Fez - Ifrane - Monkey Forest - Erfoud - Erg Chebbi Dunes

Fes - To start this 4-day tour from Fez, our staff will pick you up wherever is most convenient for you: it can be your hotel in the city, the airport or any other convenient location. And without further delay, we will begin the route to the south, crossing the Middle Atlas.

Ifrane - Our first destination will be Frane, also called the Switzerland of Morocco for its gabled houses. We will stop here for a short walk. The town was established by the French administration in 1928 to escape the heat of the Sahara Desert.

Michlifen - After stopping in Frane, we will continue driving through the Middle Atlas Mountains with a stop on the road in a cedar forest, where we will be able to see a species of monkey native to the Atlas Mountains.

Merzouga - Shortly after we will arrive at Merzouga, a small town that gives its name to a portion of the Sahara desert. And not just any portion, but probably the most beautiful. The Erg Chebbi dunes are to blame for this, an expanse of sea of fine sand that extends for more than 20 km from end to end. We will travel through part of these dunes by camel, on an excursion guided by a Tuareg, who will take us to the luxury tent camp.

Among those traditional Berber tents, under a sky free of light pollution, dinner will be served before retiring to rest in the middle of the characteristic stillness of the desert.

Erg Chebbi - Visit to nomads - Khamlia - Merzouga Desert

Erg Chebbi - The second day of this circuit takes place entirely in the Merzouga desert, in several of its most special locations. Of course, the beginning of the day will be one to remember: the sunrise in the dunes of Erg Chebbi always offers a spectacle of lights and peace that involves any act of inner purification.

Khamlia - After breakfast at the camp, we will return to Merzouga to resume the tour on wheels. The first stop will be in Khamlia, a small town that, despite this, can boast of being one of the cradles of Gnawa music, the kind brought here by former slaves from the other side of the Sahara. Now, its dark-skinned inhabitants are its best guardians and ambassadors, as we can see in a rhythm and dance show.

After that, the asphalt disappears to give way to dirt tracks with a lot of history: the Paris-Dakar rally passed through them and, although it no longer does so due to its environmental impact, our off-road cars do, with which it is possible experience a very intense adrenaline rush. On this tour, we will also see abandoned towns and disused kohl mines, which are vestiges of the time of French domination in the area.

Merzouga Desert - The last experience of the day also seems like a trip to the past, but in this case with validity in the present: we will live with families of nomadic tradition who, despite no longer living in permanent displacement, do preserve lifestyle habits from past times. We will do it without disturbing or invading privacy, since our guide will act as a mediator with these families, whom he knows personally.

Back in Merzouga, after a brief elevated stop to panoramicly admire the dunes of Erg Chebbi, you will have dinner and rest in a hotel full of charm, with an atmosphere and interior design in tune with the environment.

Merzouga - Rissani - Todra Gorges - Boumalne Dades

Rissani - On this third day of our tour of Morocco, we leave the purest desert, although not before discovering a most unique town: Rissani, which preserves a historic medina full of ancient monuments and scenes from another time: donkeys are still a used means of transport parked on the outskirts, the popular market sells local food and crafts…

Gargantas del Todra - After visiting Rissani, we enter the pre-Saharan valleys, which are characterized by their landscapes of small bare mountains, ancient Berber kasbahs and towns that arise around oases of palm groves, where farmland also makes its way. One of the places that best symbolizes this region is Tinghir (mountain city, in the local Tamazight language).

In Tinghir we will also take a detour to discover a natural space that seems like a fairy tale: the Todra Gorges. Here, the small seasonal river that gives them their name has been carving natural rock walls that are astonishing for their verticality and height. Walking through this rocky corridor is quite an experience and proof that nature never ceases to surprise.

Boumalne Dades - Following the Dades Valley we will stop the route in a charming town, Boumalne Dades, where we will find the riad where we will have dinner and spend the night.

Boumalne Dades - Valley of Roses - Ouarzazate - Ait Ben Haddou - Marrakech

Ouarzazate - On the fourth and final day of this circuit from Fez, we will reach our final destination: Marrakech. But first there is much to discover. Leaving Boumalne Dades behind, we will reach the Valley of the Roses: it is actually a section of the Dades Valley, but with its own character thanks to the millions of rose bushes that populate both banks, which give it a special color in spring.

Ouarzazate is the most important city in the region, with great prestige in the film industry thanks to its Atlas studios. However, its most historical and imposing monument is the Kasbah of Taourirt, as we will understand when visiting it: it was a grandiose Berber-style castle-palace that belonged to the powerful El Glaoui family. Its adobe exterior, with crenellated towers and chiaroscuro decoration, contrasts amazingly with its refined interior.

Ait Ben Haddou - But very close to here, about 30 km, is the great jewel of Berber architecture: the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, a walled town lying on a hill, under a ruined castle and surrounded by an impregnable wall. UNESCO recognized it as a World Heritage Site for this reason. Today it can be visited, which does not prevent some families from still living in this unique enclave.

Tizi n Tichka - Ait Ben Haddou was a key stop on the caravan routes from the south of the Sahara. And today it still is, but in this case of the tourist routes that, like this one, connect the desert with Marrakech. So, after the visit, we will begin the ascent of the High Atlas to cross the Tizi n’Tichka pass and descend through the valleys of the northern face of this mountain range.

Thus, descending between mountain towns, open-air farms and streams that give freshness to the environment, we will reach Marrakech, the ‘red city’. There we will say goodbye, in the place you indicate, to end an enriching trip from all points of view, and which can be inspiring to organize other similar ones around the country.

• Sandboarding
• Dinner
• Breakfast
• Camel ride through the Erg Chebbi dunes (one per person)
• Private transport
• Pickup and transfer in Fez and Marrakech