To enjoy a tour from Fez to the desert ending in Marrakech, only 3 days are needed. This is the proposal that takes you from one imperial city to another, but passing in the meantime through majestic mountains, such as those of the Middle Atlas and those of the High Atlas. You can have all this in a single click if you buy your travel package on the Tenere Tours website, and you can enjoy it privately with your family or friends, if you wish.
The Sahara Desert is a gigantic space that, nevertheless, opens its doors to us in places as spectacular as the dunes of Erg Chebbi, which we will reach with this tour. Its silence or its starry sky are situations that can only be understood by being here, sleeping in a Berber tent camp, as the Berber nomadic communities once did. In addition, in its surroundings there are valleys formed by humble rivers that, despite this, make life possible thanks to fertile oases. The Dades is one of them, through which this route also runs.
As a counterpoint to the desert and wild landscapes mentioned above, this tour offers mountains with humid and fresh environments, as well as monuments erected by man centuries ago. This is the case of Ifrane National Park, in the Middle Atlas, the port of Tizi n’Tichka in the High Atlas or the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, declared a World Heritage Site. We will discover all this on the way to or from the desert, understanding that the beautiful thing is not only the destination (the desert), but also the journey that is made to it or back from it. Therefore, this is a getaway dreamed of by any intrepid traveler who, despite having little time, does not want to give up unforgettable experiences.
In 3 days and 2 nights, this tour from Fez to the desert reaches Marrakech (and ends in that city) to show you the best of the Sahara and also of the valleys that lead to it. For this, we will use a private and comfortable vehicle, with a driver, who will make the following route:
This three-day tour begins in Fez, in the place you decide: if you arrive at its airport from another Moroccan or foreign city, our driver will pick you up at the same terminal. And if you have spent the night in a local hotel, we can pick you up at said accommodation.
Whatever the place, this route puts all the cards on the table from the beginning. One of the first towns we will pass through will be Ifrane, known among Moroccans themselves as their particular Switzerland: the green environment that surrounds it and the houses with gabled roofs are more typical of Europe than of North Africa. But here they make perfect sense, as rainfall is abundant throughout the year, in the form of snow during the winter.
Our route will continue to gain altitude, entering typical landscapes of the Middle Atlas. As is the case of Ifrane National Park, better known as the Monkey Forest due to the numerous Barbary macaques that populate it. Its cedars, one of the national trees, provide them with the ideal refuge to survive, as it is an endangered species.
After crossing to the south side of the Middle Atlas, the landscape becomes more arid, a sign that we are approaching the desert. Along the Ziz Valley we will see how the river disappears on our way to Erfoud, a small city known for its wealth of fossils and minerals.
The next stop will be in the desert, specifically in Merzouga: here we will park our vehicle because the dromedaries will be waiting for us with which we will access the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Walking through this magical place of soft sand hills we will arrive at the Berber tent camp, where a welcome tea will be offered, dinner will be served and you will rest at night. The deepest silence and the stars of the sky will be your faithful companions.
On the second day of the tour we leave the desert, but not without first contemplating the sunrise in this very propitious place. For this, you will have to get up early and get up before the sun rises. Only in this way can you appreciate the dawn, which dyes the sky and the environment with increasingly warm colors.
The next thing on this day is breakfast and the return to Merzouga to take a shower (in some packages, the shower is included in the Berber tent) and recover the vehicle parked the night before. A few kilometers after resuming the march we will stop in Rissani, a small town where a picturesque market is still held on certain days of the week. Its historic medina is also a well-preserved jewel.
Afterwards, our route becomes a roadtrip through the Dades Valleys between palm trees and Berber castles, many of them in ruins. There’s a reason they call it the Route of the Thousand Kasbahs, which is the name given here to this type of defensive construction, antonio used to protect the territory and the caravan routes.
At the height of Tinghir or Tinerhir we will deviate momentarily from the route to access the Todra Gorges, a small river that flows into the Dades and has formed here a spectacular rocky canyon, with walls of surprising verticality and height, of more than 100 meters in many points. Walking through the narrow gorge, even for a short period of time, will become a pleasant walk.
Back to the Dades Valley, we will continue until we make a stop along the way, in a charming riad where we will have dinner and spend the second night of the tour.
The intensity and emotion of this tour do not wane on the third day and, after resuming the march, we will complete the Dades Valley to its headwaters, in Ouarzazate. On the way, we will see landscapes of the Valley of the Roses, so called because of the abundant rose bushes that populate the land and give greenery all year round, as well as color in spring.
In Ouarzazate, we will stop at the kasbah of Taourirt, one of the largest, most beautiful and best preserved of the Route of the Thousand Kasbahs. This is because it was a castle and palace of the Glaoui, the lineage that governed this entire region at the end of the 19th century and in the times of the French Protectorate. Adobe and decoration that creates plays of shadows on the outside, with ceramics, plasterwork and wooden coffered ceilings on the inside: an unbeatable combination of Berber and Arab art.
Not far from here we will find another beautiful example of Berber architecture in adobe, in this case in the form of a fortified village: Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a strategic stop on the caravan routes, hence its impregnable character, with high walls and a kasbah at its top.
The road will gradually gain altitude, a sign that you have to cross the High Atlas through its most famous pass, the Tizi n’Tichka. From here, at more than 2,200 meters above sea level, it is worth opening your eyes wide and contemplating this mountainous landscape, so characteristic. On the northern slope of this mountain range, the small Berber villages and livestock farms are more numerous, thanks to the fact that the weather conditions are more favorable, with greater humidity and rainfall.
And shortly after we will arrive in Marrakech, the final destination of this 3-day tour, so we will take you to the agreed place for the end of our services: Menara Airport, a hotel in the center or any other point of your interest. And we hope that the farewell is only a ‘see you next time’, because with Tenere Tours you can travel to many other regions of Morocco.
Despite its brevity, the package of this tour is very complete, with services to ensure that everything runs as planned. These are the following
You should bear in mind that this package does not include the following services, which are at the choice of each traveler:
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