6 Days Marrakech to Chefchaouen Sahara Tour

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.

Breakfast, then onward along a stretch known locally as the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs to Tinghir, where a walk through the palm oasis leads into Todra Gorge — a canyon with rock faces climbing 300 metres straight up on both sides.

The route continues through Rissani, once the seat of Morocco's ruling dynasty, and Erfoud, before the land flattens into open hammada on the approach to Merzouga. Here the vehicle stops and the camels start: a caravan takes you out across the Erg Chebbi dunes as the light turns gold, then pink, arriving at a private ensuite desert camp after dark. Berber music around the fire, dinner under an open sky, and — genuinely — some of the darkest, clearest stars you'll see anywhere.

An early wake-up call for a second camel ride, this time watching the dunes turn colour at sunrise, before breakfast back at camp.

From Merzouga the road climbs north through the Ziz Valley — a long ribbon of date palms and kasbah ruins squeezed between cliff faces — with a lunch stop in Midelt. The scenery changes again through the Middle Atlas: cedar forest around Azrou, home to a resident troop of Barbary macaques, then the chalet-style architecture of Ifrane, before arriving into Fes by late afternoon. Check-in at a riad inside the medina walls, dinner included.

A local guide takes over for the day. Start at the Royal Palace gates for the brasswork and tilework, then up to Borj Sud for a rooftop-level view over the entire walled medina before heading down into it.

Inside, the walking route usually covers the Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 AD and considered the oldest continuously operating university in the world, the carved cedar and stucco of the Bou Inania Medersa, and the Chouara tanneries, where hides are still dyed by hand in stone vats — the view from the surrounding leather shops over the dye pits is one of the most photographed scenes in the city. Afternoon is spent weaving through the souks — metalwork, ceramics, textiles — past Nejjarine Square and its fountain. Evening is unstructured; dinner is on you, and a rooftop restaurant is the easy choice.

Leaving Fes, the road cuts west to Volubilis, Morocco's best-preserved Roman site, dating back to the 3rd century BC. The mosaics are still largely intact, and the triumphal arch and basilica columns are worth the walk around the hilltop ruins — quiet, green, and a sharp contrast to the medina you've just left.

From there the route climbs into the Rif Mountains, the scenery turning from dry plain to forested peaks, with a lunch stop along the way. By afternoon you're in Chefchaouen — the Blue City — checking into a riad inside the old town. The rest of the evening is free to wander: blue-washed stairways, doorway after photogenic doorway, and small shops selling handwoven textiles and leather goods.

No driving today, just Chefchaouen. Most people start with the short hike up to the Spanish Mosque viewpoint for a morning view over the blue rooftops and the mountains behind them — arguably the best light of the whole trip. Back in town, there's time to browse the shops around Plaza Uta el-Hammam, the main square below the old kasbah, or simply sit with a coffee and watch the town wake up.

The tour officially ends in Chefchaouen — stay on as long as you'd like. If you need to move on, Tonaroz Tours includes a free transfer to Casablanca the following day, dropping you at the airport or a hotel of your choice.