DAY 1: Fes → Ifran → Azrou → Midelt → Ziz Gorges → Erfoud → Merzouga

On this first day in our 4 Days tour from Fes to Marrakech, your driver/guide will pick you up from your hotel in Fes and start your journey towards the desert of Merzouga, through hills covered in forests of cork oak and giant cedar in which a few Barbary apes still make their home. Crossing strikingly beautiful passes over both the Middle and High Atlas ranges we will catch your first glimpse of the South’s unique architecture.

After passing through a barren plain of scrub and desert on the other side of the mountains, you will stop for lunch in the town of Midelt, from which you will have a fantastic view of the dramatic peaks of the High Atlas rising behind the town. Crossing Tizi-n-Talremt (Pass of the She-Camel), you will descend into a desert plain along the Ziz Valley. You will then head south to Erfoud and Rissani, into a huge oasis containing over six million palm trees, edged by many ksours (fortified villages).

Your journey will continue through an immense palm oasis and a vast area of stony plain that marks the transition to the desert before reaching the tranquil desert town of Merzouga in the afternoon, we will have seme tea and relax in our Kasbah where you will have a chance to leave all unnecessary luggage behind in safe rooms or in the car before mounting your camel (or 4WD if you can’t do the camels) and riding into the Moroccan Sahara with it’s pink sands of the Erg Chebbi.

You will have time to wander around the dunes before watching the sunset, and will spend the evening in a Berber camp amidst the dunes where we will have a campfire and enjoy a traditional Moroccan feast. After dark you can relax outside and marvel at the stars and crystal-clear Milky Way like few people have seen them.

DAY 2: Merzouga → Rissani Authentic market → Todra Canyon → Dades valley

If you would like to wake up early so that you can watch the spectacle of sunrise, when the color of the sand contrasts beautifully with the play of shadows on the dunes – after which you might want to try your hand at sand-boarding down them. After a refreshing shower and breakfast, we will ride the camels or fun 4X4 off-road drive through the dunes back to the kasbah in Merzouga town, where we will be able to freshen up before heading out of town to the Todra Gorge, known as “Morocco’s Grand Canyon”.

You will have lunch here and take the opportunity to explore along the river and through the gardens or up the road on the other side of the gorge to take in the view. In the afternoon we will continue our scenic drive into the Dades Valley, also known as the “Valley of 1000 Kasbahs” for the countless abandoned kasbahs one can see dotting the countryside among the palm trees. Later that afternoon we will arrive in the Dades Gorge, where we will watch the sunset’s orange glow against the rocks before having dinner and spending the night in our hotel.

DAY 3: Dades Valley → Boutarar → Roses Valley → Skoura Oasis → Ouarzazate.

After having breakfast at our hotel in the Dades Valley we will have time to relax on the terrace and enjoy the views across the fertile Dades Valley. You may also decide to take a 1-2 hour trek through the villages of the area, passing fields cultivated by the local Berber women with the peaks of the Atlas Mountains as a backdrop. We will continue our journey towards Ouarzazate, first going off-road along the Boutarar piste to visit local Berber nomads in their caves and join them for a glass of tea.

From here we will continue through the Kelaa M’gouna, the “Valley of the Roses”, which is famous for its Rose Festival in May and its locally-made cosmetics, made from the valley’s abundant roses, that are highly valued throughout Morocco. Further on our way we will pass the Skoura Oasis, where numerous ancient kasbahs, some now sadly in ruin, stand among the palm trees, before arriving in the bustling southern city of Ouarzazate, known as “Morocco’s Hollywood” due to the many Hollywood blockbusters its film studios have produced. We will have dinner and spend the night in Ouarzazate.

DAY 4: Ouarzazate → Ait Benhaddou Kasbah → Atlas Mountains → Marrakech

After breakfast in this last day of our 4 days tour from Fes to Marrakech, you will head out from Ouarzazate to the nearby Kasbah Ait Benhaddou, the most famous kasbah in Morocco, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the backdrop for many of Ouarzazate’s films including notably “Lawrence of Arabia”. After enjoying the kasbah we will continue north across the High Atlas Mountains to Telouet Kasbah, a village set right in the middle of the mountains which was the former seat of the last Pasha of Marrakech, El Glaoui, who used the location to control the mountain pass.

We will go through  the French Foreign Legion in 1936 and winds up over the Tizi n’Tichka Pass, offering stunning views over the mountains before descending past Berber villages to the plains surrounding Marrakech. Even today, the name Marrakech conjures up fantastical imagery straight out of Arabian Nights. This remarkable city, with the graceful architecture of the renowned 11th-century Koutoubia Minaret dominating the skyline, never fails to satisfy the curiosity of adventurous travelers. We will arrive back in Marrakech by late afternoon.