Seven days from Marrakech to Fes through the High Atlas, the valleys of kasbahs and roses, the Todgha Gorges and two nights in the Sahara at Merzouga. The pace is relaxed, with a full day to explore the Dades and Roses Valleys and a full day in the desert with nomads, Gnawa musicians and the Rissani souk.
Accommodation: 4 nights in selected hotels, kasbahs and riads and 2 nights in a Berber desert camp with private tents.
Guidance and transport: a qualified multilingual local guide-driver and a comfortable air-conditioned 4WD or minivan for the whole trip.
Pickup at Marrakech airport or your hotel in Marrakech · Tour ends at your riad in Fes
Day 1: on your arrival in Marrakech · Day 2: departure from your hotel after breakfast
This is a relaxed version of the classic desert route: instead of rushing, you get a full day in the Dades and Roses Valleys, a slower day at the Todgha Gorges and two nights in the Sahara. Driving days are long but broken up with regular stops for photos, tea and lunch.
Night: hotel in Marrakech
Approx. 15 km · 20–30 min transfer driving
We greet you on arrival at Marrakech airport and take you to your hotel in the city centre. Once you’ve settled in, head out to Djemaa el Fna, the square at the heart of the medina that comes alive in the evening with street performers, food stalls and musicians.
Route: Marrakech → Atlas Mountains → Ait Benhaddou → Ouarzazate → Skoura Oasis → Roses Valley → Dades Valley
Night: Dades Valley
Approx. 320 km · 6–7 h driving
After breakfast your guide picks you up and we cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n’Tichka pass, at 2,260 m the highest in North Africa, through villages where corn dries on the roofs of stone houses. In the land of the Glaoua we pass old kasbahs and granaries before reaching Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with time for lunch and to explore the kasbah.
We continue through the palm groves of the Skoura Oasis and the Roses Valley, then along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, lined with old fortresses and Berber adobe houses, to the Dades Valley for the night.
Route: Dades Valley → Bouteghrar → Roses Valley → Dades Valley
Night: Dades Valley
Approx. 120 km · about 3 h, with walks driving
A full day in the valleys. We pass terraced fields and the green M’Goun Valley, then climb through juniper forests into a valley full of adobe kasbahs. In the heart of the Roses Valley you’ll see the rose fields growing among the cereal crops, visit local villages and watch how rose oil is distilled. In the evening we return to the Dades Valley.
Route: Dades Valley → Tinghir → Todgha Gorges
Night: Todgha Gorges area
Approx. 60 km · about 1 h driving
After breakfast we drive to Tinghir, a former military outpost on the Todra river, surrounded by olive, pomegranate and orange trees, through one of Morocco’s most beautiful palm oases. Then we head into the narrowest part of the Todgha Gorges, where towering rock walls form a natural corridor, with time to walk and take in the views.
Route: Todgha → Tinjdad → Touroug → Erfoud → Merzouga (Erg Chebbi)
Night: private tent at a Berber desert camp
Approx. 190 km · 3–4 h driving
After some free time in the morning we drive through the palm groves of Tinjdad and Touroug to Erfoud, stopping at a workshop where local fossils are worked. We continue to Merzouga on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. At the kasbah you can freshen up and leave extra luggage, then a 4WD takes you to meet your camels.
Choose a short 10-minute ride or a longer 2-hour trek; both leave time for the sunset and photos. The night is in a private tent at our desert camp, with a traditional dinner and music around the fire.
Route: Merzouga Oasis → Khamlia → Merzouga lake → Rissani → Merzouga
Night: second night in the desert
Approx. 100 km · 4×4 day, short drives driving
Rise early for sunrise over the dunes. After breakfast a 4WD tour takes us around the desert: the Merzouga oasis and Khamlia village, where descendants of people who came from Senegal on the Salt Route play soulful Gnawa music. We visit desert nomads in their tents to learn about their way of life, and stop at the lake of Merzouga to watch the birdlife.
In Rissani, once Sijilmassa, a key stop for the salt caravans from Timbuktu, you’ll have time to explore the souk of spices, clothes and fresh produce, with a pizza lunch, before returning to relax, have dinner and spend another night in the desert.
Route: Merzouga → Erfoud → Ziz Valley → Midelt → Azrou → Ifrane → Fes
Night: tour ends at your riad in Fes
Approx. 470 km · 8–9 h driving
After breakfast we drive back through Erfoud to the Ziz Valley, a dramatic gorge around Morocco’s largest oasis, with palms, abandoned kasbahs and mud-brick villages. We stop for lunch in Midelt below the High Atlas, then cross rocky plains and cedar-covered mountains; near Azrou we may see Barbary apes. After the mountain town of Ifrane, we arrive in Fes, where your guide helps you find your riad and says goodbye.
