camp for the overnight.
Overnight Options
GOLD
An early morning to see the beautiful sunrise, a delicious breakfast in the middle of the dunes, followed by a camel ride back to the same point of departure. Trade your camels and get into your private vehicle departing to Dades Gorge, where we have a scheduled overnight. The trip is about 5 hours, but we will divert to visit Todra Gorge (this would add an additional 2h onto the trip). En route, we will visit the Todra, where you will experience the unbelievable glory of the massive canyon walls reaching some 300 meters (900 feet) high and continuing for some 100 meters (300 feet). We will make a few stops along the way as we drive through various small Berber villages and the town of Tinjdad, and we can even schedule a short walk through the Todra Valley.
Overnight Options
SILVER
GOLD
Have breakfast, get ready, then we go for a walk through the Dades valley by the river. After the walk we continue our journey driving to Ouarzazate, we will drive along the Rose Valley to the village of Kelaa M’gouna where ‘Festival of Roses’ is held in May every year. Here you can visit shops with all products made from the roses such as rose water and oils. After a tour in klaa, we carry our journey along the kasbahs of Skoura to Ouarzazate where we will have dinner and spend the night in a Riad.
Overnight Options
SILVER
GOLD
DIAMOND
Leaving after leisurely breakfast to Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO world heritage and the backdrop for many Hollywood films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator. From there we continue our Journey via the Ounila Valley is stunning and features some of the most photogenic Berber Villages in an idyllic setting. After about 1 hour you reach the Glaoui (who was known as Lord of the Atlas) inspired Kasbah of Telouet, featuring some magnificent tile and zellij (woodwork) craftsmanship. The adjacent café serves a very tasty fig tajine. After more magnificent scenery you join the main road to Marrakech via the Tiz n’Tichka pass over the High Atlas. The driving time is about 4 hours.
Itinerary on Map
Tour Inclusions
- Comfortable transportation + fuel
- English speaking driver
- Overnight in Erfoud with dinner and breakfast
- Camel ride in the dunes
- Overnight in Merzouga luxury camp with dinner & Breakfast
- Overnight in Dades with dinner & breakfast
- Overnight in Ouarzazate with dinner & breakfast
- Flexible pauses and breaks
- Guided visit of Ait benhaddou village
- Lunch meals
- entrance fees to optional visits of Ouarzazate
- Extra drinks on included meals
- Gratuities ( optional )
Important notice:
The tour can be reversed, shortened, extended or altered in any way to suite your specific needs and schedule ! Don't hesitate to contact us and ask for other combinations
Frequently Asked Questions
With the rise in interest in vegan and vegetarian food, all our partners are now accommodating this need and offer completely vegan and vegetarian meals. However, this needs to be communicated in advance, either when booking or when meeting your driver for early preparation purposes.
A frequent and definitely good question, if you are not well-prepared, you might not enjoy your time fully in the desert due to the extreme weather conditions. Deserts get super hot in summer, in Morocco, August is the hottest month of the year, with temperatures reaching 50 °C—122ºF, you can literally cook eggs on the asphalt (great for a TikTok clip). With this said, if you can't take that much heat, please avoid visiting the deserts during July and August. If you are okay with this kind of temperatures; it is still highly recommended to come prepared with good sunscreen, sunglasses, a wide hat, light but covering pieces of clothing and some insect repellent, you can also purchase all these items in Morocco. And let's not forget winter days, starry nights are freezing. The mountainous parts of the roads are usually snowy, but all our vehicles are equipped with A/C for that matter, so make sure to bring warm clothes if you take this tour during December-January.
Arriving at the edge of the dunes, there is a meeting point where camels from different camps in the area are waiting for us, we will get out of the car, put on a scarf if you have one (the cameleer or your driver can help you properly install it) and then you will be introduced to your camel. Once your caravane is ready and onboard, you can take pictures or stories to memorize the moment, then take off and travel on the golden sands to see the sunset on high dune before continuing to the camp. Next morning, you can take the camels again on your way back to the meeting point or take a 4x4 . If a member doesn't want or cannot take the camel ride, the camp is accessible by 4x4 vehicle and it will get you there.
This once was a hustle indeed but no more, all camps nowadays have dedicated 4x4 vehicles that can transport your luggage from your tour car to the camp directly, so you don't have to carry anything during the camel ride. However, we highly recommend you only pack the things you will need for the desert night and transport it to the camp, while leaving the rest of the luggage with your driver.
Yes, you will have your own private hotel rooms and camp tents in all our tours, you can choose between different combinations of twin/triple/quadruple (separate beds) or double (single large bed) rooms and tents depending on your number and preferences but you will never share them with other travelers. All rooms/tents are equipped with private bathrooms and showers with hot water.
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