7 Days
From Fez
7-Day Grand Tour of Morocco from Fez
Imperial cities, the Sahara and the High Atlas to Marrakech.
from€619 /person
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Desert and Atlantic combined on a round trip from Marrakech.
Desert and Atlantic combined on a round trip from Marrakech. This 7-day private journey begins in Marrakech 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, kasbah country, windswept essaouira. 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 Marrakech · all 39 Morocco tours · Marrakech to Merzouga: The Complete Route
We leave Marrakech and head straight for the mountains, climbing the celebrated Tizi n'Tichka pass over the High Atlas — a thrilling road of hairpin bends, Berber villages clinging to the slopes and viewpoints across range after range. Descending the southern side, we reach the crown jewel of the journey: Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage ksar of fortified earthen towers famous from Gladiator, Game of Thrones and many more. We take time to explore its steep lanes and climb for the view. Continuing to Ouarzazate, the desert's film capital, we then turn east along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, past the Skoura oasis and its old fortresses, to the dramatic Dades Valley. We check in near the gorge, with its striking folded rock formations and famous switchback road, for the night.
Today we complete the drive from the valleys to the great dunes, through some of the south's finest scenery. We begin at the Todra Gorge, where we walk beneath sheer limestone cliffs that rise 300 metres and narrow to a few metres apart above a cold, clear river — a favourite of rock climbers and an unforgettable place to stand. Continuing through the palm oasis of Tinghir and the date-trading town of Erfoud, the landscape opens into flat, stony hammada and the first ridges of orange sand appear ahead. Reaching Merzouga in the afternoon, we pause at your kasbah before the day's highlight: as the sun lowers, we ride camels in caravan out over the crest of Erg Chebbi to a desert camp, arriving for dinner, Berber music and a night under the stars.
We wake early, while the air is still cool, to climb a dune and watch the sun rise over the Erg Chebbi — a slow, silent spectacle as the sand ignites from grey to rose to burning gold and long blue shadows stretch across the ridges. After breakfast at camp we explore the desert more deeply by 4x4, discovering the corners most visitors never see: hidden wells and oasis pockets, black volcanic outcrops and beds of marine fossils that prove this was once an ocean floor, and the little village of Khamlia with its Gnawa musicians. We meet nomad families at their tents over mint tea and learn how life is lived out here. There is time for sandboarding down the slopes before we return to camp or continue on toward the kasbahs.
A long but truly spectacular day carrying us all the way from the Sahara back to Marrakech, unspooling the finest scenery of the south in reverse. We rise for a last sunrise over the Erg Chebbi dunes, then set off west along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, pausing at the towering Todra Gorge for a walk beneath its cliffs and passing the folded rock of the Dades Valley. The route runs on through the Skoura oasis to Ouarzazate and the great UNESCO ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, where there is time to admire the earthen fortress before the final ascent. We then cross the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with its Berber villages and endless mountain views, descending to Marrakech by evening. It is a full day, but every hour rewards you.
Today we swap the mountains for the ocean, driving west across the plains to the breezy Atlantic port of Essaouira. Along the way we pass through classic argan country and stop at a women's cooperative, where you can watch the nut being cracked and pressed by hand into the golden oil used in Moroccan cooking and cosmetics — and often spot goats perched improbably in the argan trees. Essaouira itself is a delight: a walled 18th-century town of whitewashed houses and blue shutters, its ramparts and sea-battered Skala bastions open to the wind that has made it a windsurfing legend. We explore the lively fishing harbour where the day's catch is landed and grilled, wander the relaxed medina of art galleries and workshops, and stroll the wide sweep of beach before dinner.
There is time this morning to enjoy Essaouira at its gentlest, before the afternoon wind picks up. You might take a final walk along the broad Atlantic beach, watch the blue sardine boats unload at the harbour, or browse the artisan medina for the thuya-wood carvings and paintings for which the town is famous — it is one of Morocco's most creative and laid-back places. When you are ready we drive back east through the argan groves and open countryside to Marrakech, roughly a three-hour journey with a stop or two along the way. Arriving in the late afternoon, you have the evening free once more in the Red City — perhaps a return to Jemaa el-Fnaa for dinner, or a quiet rooftop where the Koutoubia glows against the darkening sky.
Your Moroccan journey comes to an end today. After a relaxed breakfast and, if time allows, a final wander through the souks for any last souvenirs — a lantern, a rug, a bag of spices — your driver-guide collects you from your riad and transfers you to Marrakech Menara airport in good time for your flight. If your departure is later in the day, we are happy to suggest how to spend the remaining hours, whether that is a last mint tea on a rooftop overlooking the medina, a visit to a garden or museum, or simply resting before you travel. We say goodbye with a warm farewell — b'slama — and our hope that the dunes, mountains and medinas of the past days have given you memories and friendships to carry home.
“The best trip we have ever taken. Our guide felt like a friend by the end, the desert camp was magical and everything ran perfectly.”
“Impeccably organised and completely private. We changed the plan twice and Edita made it effortless. The Sahara sunrise was unforgettable.”
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Imperial cities, the Sahara and the High Atlas to Marrakech.
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