5 Days
From Marrakech
5-Day Marrakech Tour: Fez & the Merzouga Desert
Imperial cities and the Sahara, out and back from Marrakech.
from€459 /person
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A one-way journey from the desert airport across the south to Marrakech.
A one-way journey from the desert airport across the south to Marrakech. This 5-day private journey begins in Errachidia and is designed to give you the best of the route without the rush — with hand-picked accommodation, an English-speaking driver-guide and plenty of freedom to stop wherever catches your eye.
Highlights include erg chebbi dunes, todra & dades gorges, aït ben haddou & the atlas. Like every Edita itinerary it is fully flexible: we can lengthen or shorten it, upgrade your riads and desert camp, or change the start and finish cities to fit your flights.
Keep exploring: Morocco Tours from Errachidia · all 39 Morocco tours · What to Pack for the Sahara Desert
You land at Errachidia, the small airport that sits closest of all to the great dunes, where your driver-guide is already waiting to whisk you toward the Sahara. This is the fastest way into the desert in the whole country: within a couple of scenic hours, following the palm-lined Ziz Valley south past Erfoud and Rissani, the flat hammada gives way to the towering orange ridges of Erg Chebbi. If your flight lands in good time we aim to have you on a camel at golden hour, swaying over the crest of the first dunes toward a Berber camp for the night. If you arrive later, we simply adjust and start fresh at first light. Either way, the desert is no longer a distant idea — it begins the moment you touch down.
A full, unhurried day in the heart of the Sahara at Erg Chebbi, Morocco's most spectacular sea of dunes, some rising 150 metres from the plain. You can begin by climbing a high ridge for sunrise, when the sand shifts through pink, gold and deep orange. Later we explore deeper by 4x4: a visit to the village of Khamlia to hear the hypnotic Gnawa music of its Saharan community, calls on nomad families who still live by their herds, stops at desert wells and fossil-strewn flats, and a look at the old routes once walked by camel caravans. There is time to rest in the shade, try sandboarding, or simply sit with the immense silence. As evening returns you ride out once more to camp for a second magical night under the stars.
Leaving the great dunes behind, we set off west along the fabled Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. First we pause in Rissani, the market town built on the ruins of Sijilmassa, once a wealthy caravan capital at the gateway to the Sahara, and pass through Erfoud, centre of the date and fossil trade. The route then climbs into the Atlas foothills to the magnificent Todra Gorge, where sheer rose-coloured limestone walls soar 300 metres and close to just a few metres apart above a clear river — we walk a stretch on foot, dwarfed by the cliffs. Continuing through Tinghir's palm oasis and a string of earthen ksour, we reach the Dades Valley in the late afternoon, checking in near the dramatic gorge with its famous switchback road for the night.
A gentler, more leisurely stage that lets us savour the highlights between the gorges and Marrakech rather than rushing past them. From the Dades Valley we drive back down through the Skoura oasis, stopping at the beautifully restored Kasbah Amerhidil, one of the largest earthen fortresses in Morocco and a wonderful place to understand how these mud-brick strongholds were built and lived in. We continue to Ouarzazate to visit the Taourirt Kasbah and, for film buffs, the famous Atlas Studios where much of Hollywood's desert cinema is made. The day ends at Ait Ben Haddou, the storied UNESCO ksar, where we stay nearby so you can wander its car-free lanes and climb to the hilltop granary at golden hour — enjoying this magical place in soft evening light, long after the day-trip crowds have gone.
After a relaxed start we take a final walk through Ait Ben Haddou in the fresh morning light, crossing the river to explore the honey-coloured towers, alleyways and kasbahs of this remarkable fortified village before the tour buses arrive. From here the road turns north for the great mountain crossing of the day: the Tizi n'Tichka, the highest major pass in Morocco at over 2,200 metres, which snakes up through the High Atlas past terraced Berber villages, walnut groves and viewpoints that seem to reach forever. We stop for photographs and perhaps a mint tea at a mountain cafe where argan oil and local honey are sold. Descending the far side, the landscape softens into the Haouz plain and we arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon, with time to relax before the evening.
“Impeccably organised and completely private. We changed the plan twice and Edita made it effortless. The Sahara sunrise was unforgettable.”
“From Fez to Marrakech we saw a side of Morocco most tourists miss. Comfortable 4x4, wonderful riads and a driver who knew every hidden spot.”
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