Overview
Three days, one direction, two of Morocco's imperial cities at either end and the Sahara in the middle. This is the trip travellers take when they want to see the south without doubling back.
You leave Marrakech on Day 1, climb the High Atlas, and follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs to a riad in the Dades Valley. Day 2 takes you east through the Todgha Gorge, on to Erfoud and Merzouga, and ends with a camel trek into the dunes of Erg Chebbi for sunset, dinner around a fire, and a night in a Berber camp under more stars than you've probably ever seen.
Day 3 is a different country entirely. Instead of returning the way you came, you drive north — through the date palms of the Ziz Valley, past the apple town of Midelt, into the cedar forests of Azrou where Barbary macaques live wild, through Ifrane (which looks more like a Swiss village than anywhere in North Africa should), and into Fes by late afternoon. You've crossed the High Atlas and the Middle Atlas in the same trip. You've slept in the desert. You're delivered to the door of the oldest medina in Morocco.
Everything is private. Your driver-guide is yours alone, the vehicle is yours alone, the pace is yours.
Best for: travellers flying out of Fes (or continuing north to Chefchaouen) who want the Sahara without retracing the route. First-timers covering Morocco efficiently. Anyone who hates the idea of seeing the same scenery twice.
Not the right fit if: you can't sit in a vehicle for seven to nine hours a day. The geography is real — Marrakech to Merzouga is roughly 560 km, and Merzouga to Fes is another 470. The drives are scenic and broken up with stops, but they are still drives. We say this so you book the right trip. If three long days feel like too much, ask us about the 4-day version with two nights in the desert and a slower pace.
Day by Day
We collect you from your hotel or riad in Marrakech at 8:00 AM. The first hour leaves the city and starts climbing — within ninety minutes you are on the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, the highest road crossing in North Africa. We stop where the views are best, not where the cafés are biggest.
The first major stop is Aït Benhaddou, the UNESCO-listed earth-and-clay kasbah you will recognise from Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Lawrence of Arabia, and a long list of other films. We cross the riverbed (or take the bridge in winter) and walk up through the village. If you want a local guide for the kasbah itself, we arrange one for €3 per person. Lunch is in a family-run spot we trust.
The afternoon takes the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through Ouarzazate, past the Skoura palmeraie and the Valley of Roses at Kalaat M'Gouna. We arrive in Boumalne Dades in the late afternoon. Your riad sits in the valley with a terrace that catches the last light on the canyon walls.
Driving distance: approximately 350 km / 7 hours including stops
After breakfast we head east to Tinghir and the Todgha Gorge — limestone walls rising 300 metres above a stream. We walk the floor of the gorge for thirty to forty minutes; you set the pace. There is a tea stop at a Berber-run café in the gorge if you want one.
Lunch is in Tinghir or en route — your driver knows the family kitchens that don't show up on Google. The afternoon drive crosses the high desert: Tinjdad, Erfoud (the fossil town), and then the dunes appear on the horizon. That moment — when the Sahara stops being an idea and starts being a thing on the windscreen — is one of the reasons people come.
We arrive at the edge of Erg Chebbi in the late afternoon and switch from the vehicle to the camel. The trek into the dunes takes about an hour. If you would rather not ride a camel, we drive you to camp in a 4×4 — same camp, no negotiation needed. The sunset from the top of a dune is what it is. Bring your phone.
The camp is a permanent setup, not a tent in the sand. Each tent has a private bathroom with a hot shower, a proper bed with linens, and lighting. Dinner is around a communal table — Moroccan, hot, and good. After dinner there is Berber music around a fire, or you can walk fifteen metres into the dunes for the silence and the sky. The camp is an hour from any other light source. The stars are extraordinary.
Driving distance: approximately 350 km / 5–6 hours plus camel trek
This is the long day, and it's the day that earns this trip its name. After sunrise over the dunes and breakfast at camp, you camel back to where the vehicle is waiting (or 4×4 if you took that yesterday).
We head north. The first hour follows the Ziz Valley — a thin green river of date palms cutting through bone-dry rock, dotted with mud-brick villages that look unchanged for centuries. We stop at viewpoints. Photos are unavoidable.
Lunch is in Midelt, a town between the Middle and High Atlas known locally as the apple capital. From here the landscape changes again. We climb into the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, and just outside Azrou we stop at one of the cedar groves where Barbary macaques — wild but accustomed to visitors — come down from the trees. You can watch them, photograph them, sometimes feed them an apple if your driver thinks the moment is right. They are not in a zoo. This is just where they live.
