5-Day Marrakech to Fes Desert Tour

After breakfast, the first stop is Kasbah Amridil in Skoura, a well-preserved example of the fortified homes that used to dot this region. From there the road runs through Kelaat M'Gouna, known locally as the Valley of Roses, and into the Dades Gorges, where the river has carved the rock into local shapes call "monkey fingers."

The day ends at Todra Gorge, a limestone canyon with enough space to walk in and enough scale to make you feel small doing it. There's free time here to explore at your own pace before dinner and the night at a hotel nearby.

It starts with a short walk through the gorge in the morning, then the drive continues toward Erfoud through the Tinejdad palm groves, where you'll stop for lunch. Erfoud itself is known for fossils, and there's time to look through a workshop where local artisans cut and polish stone that's genuinely millions of years old.

From Erfoud, the route follows part of the old Paris-Dakar rally track before reaching Erg Chebbi, where the Morocco desert adventure and the camel trekking tour both really begin: a ride out into the dunes timed for sunset, dinner in camp, and your first night sleeping in the Sahara.

After breakfast, the morning is spent in Khamlia, a village known for Gnawa music, brought to this region generations ago by families with roots in West Africa. Afterward, you'll head out to meet nomadic families still living in tents in the desert, a different way of life from anything in the cities you've passed through so far.

The rest of the day is free to explore Erg Chebbi itself: black volcanic rock, palm groves, and dunes that keep shifting shape in the wind. Dinner and a second night are back in a Berber tent, usually with drumming around the fire afterward.

Most people are up before dawn for the sunrise over the dunes. After a camel ride back and a proper breakfast, the tour turns north for good.

This last stretch is the Ziz Valley exploration part of the trip, a long drive along palm-lined gorges cut by the Ziz River. Lunch is in Midelt, known locally for its apple orchards, in view of Jbel Ayachi. From there the road climbs into cedar forest, the largest in Morocco and home to wild Barbary macaques, before passing through Ifrane, often called the Switzerland of Morocco for its sloped roofs and mountain-town look. The tour ends with your arrival in Fes by evening, wrapping up this 5-day Marrakech to Fes desert tour on the other side of the country from where it started.