Fes Trip Overview
This trip from Fes to Marrakech takes you through the Cedars forest, Atlas mountains and deserts, with stunning views on the horizon. Visit kasbahs, ride a camel and stay overnight in a Berber tent.
Additional Info
* Duration: 3 days
* Starts: Fes, Morocco
* Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Fes, Fes-Meknes, Morocco
This trip from Fes to Marrakech takes you through the Cedars forest, Atlas mountains and deserts, with stunning views on the horizon. Visit kasbahs, ride a camel and stay overnight in a Berber tent.
Itinerary
Day 1: Fes – Ifran – Midelt – Errachidia – Erfoud – Merzouga
Pass By: Fes, Fes, Fes-Meknes
Our driver pick you up in early morning from your accommodation in Fes. The Journey takes you to Merzouga desert via Ifrane, Midelt, Errachidia & Erfoud.
Stop At: Ifrane, Ifrane, Fes-Meknes
A visit to tidy and modern Ifrane that feels more like Switzerland relocated to the North Africa. The French built Ifrane in the 1930s, deliberately trying to recreate an alpine-style resort. It has neat red-roofed houses, blooming flower beds, and lake-studded parks, all kept impeccably tidy.
Take pictures of Ifran’s landmark. A stone lion that sits on a patch of grass; it was carved by a German soldier during WWII when Ifrane was briefly a prisoner-of-war camp. The statue celebrates the loss of the last wild lion, which was shot in the early 1920s.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Azrou Cedar Forest, Azrou Morocco
The Cedar forests are notable as a habitat for a sub-population of Barbary macaques, we might be lucky to spot a troupe foraging in the woods
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Midelt, Midelt, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Midelt sits in apple country between the Middle and the High Atlas. The landscape offers some breathtaking views, especially of the eastern High Atlas, which seem to rise out of nowhere. Midelt consists of little more than one main street (Ave Mohammed V in the north, which becomes Ave Hassan II to the south), and a modest souq
Pass By: Errachidia, Errachidia, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Garrison towns are not generally known for their hopitality or culture, but Errachidia is trying to change that with the hospitality of its people. Besides Errachidia is home to a sizable military population stationed here to keep an eye on the nearby border with Algeria, it is also home of the enormous theatre that hosts performers from throughout the Sahara at the festival du Desert.
Pass By: Erfoud, Erfoud, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Fossilized bathtubs and moist, sweet dates are Erfoud’s current claims to fame, though it was once the end of the road. In September or October Erfoud has an increasingly well-attended date festival, with dancing and music. The market at the southern end of town sells local dates alongside fresh produce.
Stop At: Erg Chebbi, Erg Chebbi, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Our journey ends in Merzouga desert. After a glass of mint tea, We will leave our luggage in a room of our guest house, and take only what you will need for the night in the camp, then take the camels to a Berber camp in the middle of Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes, about 32 km long and 9 km wide it is also reputed as the highest sand dunes in North Africa. The camel trek takes about 1hr 30 min to the camp where we continue the spirit of the nomadic Berber lifestyle.. There you will enjoy the sunset and the silence of the Sahara desert . After dinner we gather round the fire and enjoy the desert night with traditional Berber drums.
Duration: 10 hours
Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Tiziri luxurious desert camp
Day 2: Merzouga – Todgha gorge – Amridil kasbah – Skoura
Pass By: Tinejdad, Tinejdad, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Early wake up to watch the magical colors before it. Breakfast, then we start our journey Skoura via Erfoud and Tinjdad.
Back when caravans arrived loaded with gold and dazed after months of Sahara sun, they were understandably skittish – but Tinjdad (Nomad in the Berber language) put them at ease. Five Berber and Saharan tribes crossed paths at this hitching post, quenching thirsts at the Sources of Lalla Mimouna.
Stop At: Todgha Gorge, R 703 near the town of Tinerhir, Tinerhir 45520 Morocco
The drive takes you to Tinghir to explore the Todgha gorge.
Being stuck between a rock and a hard place is a sublime experience in the Todra Gorge, where the massive fault dividing the High Atlas from the Saghro mountain is at some points just wide enough for a crystal-clear river and single-file trekkers to squeeze through. The road from Tinghir passes green Palmeras and Berber villages until, 15km long, high walls of pink and Grey rock close in around the road. The approach is thrilling and somehow urgent, as though the doors of heaven were about to close before you.
Duration: 20 minutes
Pass By: Boumalne Dades, Boumalne Dades, Souss-Massa
Nomads crossings, rose valleys and two-tone kasbahs: even on paper, the Dades valley stretches the imagination. From the daunting High Atlas to the north to the rugged Jebel Saghro range south, the valley is dotted with oases and mudbrick palaces that give the region its fairytale nickname – Valley of a thousand kasbahs.
Pass By: El Kelaa M’gouna, El Kelaa M’gouna, Souss-Massa
Although it takes its name from the nearby M’Goun mountain, the small town of Kelaa M’Gouna is famous for roses and daggers. Some 50km from Skoura, pink roses start peeking through dense roadside hedgerows. During the May rose harvest you will see rose garlands everywhere, especially during the town’s signature rose festival that takes palce in first weekend of May.
Stop At: Kasbah Amridil, Ouled Bourasse, Skoura Ahl El Oust 45502 Morocco
Our last stop before reaching your accommodation is Amdridil kasbah. Morocco’s most coveted kasbah is this 17th-century wonder, which appears on Morocco’s 50-Dirham note. Signposted just a few hundred meters from the main road, this living museum shows that traditional kasbah life hasn’t changed much over the centuries, with hand-carved door locks, an olive-oil press, still-functioning bread ovens, and goats bleating in the courtyard.
Overnight stay in Skoura
Duration: 20 minutes
Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight stay in Skoura: L’Ma Lodge or similar
Day 3: Skoura – Ouarzazate – Ait Benhaddou – Marrakesh
Pass By: Ouarzazate, Ouarzazate, Draa-Tafilalet
After breakfast, we drive to Marrakech through Ouarzazate.
Strategically located and has gotten by largely on its wits instead of its looks. For centuries, people from Atlas, Draa & Dades valley converged to do business at Ouarzazate’s sprawling Taourirt kasbah, and a modern garrison town was established here in the 1920s to oversee France’s colonial interests. The movie business gradually took off in Ouarzazate after the French protectorate left in the 1950s, and ‘Ouallywood’ movie studios have built quite a résumé providing convincingly exotic backdrops for movies supposedly set in ancient Rome, Somalia, and Egypt.
Stop At: Cinema Studio Atlas, Km 5, BP 28 Route de Marrakech, Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco
The first ‘Oullywood’ studio displays sets and props from movies filmed here, including Jewel of the Nile, Kingdom of Heaven and Kundun.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Ait Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou, Souss-Massa
The Unesco protected kasbah seems suspiciously frozen in time: with Hollywood touch-ups, it still resembles its days in the 11th century as an Almoravid caravanserai. Movie buffs recognize this red mudbrick kasbah 32km from Ouarzazate from Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth (for which much of Ait Benhaddou was rebuilt), Jewel of the Nile and Gladiator.
Duration: 30 minutes
Pass By: Marrakech, Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi
Our journey will continue through the majestic Tizi ‘n’ tichka pass (2260 m) over the High Atlas Mountains,. We will have time to stop and enjoy impressive views and visit the argan oil cooperative. We will arrive in Marrakech in the late afternoon. Drop off at your accommodation in Marrakech.
Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.
