5 Days Marrakech to Fes Desert Tour | Tonaroz Travel

Your driver picks you up from your riad in Marrakech and heads up into the High Atlas, climbing to the Tizi n'Tichka pass with stops along the way for the mountain views. On the way down the other side, you'll stop at Kasbah Telouet, the former stronghold of the Glaoui family, before continuing to Ait Ben Haddou, the UNESCO-listed ksar that's appeared in films from Gladiator to Game of Thrones. Your guide walks you through it before the short final stretch to Ouarzazate, Morocco's "gateway to the desert." Dinner and overnight in a hotel.

Before leaving Ouarzazate, you'll stop at the old Atlas film studios and at Taourirt Kasbah, one of the country's best-preserved fortified ksour. From there the route runs east through the Skoura palm groves to Amridil Kasbah, then on to El Kelaa M'Gouna, the heart of Morocco's rose-growing valley (home to an annual rose festival every May, if your dates line up). The day ends at the Dades Valley, with a stop for the "monkey fingers" rock formations and a viewpoint over the valley floor. Overnight in Boumalne Dades.

Morning stop at Todra Gorges, where the river has cut a narrow, high-walled canyon into the rock — worth getting out and walking into on foot. From there the road runs through the palm groves around Tinjdad before a free stop for lunch. By afternoon you're in Merzouga, where the vehicle stops and the camels take over for the ride into the dunes, timed to reach a high dune for sunset. Dinner, Berber music, and overnight at the desert camp.

Sunrise from the dunes, then camels back to camp where your driver is waiting. The rest of the day is spent around Merzouga rather than on the road: an old antimony mine reached by a short off-road drive, a visit to a nomad family's tent for tea, and the village of Khamlia — home to a community with Gnaoua musical roots and known for informal music performances. After a lunch stop, you'll walk through a palm grove and finish at Merzouga's seasonal lake, sometimes visited by flamingos. Overnight in a hotel in Merzouga.

Last desert sunrise, then back to the vehicle and on to Rissani, once the capital of the Tafilalet region and still home to a large souk (busiest on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays). From there it's on to Erfoud, where you can stop at a workshop that cuts and polishes fossilized marble found locally. The route continues along the Ziz Valley, with a lunch stop in Midelt, before reaching the cedar forest near Azrou — home to wild Barbary macaques — and then Ifrane, nicknamed the "Switzerland of Morocco" for its alpine architecture and cooler climate. Your driver drops you at your riad or hotel in Fes by early evening.