Desert trip from Fes to Marrakech 5 days- Desert Experiences

DAY 1 : FES – IFRANE – AZROU – ZIZ VALLEY – MERZOUGA :

After breakfast, we leave Fes and driving towards the magical Middle Atlas Mountains. We will stop in the charming town of Ifrane; which known as ‘Switzerland of Morocco’, because of the weather, architecture and historical events. We will have a short break in order to walk around before we continue to the largest cedar forest of Morocco beside a beautiful town of Azrou, where you will have chance to see Barbary Monkeys living in a wild area. After that, we keep driving between the mountains passing through many Berber villages like Timhdit, Zaida and Medilt. Then we drive further south crossing the mountains of the High Atlas till we get to Errachidia where the Valley of palm trees appears, these create an Oasis of greenery ideal for growing all kinds of fruit trees and vegetables microclimate. After a while we reach Erfoud; the capital of Fossils, which abound testifying past covered by the sea. From here the asphalt disappears, Saharan tracks adobe till we reach the village of Merzouga; the main town in Sahara Desert. Overnight at the hotel closed to the dunes with dinner and breakfast.

DAY 2 :SAHARA sightseeing– CAMEL TREK :

In this interesting day we will explore Erg Chebbi more deeply. We will visit the town of Khamlia, we discover small villages and inhabited houses in unexpected places far from civilization. In addition to that we will visit nomads who feel so happy to share their lifestyle with their visitors. Our journey continue to discover an old mines closed to the borders between Morocco and Algeria, found by French since years ago. Then we go back to the town where we will have a typical lunch especially of the area called” Berber Pizza”. Afternoon you have a lifetime experience starts by camel trekking; friendly camels guided by a man with experience of many years going up and down on sand with different stops to take pictures of landscapes and amazing sunset, around 1H30 walking you get to the camp located in the heart of desert where you will have your dinner and enjoy the Berber music played by locals under a starry sky.

DAY 3 : MERZOUGA – TODRA GORGES – DADES VALLEY :

A camel Guide will wake you up early in order to see what well may be the best sunrise in your life. You’ll peacefully camel-trek back to the village of Merzouga. En-route you won’t fail to appreciate the unique beauty of the spectacular Erg Chebbi sand dunes – changing with the light as the day progresses. After breakfast and hot shower, you’ll leave for Rissani, Tinghir and Todra gorges – the highest, narrowest gorges in Morocco and after lunch in the heart of the gorge we’ll drive through the Dades Valley, where you’ll see the majestic sand castles and the amazing rock known as “monkey toes”. Overnight will be in a fancy hotel inside Dades valley with dinner and breakfast.

DAY 4 : DADES VALLEY – BOUTAGHRAR – SKOURA – OUARZAZATE:

After breakfast, we’ll drive through the Dades Valley towards Kalaa M’gouna and Ouarzazate. The route through Dades Valley is named the way of thousand kasbahs – providing numerous opportunities to take some of your best photographic shots of the trip. Today we will have the opportunity to visit a nomad family in the mountain living in caves, to discover an other style of life, different from the other one in the sahara desert We’ll stop at Kalaa Mgouna, “the rose city”, to purchase the rosewater, which will make your linen smell good a long time after your trip is over. Thwn to Skoura where you’ll visit the Kasbah Ameridil, a well-preserved Kasbah in this area. Lunch will be in a traditional Moroccan restaurant overlooking the beautiful valley, ,then it’s on to Ouarzazate, “the Hollywood of Africa”, whose geography and beautiful landscapes have attracted many world class movie producers. Here you may choose to visit the studios, containing props used in movies such as The Mummy, Gladiator and the Last temptation of Christ. .. Overnight will be in a riad with dinner and breakfast.

DAY 5 : OUARZAZATE – AIT BEN HADDOU KASBAH – MARRAKECH :

After breakfast in your Riad, we’ll head to Marrakech, visiting Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah, which is the largest Kasbah in Morocco, built by T-hami El Glaoui, one of the last Berber chieftains during the beginning of the 19th Century, it used to be one of his stops during his long travel from the Sahara to Marrakech. Now it is one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. Your journey will continue through the majestic Tizi n’tichka Pass (2260 m) over the High Atlas Mountains to Marrakech. In our way you will have chance to explore the way and the process of making Argan oil which existed only in Morocco by the Berber women in their cooperatives before we get to Marrakech and the tour ends.