The quickest way from Fes to the Sahara and back. Cross the Middle Atlas cedar forests and the Ziz Valley, ride a camel into the Erg Chebbi dunes, spend a night at a desert camp, explore Merzouga by 4×4 and return to Fes.
Accommodation: one night in a Berber desert camp (private tent) and one night in a hotel at the edge of the Merzouga dunes. Guidance and transport: a multilingual local guide-driver in an air-conditioned vehicle.
Pickup from your riad or hotel in Fes · Drop-off back in Fes
Around 7:30 AM (we confirm the exact time with you before the trip)
Days 1 and 3 are long drives of about 8 to 9 hours each way, with stops. If you can spare the time, our tours that continue from the desert to Marrakech avoid driving the same road twice.
Route: Fes → Ifrane → Azrou → Midelt → Ziz Valley → Erfoud → Merzouga
Night: Berber desert camp in Merzouga · Meals: dinner
Approx. 470 km · 8–9 h driving
We leave Fes for the Middle Atlas: Ifrane, nicknamed the ‘Switzerland of Morocco’, and the cedar forest near Azrou where Barbary macaques live.
After Midelt the road drops into the Ziz Valley and its palm groves. At Merzouga you ride a camel into the dunes for sunset and spend the night at camp.
Route: Merzouga → Khamlia → Rissani → Merzouga
Night: hotel near the Merzouga dunes · Meals: dinner
Approx. 100 km · 4×4 day, short drives driving
Sunrise over the dunes, then a 4×4 day around Erg Chebbi: nomad families, the Gnawa music of Khamlia, and the souk and old ksour of Rissani.
Route: Merzouga → Erfoud → Ziz Valley → Midelt → Ifrane → Fes
Night: end of tour in Fes · Meals: breakfast
Approx. 470 km · 8–9 h driving
We drive back north through the Ziz Valley and the Middle Atlas, arriving in Fes in the late afternoon.
