5 Days from Fes to Merzouga Desert

5 Days from Fes to Merzouga Desert

DAY 1: FEZ – IFRANE – MIDELT – ERFOUD – MERZOUGA DUNES

5 Days from Fes, After breakfast, we will depart for Merzouga through the Middle Atlas region. We will drive through Ifrane, the ‘Switzerland’ of Morocco, and the cedar forests of Azrou where we can stop to hand feed the monkeys.

Continue to Midelt where we will have lunch. We will then follow the Ziz River through the valley and stop to see the Ziz Gorges on our way to Merzouga.

DAY 2: MERZOUGA – ERG CHEBBI :

Today we will explore the desert region and the marvel that is the Erg Chebbi desert dunes. We will make a circuit of the desert dunes where you will have the opportunity to see the nomad’s way of life and the amazing changing contrasts of the desert. We will visit the ‘black village’ of Khamlia to see the Gnawa musicians.

Have a traditional Berber pizza for lunch in the ancient capital of Rissani. In the afternoon we will ride the camels to see the sunset over the dunes and spend the night in the desert camp. We will have a traditional tagine dinner, drink delicious mint tea, listen to traditional Berber music while watching the stars and the rising moon in the amazing Sahara desert.

DAY 3: ERG CHEBBI – RISSANI – TODRA GORGES :

After having breakfast, the camel treks back to the hotel at the dune line for a quick shower. We leave the Sahara desert dunes of Erg Chebbi, an off-road drive across the hamada (black Desert) to get to the Sahara town of Rissani, an optional visit of the animated local market. Afterward, we head north to Erfoud which is known for the fossils; here we can stop to visit a fossil workshop before we continue to the impressive Todra canyons, known for rock climbing, where you can hike before we check into the hotel, Dinner, and overnight

DAY 4: DADES VALLEY – SKOURA – OUARZAZATE :

Breakfast at the hotel, we begin our journey along the road of Thousand Kasbahs. Since there are enormous kasbahs on both sides of the road. Some of those old fortified houses are restored but unfortunately, a lot of them are ruins. We pass through Dades valley and go up to the mountainous area through an off-road trail where many Berber villages and a few nomads live in caves, here we will have the chance to visit one of these families and take a look at their daily life and their main activity Looking after herds of goats cheep. We will be impressed by the landscapes of the colorful rose valley before we reach the Skoura palm grove. 45km further, we reach Ouarzazate for the dinner and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 5: OUARZAZATE – AIT BENHADDOU – HIGH ATLAS – MARRAKECH :

After breakfast, we will visit Taourirt Kasbah before departing to Ait Benhaddou to visit the World Heritage Site. We will continue with a visit to the traditional High Atlas Berber village of Telouet and the Kasbah el Glaoui. We will have lunch in a local restaurant in Telouet before descending the Tizi-n-Tichka to Marrakech.