A maximum of time in the desert is unquestionably one of the greatest Moroccan desert trip experiences ever. On this Fes to Marrakech desert tour, you will be combining all the most beautiful Saharan dunes; Erg Chebbi in Merzouga, Erg Lihoudi in Mhamid, the vast dunes in Erg Chegaga.
In each desert area, you will have a unique, adventurous camel ride through the dunes. Why not add to your holiday album of your Moroccan holiday with you wearing a blue nomadic turban and the spectacular Saharan sunset in the background? Each evening under the panoply of a thousand star you will be treated to a traditional Moroccan dinner. You can join the nomads in their favourite occupation of making music. And in a luxury desert camp, you will feel the essence of the Sahara, its peace and majesty, as you settled into your plush tent.
To reach these different areas, you cross the Middle Atlas Mountains, the Saghro mountains which are part of the Anti-Atlas, travel down the Dra’a Valley and across the varying features of the Sahara. In the mountains you cross three passes: Tizi-n-Talremt, Tizi-n-Tazzazert, and Tizi-n-Tichka in the High Atlas on the way to Marrakech.
In addition, you can explore Berber villages, visit the famous Toudgha and Dades geological fascinating gorges and the valleys with green, fertile oases and ancient housing. Rural Berber life is further revealed in the two most famous Kasbahs in Morocco, Kasbahs, Ait ben Haddou and Telouet.
Desert Tour 7 days Departure from Fes
Departure from Fes at 8 o’clock, travelling via Azrou, where you can see Barbary apes in the cedar forest of the Middle Atlas. Lunch is in Midelt, “the apple capital”, at the foot of the Ayachi Mountain.
We continue over the Tizi-n-Talremt pass and through the Ziz Valley, which is particularly well-known for its palm trees and the length of the oasis. All along the road, there are innumerable “ksars”, small villages of individual houses.
From here we reach Er Rachidia and then Erfoud, famous for its date festival and fossils. Once you reach the bivouac in Erg Chebbi, you will be greeted with a glass of tea and have time to wander the dunes before the sunset.
You spend the night in a luxury camp with private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
If you wake up early enough, you can watch the spectacle of the sunrise, when the colour of the dunes and the play of shadows are an awesome sight. After breakfast, you can walk in the dunes before leaving for Tinghir and the Toudgha gorges for lunch.
The road passes through Tinjdad and the Toudgha Valley. Here there are plenty of opportunities to walk, such as along the river through the gardens or up the road on the other side of the gorges. Later the itinerary continues to the Dades Valley and the Dades Gorges for the night in a hotel or kasbah.
After breakfast, we go south, through the Saghro mountain range to the village of N’Qob. The road crosses over the Tizi-n-Tazzazerte pass, which has recently been asphalted to make this drive a unique experience. It is an area where far fewer tourists travel. At Nqob, we turn west to cross the Dra’a River at Tansikht. Here we turn north passing oases and Kasbahs beside the river, until we reach Agdez for the night shortly afterwards.
The oldest kasbah, Kasbah Tamnougalte, in the Dra’a Valley is situated near Agdez, and you will have some time to visit it. Some parts lie in ruins and some parts are still fully occupied. Today you will have time to walk in the Dra’a Valley as well.
After breakfast, a visit to the Kasbah is planned, before driving off-road further down the Dra’a Valley to Zagora for lunch. The road follows the ancient caravan route between the Dra’a River and the mountains and gives a view of the gardens and kasbahs in the valley. Here again, there is time to walk in the oasis if you wish.
South of Zagora you can visit the potteries of Tamgroute which supply many restaurants and hotels in the area. There is also a possibility to visit the underground village and the Koranic school with its displays of exquisite manuscripts.
In the afternoon, the trip takes us to M’hamid which marks the end of the paved road and the beginning of the desert. A two-hour camel ride takes us to the bottom of the highest dune where the view of the sunset is magnificent.
You spend the night in a luxury camp with private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
After breakfast there is an opportunity to visit the old village of Mhamid with its Kasbahs and in the afternoon, the 4×4 takes us to the Erg Chegaga dunes, travelling some 60km off-road. This route passes different features of the desert: ‘erg’, ‘reg’, ‘hammada’, and the Sacred Oasis to dunes far away from civilization, in the desert proper where the silence and the expanse of sand are overwhelming. These are the greatest dunes in Morocco and are approximately 300m high and 35km long.
You spend the night in a luxury camp with private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
After breakfast, the road crosses another 90km of the desert, passing Lake Iriqui and the mountains as well as fossils, for enthusiasts. The first village beyond the desert, Foum Zguid, is the place for lunch and a refreshing shower.
We travel north past hills and oases of palm trees until we reach the town of Taznakht, a small Berber town famous for its rugs and gelims. You will have lunch here before continuing to Ouarzazate for the night in a riad.
After breakfast, we leave for to continue to visit the famous Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou. This site has frequently been used as the background for some memorable scenes in many film masterpieces, such as “Lawrence of Arabia” and “The Gladiator”.
We visit the Kasbah and have lunch before driving on to Kasbah Telouet, the palatial residence of the one-time Pasha of Marrakech, Thami Glaoui. It now stands in ruins after he fled the country following the departure of the French.
After visiting the Kasbah, we drive across the Tizi-n-Tichka pass and back to Marrakech, which we reach by the afternoon.
