4 day Atlas Sahara Tour from Rabat
“Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths”
4 days, 3 nights
Starts: Rabat
Ends: Fes
Overnight stays in: IMILCHIL – MERZOUGA/ERG CHEBBI (2 NIGHTS)
Introduction
Do you want to see the High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert but only have a few days? It’s completely possible with our 4 day Atlas Sahara Tour from Rabat, “Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths”! This 4 days Rabat to Fes Tour features the High Atlas Mountains and 2 incredible nights in the Sahara. You’ll enjoy some of Morocco’s most breathtaking scenery during this 4 day, 3 night Rabat desert tour.
Start from Rabat on the Atlantic Coast. Travel up into the High Atlas Mountains to Imilchil. Then travel to the Sahara Desert for 2 incredible nights. Your desert adventure includes a full day of camel-trekking in the magnificent dunes of Erg Chebbi. The tour ends in Fes.
The “Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths” Tour starts in Rabat. Other than that, it’s identical to the 4 days Casablanca to Fes Tour – “Big Mountains, Big Dunes”, which starts in Casablanca. Both tours end in Fes.
Outline
Your 4 day Atlas Sahara Tour from Rabat, “Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths” starts from the Atlantic Coast. Head into the High Atlas Mountains to the Berber village Imilchil for the night.
On Day 2 of your Rabat desert tour, stop at Todra Gorge on your way to the Sahara Desert for 2 incredible nights. Spend a full day camel-trekking in the big dunes of Erg Chebbi on Day 3.
On the last day of your 4 days Rabat to Fes tour, leave the dunes behind to head north along the Ziz Valley. Cross the Middle Atlas Mountains, stopping to see Barbary apes at Azrou.
Arrive in Fes in the evening of Day 4. This completes your 4 day Atlas Sahara Tour from Rabat, “Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths”.
Tour Highlights
- Stay overnight at a Berber guesthouse in the High Atlas Mountains
- Visit Todra Gorge
- Go camel-trekking in the Sahara Desert for a full day
- Listen to African drumming entertainment in the desert
- Enjoy traditional Moroccan meals
- See Barbary apes in the forest at Azrou
For more information…
For more details about this tour, see the tabs further down this page. You’ll find a detailed itinerary, a route map, & a list of what’s included & excluded in the cost.
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Other 4 day tours
4 days Casablanca to Fes Tour – “Big Mountains, Big Dunes”
This short High Atlas Sahara Desert tour offers the best of both worlds. You get to stay in the High Atlas Mountains and have an amazing camel-trekking adventure in the Sahara Desert!
4 days Marrakesh Sahara Tour – “Winding Roads & Camel Tracks”
This 4 day desert tour from Marrakesh includes historic Kasbahs, camel-trekking in the Saharan dunes & stunning scenery.
4 days Marrakesh to Fes Desert Tour – “Cool Kasbahs, Hot Sands”
This 4 day tour from Marrakesh combines exotic kasbahs with an unforgettable 2-night desert adventure in the Sahara.
4 day Fes Desert Marrakesh Tour – “Sounds of the Sahara”
This 4 day Sahara tour from Fes provides a deeper, richer Sahara experience featuring live African music. It also showcases the scenery of the Atlas Mountains & Sahara Desert.
4 day Tangier Desert Tour – “Cities & Sands”
This 4 day tour from Tangier features camel-trekking in the Sahara Desert plus trips to Chefchaouen & Fes. Also see Kasbahs Ait Ben Haddou & Amridil, Dades Gorge, & more before arriving in Marrakesh.
4 days Agadir to Sahara Tour – “Saffron & Sahara”
This 4 day Agadir desert tour takes you from the Atlantic Coast to the Sahara & back. Highlights include a sunset Saharan camel-trek, Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, & Taliouine, Morocco’s “Saffron Capital”.
Details
4 day Atlas Sahara Tour from Rabat - "Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths"
Your 4 day Atlas Sahara Tour from Rabat - "Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths" starts from the Atlantic Coast. We'll pick you up at your hotel/riad in Rabat after an early breakfast. We’ll drive into the High Atlas Mountains to the Berber village of Imilchil, which has become famous for its Marriage Festival at the end of each summer. You’ll have dinner & spend the night in Imilchil at a Berber guesthouse.
After breakfast at the guesthouse, we’ll start heading out of the High Atlas Mountains. We’ll drive to Tinghir & the Todra Gorge. The area around Tinghir is a lush green oasis full of palm trees and gardens. The walls of Todra Gorge are 300 metres high & nearly vertical, which creates welcome shade on hot days.
We’ll have lunch at a nearby restaurant, and you’ll have a chance to walk along the river that runs through the Gorge.
Our journey resumes as we leave the mountains and valleys behind and enter the Sahara Desert. We’ll turn off the highway and travel across flat rocky desert to the Saharan region of Merzouga, 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!
You’ll spend the night in tents in a desert bivouac amid the small dunes, under the vast starry sky of the Sahara, falling asleep to the soft sound of the desert breeze.
On Day 3 of your 4 days Rabat to Fes tour you’ll go on a day-long camel-trek in the big dunes of Erg Chebbi. After breakfast, your camelman/guide will introduce you to your camel and get you mounted up. You’ll ride into the golden dunes, leaving the sounds and sights of civilization behind. You’ll trek for about 2-3 hours, deeper into the Saharan dunes, surrounded by nothing but sand, sky, and silence.
You’ll stop for lunch under the shade of a large tree in the middle of nowhere, and your guide will teach you how to prepare Moroccan tea, as well as the rituals for serving it. He will also explain why the camels travel in such zig-zag paths through the dunes, and teach you about camels and how the nomads care for them.
You may even get to learn how to bake bread in the sand – a nomad secret!
After some rest, you’ll mount up again and travel amongst the dunes, watching 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 tent camp about 1 hour from the dunes. There, you’ll enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal.
After dinner you’ll be entertained with African music – drumming and singing and dancing – around a campfire. You’ll spend a second night in the desert camp.
After breakfast on the final day of your Rabat desert tour, we’ll leave the desert behind and start heading north to Fes. We’ll pass through Erfoud, famous for its Date Festival each October and known for its fossils and fossil products, then drive alongside the Ziz Valley. This impressive palm-filled oasis stretches for hundreds of meandering kilometres. We’ll stop at a lookout point so you can rest and take pictures.
We’ll head into the Middle Atlas Mountains. We’ll pause in Azrou to see the Barbary apes that live in the mountain forests.
We’ll continue, through Ifrane, a popular ski resort town known as the "Switzerland of Morocco", with its steeply-peaked rooves designed to shed show easily.
We'll arrive in Fes in the evening and drop you off at your hotel/riad. This will complete your 4 day Atlas Sahara Tour from Rabat, "Craggy Mountains & Camel Paths".
