3 day Desert to Marrakesh Tour

Your 3 day Desert to Marrakesh Tour - "Detour to the Desert" starts from Fes. We'll pick you up at your hotel/riad after breakfast and start our drive to the Sahara Desert. You’ll see the amazing changes in the landscape as we travel through the Middle Atlas Mountains. Along the way, we’ll make a rest stop in Azrou to see the Barbary apes that live in the cedar forests that cover the mountainsides.

Lunch will be in Midelt, the “apple capital” of Morocco.

We’ll pass through Erfoud, famous for its Date Festival each October and known for its fossils and fossil products, then turn off the highway and travel across flat rocky desert to the Merzouga region of the Sahara Desert, towards the magnificent sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Erg Chebbi has the highest dunes in North Africa, and the sight of them rising suddenly out of the desert floor never fails to impress!

In late afternoon, we’ll reach the desert hotel, where your camels will be waiting. You’ll leave civilization behind and camel-trek into the high dunes, where you’ll see the sands change colour as the sun moves across the sky. You’ll have time to explore, take pictures, and watch the sunset before returning by camel to the desert camp.

After enjoying a traditional Moroccan meal, you’ll be entertained with African music – drumming and singing and dancing – around a campfire. You’ll spend the night in tents in the desert camp, surrounded by small dunes.

Day 2 of your 3 day Fes desert tour starts with breakfast in the desert. We’ll then drive to the town of Rissani. There, you'll have a chance to visit the local souk (market), where local people buy everything from vegetables to clothing to livestock. On Tuesdays, the travelling market arrives, and people flock from nearby villages to shop.

We’ll continue on our way to Tinghir and the Todra Gorge. You’ll hardly believe you started the day in the Saharan dunes when you see the lush green oasis full of palm trees and farmers’ crops. The steep walls of the Todra Gorge are 300 metres high. This is a popular spot for rock climbers, as well as Moroccan families enjoying a picnic by the river.

Here we’ll stop for lunch at a nearby restaurant, and you’ll have a chance to walk along the river.

From there we’ll drive through the Dades Valley, known as the "Valley of the Thousand Kasbahs", following the winding road through the mountains.

You’ll stay the night in a Berber guesthouse overlooking the spectacular Dades Gorge. Nearby you’ll see the rock formation known as “Monkey Toes”.

The final day of your 3 day Desert to Marrakesh tour showcases Morocco’s amazing diversity. Stark desert, green valleys & rugged mountains. Modern film studio and historic Kasbah. Sparsely populated rural areas and the bustling urban streets of Marrakesh.

In the morning you’ll have a chance to go for a walk in Dades gorge before we continue our journey to Kalaat M’Gouna, the “Valley of the Roses”, Morocco’s rose-growing region. Millions of rose petals are harvested each year to produce a huge array of rose-infused products for culinary and cosmetic use. The harvest culminates in May with the annual Rose Festival – worth attending if you can arrange your visit around this popular festival. We'll make a stop here so that you can see, smell, and, if you wish, purchase some products made from local roses.

Our tour continues to Ouarzazate, known as the "Hollywood of Morocco". Ouarzazate is home to several film studios, both Moroccan and international. The surrounding landscape is a popular on-location site and has been used to portray everything from the Egyptian desert to the surface of Mars.

You’ll tour one of the Moroccan film studios.

We’ll then drive to Ait Ben Haddou, the oldest Kasbah in the south of Morocco, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the village was originally built in the 17th century, people still live and work there today, their homes built right into the rock or with mud bricks, which are made locally using the same methods as in ancient times. Ait Ben Haddou has also featured in many films, including The Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven.

We’ll have lunch in the village, and you’ll have time to explore the Kasbah. It’s a gentle climb through winding streets to the top, where you can see in all directions.

We’ll then head into the High Atlas Mountains, crossing over Morocco’s highest road pass – the Tizi-n-Tichka pass at 2260m. We’ll stop at the top of the pass for refreshment and to take pictures of the stunning views before descending towards Marrakesh.

We’ll reach Marrakesh in the evening and drop you off at your hotel/riad to bring your 3 day Desert to Marrakesh Tour, "Detour to the Desert" to an end.