A short drive on takes you to Ifrane, a small town built in the 1930s in alpine style — pitched red roofs, flower beds, a stone lion in the centre — that earns its nickname "the Switzerland of Morocco." We stop for coffee. From Ifrane it is roughly an hour and a half down through olive groves to Fes, where we drop you at your hotel or riad in the late afternoon, around 5:00 to 7:00 PM depending on the season and traffic.
You have crossed both the High Atlas and the Middle Atlas, slept in the desert, and arrived in the oldest continuously inhabited medina on earth. Not a bad three days.
Driving distance: approximately 470 km / 8–9 hours including stops
Includes & Excludes
What's included
Not included
Frequently Asked
Morocco has one of the lowest crime rates in the world and, compared to the US and Europe, is considered a very safe destination. Moroccan people are known for their hospitality and they will make you feel very welcomed, for more information on the topic contact us and we’ll provide you with some personal single-traveller experiences.
No. You may wear whatever you feel comfortable in, we only have one exception on tours of the Mosque like Hassan II. To enter you would need to dress conservatively as you would in a church (no shorts, tanks tops, etc.).
As in any country you should use direction with your attire if you want to avoid unwanted attention.
US Dollars, Sterling and Euros are readily exchangeable. We recommend you take a mixture of cash and credit cards. Scottish bank notes and Australian dollar travellers cheques and cash are NOT normally accepted in Morocco.
With accurate information on the schedule of your arrival, our guide and our driver await you at the customs exit at the airport, with a sign with your name and first name. It’s always easy, this appointment. In case of concern, you can contact us by phone with our contact information noted in our emails. We are always at your disposal 24 hours a day
Day 1 is about 7 hours (350 km), Day 2 about 5 to 6 hours plus a camel trek (350 km), Day 3 is the long day at around 8 to 9 hours including stops (470 km). We break every 1.5 to 2 hours. The drives are scenic and the stops are real, but the distances are real too — Morocco is a big country.
Two reasons. First, you avoid a full day of retracing scenery you have already seen — the return route from Merzouga to Marrakech is the same one you took outbound. Second, ending in Fes positions you to continue north (Chefchaouen, Tangier) or fly home from Fes-Saïs Airport. If you want to return to Marrakech, see our 3-day round-trip Sahara tour instead.
Yes. They live in the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas year-round and are habituated to human visitors but not captive. The IUCN lists them as endangered, so we don't encourage feeding beyond what your guide judges appropriate, and we never touch them. Watch them from a respectful distance and you will see family groups, juveniles playing, adults grooming. It is one of the trip's quieter pleasures.
No. If you would rather not ride, we transfer you to camp by 4×4 — same camp, same dinner, same view. Mention it when booking.
Yes. Each tent has a real bed with linens, a private bathroom, and a hot shower. Lighting is solar. Dinner is around a communal table. It is not a hotel, but it is not roughing it.
Children from around six years old usually love the dunes, the camel ride, and the Barbary macaques on Day 3. For younger children, the long Day 3 drive can be hard — we can suggest a slower itinerary instead. All ages can travel on this tour; we fit child seats if needed.
Light layers (warm clothes for desert evenings even in summer; warm clothes for the Middle Atlas in winter), closed walking shoes, sunglasses, sun cream, a scarf or buff for sand and sun, a power bank, and a small overnight bag — your main suitcase stays in the vehicle. We send a detailed packing list when you book.
March to May and September to November are ideal — mild days, cool nights, comfortable in the desert. June to August is hot in the desert (40°C+) but pleasant in the Middle Atlas. December to February has cold desert nights and the possibility of snow in Ifrane and Azrou (which can be beautiful, or which can complicate Day 3 if it's a bad storm — we'll advise honestly).
Yes, with an extra day. Fes to Chefchaouen is about 4 hours, Fes to Tangier is about 4 hours. We can extend the itinerary to drop you at either; it adds a fourth day and the corresponding cost. Tell us when you enquire.
Yes — that is the point of private. Want longer at Aït Benhaddou? Skip Todgha Gorge for more time in Dades? Add a cooking class on Day 1? Add a fossil workshop visit in Erfoud on Day 2? Swap the standard camp for a luxury camp? All possible. Tell us when you enquire and we build it in.
Through our website with PayPal, or via WhatsApp (+212 628 848 511) for a custom quote. We confirm within 12 hours during Morocco business hours, usually faster. A small deposit secures your dates; the balance is paid in cash to your driver on Day 1, or in advance via PayPal.