Marrakech Trip Overview
Start in Marrakesh and end in Fes! With the In-depth Cultural tour 4-Days Desert Trip from Marrakech to Fes, you have a 4 days tour package taking you through Marrakesh, Morocco and 11 other destinations in Morocco.
Additional Info
* Duration: 4 days
* Starts: Marrakech, Morocco
* Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi, Morocco
Start in Marrakesh and end in Fes! With the In-depth Cultural tour 4-Days Desert Trip from Marrakech to Fes, you have a 4 days tour package taking you through Marrakesh, Morocco and 11 other destinations in Morocco.
Itinerary
Day 1: Marrakech – Ait Ben Haddou kasbah – Ouarzazat – Boumalne Dades
Pass By: Tizi n Tichka, Imlil Village, Ouarzazate 45000 Morocco
Our tour driver picks you up from your accommodation in Marrakech. The journey takes via the High Atlas Mountains, through many authentic towns and Berber villages. We cross the Tizi N Tishka pass that connects Marrakech with pre-Saharan oases. the road ascends and takes a turn for the scenic amid oak trees, walnut groves, and oleander bushes. Past the village, if Taddert, the landscape is stripped of color. Atop the Tizi n’Tichka that is 2962m altitude, we gradually descend into the lunar landscape of the Anti Atlas and the desert beyond.
Stop At: Telouet Kasbah, Telouet Morocco
We visit Telouet Kasbah along the former route of the caravans from the Sahara over the Atlas Mountains to Marrakech. The kasbah was the seat of the El Glaoui family’s power, thus sometimes also called the Palace of Glaoui. Its construction started in 1860 and it was further expanded in later years.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Ait Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou, Souss-Massa
Ait Ben Haddou kasbah. A famous 17th Century fortress is classified to date by UNESCO to preserve and protect this renowned site. In past years, its fame built on a film making of Lawrence of Arabia and Jesus of Nazareth and, more recently, the sought-out location for Gladiator, Kingdom of heaven, and Prince of Persia. Lunch will be served in a restaurant near the kasbah.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Taourirt Kasbah, Avenue Mohammed V, Ouarzazate 45000 Morocco
Venture off into the edge of Ouarzazate and discover one of Morocco’s most spectacular historical legacies of wealth and power. Just on the edge of this quiet Moroccan city, you’ll find Taourirt Kasbah, a citadel set against the backdrop of the Atlas Mountains. As far as fortifications are concerned in Morocco, this is one of the most impressive of its kind. With almost 300 rooms and a true maze of passageways, steps, and keylock doors, it’s easy to feel lost within this immense structure that only connects to the outside world through a narrow entrance doorway.
Duration: 20 minutes
Pass By: Skoura, Skoura, Beni Mellal-Khenifra
By the time caravans laden with gold and spice reached Skoura, the camels must have been gasping. After a two- month journey across the Sahara, Blue-robed Tuareg desert traders offloaded cargo from caravans in Skoura, where middle Atlas mountaineers packed it onto mules headed to Fez. Ouarzazate is now the region’s commercial centre, but Skoua’s historic mudbrick castles remain, and desert traders throng Monday & Thursday souqs brimming with intensly flavourful desert produce. When market days are over and palm-tree shadows stretch across the road, no one seems in hurry to leave. Elsewhere, life goes on as usual – but in Skoura, it remains a wonder.
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 place in first weekend of May.
Stop At: 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.
Overnight stay in Boumalne Dades
Duration: 10 hours
Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Riad Dar Blues or similar
Day 2: Boumalne Dades – Todra Gorge – Tinejdad – Erfoud – Merzouga Desert
Stop At: Todgha Gorge, R 703 near the town of Tinerhir, Tinerhir 45520 Morocco
After breakfast, the drive takes you to Todra gorge in Tinghir.
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: Tinejdad, Tinejdad, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Back when caravans arrived loaded with gold and dazed after months of Sahara sun, they were understandably skittish – but Tinjdad (Nomad in 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: Musee des Oasis, Ksar Elkhorbat, Tinejdad, Morocco
We visit Musee des Oasis in Tinejdad. A fascinating museum that traces movements of tribes through artifacts of seminomadic life: saddles worn shiny; contracts inscribed on wooden tablets in Arabic & Hebrew; Tinejdad jars for water and preserved butter; Heavy silver jewelry; and to protect it all from would-be thieves, inlaid muskets and handcuffs.
Duration: 20 minutes
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: Merzouga, Merzouga, Draa-Tafilalet
Once among the dunes, you will be welcomed into a charming Kasbah where you will be able to relax beside the swimming pool, and enjoy the tunes of a desert blues band well into the evening.
Duration: 10 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Hotel Takoujt or similar
Day 3: Desert Culture + Tea with Nomads + Camel Trek
Stop At: Erg Chebbi, Erg Chebbi, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Watching the sunrise amongst the dunes is a magical experience, and not to be missed. Your breakfast will be waiting for you upon your return, after which you will have the opportunity to visit the nomadic communities around Merzouga, stopping for tea in the souks, and enjoying the traditional Gnawa music. As the mid-day sun wanes, we will mount our camels and trek into the pink sands of the Moroccan Sahara; here, we will have ample free time for you to explore and take in the beauty and vastness of the desert dunes. Once the sun sets, a Moroccan dinner will be served alongside live music around the campfire, after which you are free to explore again – this time in the company of a million stars exploding against the pitch-black sky, and the all-encompassing silence of the Sahara at night.
Duration: 10 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Luxurious desert camp Tiziri
Day 4: Merzouga – Fes
Pass By: Merzouga, Merzouga, Draa-Tafilalet
Early wake up to enjoy the beautiful sunrise, breakfast then transfer to Fes via Errachidia, Midelt, and Ifran
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: 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
Stop At: Ifrane, Ifrane, Fes-Meknes
Tidy, & modern, it feels more like Switzerland relocated to the Middle Atlas than 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.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Fes, Fes, Fes-Meknes
We reach Fes by early evening, drop off at your accommodation in Fes.
Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.
