10-day desert tour from Marrakech to Tangier

Tour highlights

• Essaouira’s walled medina and its port
• The Tizi n’Tichka pass and the kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou
• The Todra Gorge and sunset over the Erg Chebbi dunes
• A nomad family, the Gnawa music of Khamlia and the Mfis mines
• The Ziz Valley and the cedars of the Middle Atlas
• The Fes medina and the Chouara tanneries with a local guide
• Chefchaouen’s blue medina

Day-by-day itinerary

1. 1

   Day 1 · Arrival in Marrakech

   We pick you up at the airport or station and take you to your accommodation. If you arrive in time, at dusk Jemaa el-Fna square fills with food stalls, musicians and storytellers.

   Night: Marrakech

2. 2

   Day 2 · Marrakech · Essaouira

   To the Atlantic coast, through argan trees: on the way there are cooperatives where argan oil is made. Essaouira is a walled medina above the sea, a UNESCO site, with its fishing port and the cannons of the Skala.

   Night: Essaouira

3. 3

   Day 3 · Essaouira · Marrakech

   A free morning in Essaouira, with its port and beach, and back to Marrakech in the afternoon.

   Night: Marrakech

4. 4

   Day 4 · Marrakech · Tizi n’Tichka · Ait Ben Haddou · Dades Valley

   We leave Marrakech in the morning and climb into the High Atlas to the Tizi n’Tichka pass, 2,260 metres up, stopping at viewpoints over the Berber villages. On the far side lies Ait Ben Haddou, the earthen ksar and UNESCO World Heritage Site where Gladiator and Game of Thrones were filmed; you walk up through it to the old granary at the top. We continue past Ouarzazate, the Skoura palm grove and the Valley of Roses at Kelaat M’Gouna to the Dades Gorges, where we spend the night.

   Night: Dades Valley

5. 5

   Day 5 · Todra Gorge · Tinghir · Erfoud · Merzouga

   In the morning, the Todra Gorge: a narrow canyon with walls of around 300 metres, explored on foot beside the river. We pass the Tinghir palm grove and Erfoud, the town of fossils, on the way to Merzouga. At the end of the afternoon the Erg Chebbi dunes appear: you ride up on a camel for the sunset or, if you prefer, go by 4x4 to the camp. Night in the desert.

   Night: Desert camp

6. 6

   Day 6 · 4x4 excursion around Merzouga

   A full day to see what lies around the dunes. We head out by 4x4 on the tracks around Erg Chebbi and visit a nomad family, who still live in tents as they always have, for tea. In Khamlia, the Gnawa village, we listen to their music, which came from sub-Saharan Africa. Then the old Mfis mines, the black desert scattered with fossils and, if it has rained in winter or spring, the lake at Dayet Srij. In the afternoon, free time on the dunes: sandboarding or simply the sunset.

   Night: Merzouga

7. 7

   Day 7 · Sunrise · Rissani · Erfoud · Ziz Valley · Midelt · Ifrane · Fes

   Sunrise on the dunes and breakfast before we leave. We head north through Rissani, cradle of the Alaouite dynasty, and Erfoud, then follow the Ziz Valley, a canyon of palms between mountains, through the Legionnaire’s Tunnel. We cross the Middle Atlas via Midelt, the apple town, and the Azrou cedar forest, home to Barbary macaques. We pass Ifrane, known as the Switzerland of Morocco, and reach Fes in the afternoon.

   Night: Fes

8. 8

   Day 8 · Guided tour of Fes

   A day with a local guide in Fes el-Bali, the medieval medina and UNESCO site: the Bab Boujloud gate, the Bou Inania madrasa, the façade of Al Qarawiyyin university, founded in 859, and the Chouara tanneries seen from the terraces. In the afternoon, the craft workshops and the view from the Marinid tombs.

   Night: Fes

9. 9

   Day 9 · Fes · Chefchaouen

   About four hours north, through olive groves, into the Rif mountains. In the afternoon, a walk through Chefchaouen’s blue medina and sunset from the Spanish Mosque viewpoint.

   Night: Chefchaouen

10. 10

    Day 10 · Chefchaouen · Tangier

    A last morning in Chefchaouen and transfer to Tangier, to the airport or port, for your flight or the ferry to Spain.

What’s included

Frequently asked questions