Marrakech, the Sahara and Fes

1. Day 1: Arrive in Marrakech

   Marrakech Menara Airport to the medina

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Marrakech
   Day 1 details

   We meet you at Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK), about 6 km from the old city, and drive you to your riad in the medina, a traditional house built around a courtyard. We collect you whatever time you land; arrive by mid-afternoon if you can, to rest before the group meets in the early evening. Your guide then walks you to Djemaa el-Fna at dusk, the best hour for it: the food stalls light up, smoke rises from the grills, and storytellers, musicians and henna artists gather around the square UNESCO recognised in 2001 for its living oral traditions. The 12th-century minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, about 77 metres tall, glows at blue hour across the square. We finish with a welcome dinner together, a short walk from the riad.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK)
   • Dusk walk to Djemaa el-Fna with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Afternoon free before the group meets

   

2. Day 2: Marrakech, then over the High Atlas

   Marrakech to Ait Benhaddou over the Tizi n'Tichka pass

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Ait Benhaddou
   Day 2 details

   Breakfast, then a morning in the medina with a licensed Marrakech guide. We are at the Bahia Palace when it opens, before the courtyards fill: the grand viziers Si Moussa and his son Ba Ahmed built it in the late 19th century, with painted cedar ceilings, zellij tilework and a vast marble court. Next we walk through the souks to Le Jardin Secret, a restored riad garden opened to the public in 2016. We leave Marrakech in the late morning, and the van climbs the High Atlas on the N9, a road of long hairpins and Amazigh villages, with lunch on the road and a stop at the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres. Down the far side we reach Ait Benhaddou at dusk for a first, quiet look at the ksar; the main visit is at sunrise tomorrow.

   Included

   • Guided morning in the Marrakech medina with a licensed local guide
   • Bahia Palace entry
   • Le Jardin Secret entry
   • Photo stop at the Tizi n'Tichka pass
   • First look at Ait Benhaddou at dusk

   Free time: Time for lunch on your own in Marrakech

   

3. Day 3: Ait Benhaddou at sunrise, then the road of a thousand kasbahs

   Ait Benhaddou to the Todra Gorge via Ouarzazate, Skoura and Kelaat M'Gouna

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Todra Gorge
   Day 3 details

   If you are up for it, your guide takes you to the hill facing the ksar about 30 minutes after sunrise, the moment the low light picks out every tower. Ait Benhaddou is a fortified village of earthen houses on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and a film set for Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator; climb to the ruined granary at the top for the view over the Ounila valley. After breakfast we drive east through Ouarzazate and the Skoura palm grove, scattered with old kasbahs, to Kelaat M'Gouna in the Valley of Roses, where the rose harvest is celebrated each May. The road follows the Dades valley to Tinghir and its long green oasis, and we stop for the night near the mouth of the Todra Gorge.

   Included

   • Sunrise at the Ait Benhaddou viewpoint with your guide
   • Skoura palm grove
   • Kelaat M'Gouna and the Valley of Roses

   Easier option: Sleep in and skip the sunrise walk

   Free time: Late afternoon free near the gorge

   

4. Day 4: The Todra Gorge on foot, then into the dunes

   Todra Gorge to Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi camp

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Erg Chebbi
   Day 4 details

   No early start for most of the year. We walk into the Todra Gorge in the late morning, once the sun has climbed high enough to reach the canyon floor, and the narrowest stretch is the reason to come: rock walls up to about 160 metres high stand in places only about 10 metres apart, with a clear stream running between them. A local guide leads a walk of about two hours up out of the gorge and back past terraced fields of the Tinghir oasis. After lunch we drive about 3 hours east past Tinejdad and Erfoud, known for its fossils, to Merzouga on the edge of Erg Chebbi. Leave time for the sunset: camels take you out across the sand in about an hour, or ride in by 4x4 if you prefer, to the camp where you sleep for two nights.

   Included

   • Guided walk in the Todra Gorge
   • Sunset camel ride into Erg Chebbi, or a 4x4 if you prefer
   • Dinner at the camp

   Your choice: Sunset camel ride to camp, about an hour / 4x4 to camp Included in the price.

   Easier option: Walk only the flat floor of the gorge

   Activity: The gorge walk is about 2 hours on rocky paths with one steady climb. In March and from late October, when the sun sets at about 5:30 to 6 pm, we start the walk earlier or shorten it so the camels still reach the dunes by sunset.

   

5. Day 5: A whole day in the Sahara

   Erg Chebbi, Khamlia and back to camp

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Erg Chebbi
   Day 5 details

   Your guide wakes you in the dark for sunrise. Rather than climbing the busy dune beside camp, walk along the dune line or go deeper into the sand with the guide, where there are no footprints ahead and the light rolls across ridges that rise up to about 150 metres. Breakfast at camp, then a 4x4 loop around the edge of Erg Chebbi to Khamlia, a village known for Gnawa music, where a family band plays for us over mint tea. Lunch is back at camp and the hot middle of the day is yours: sleep, read in the shade or try sandboarding. Because you do not pack up today, there is no rush. In the late afternoon we walk up a high dune for sunset, then dinner and the stars, far from any town lights.

   Included

   • Sunrise dune walk with your guide
   • 4x4 loop of Erg Chebbi
   • Gnawa music in Khamlia
   • Sunset from a high dune

   Easier option: Watch sunrise from the camp instead of walking out

   Free time: Middle of the day free at camp

   Activity: Walking on soft sand is hard work; go as far as you like.

   

6. Day 6: Across the Middle Atlas to Fes

   Merzouga to Fes via the Ziz valley, Midelt, Ifrane and Azrou

   • Drive about 8 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Fes
   Day 6 details

   This is the longest day of the trip, and we would rather tell you now: about 490 km and 8 hours of driving, 9 to 10 hours door to door with four real stops along the way. After breakfast we head north through Erfoud and Errachidia and stop above the Ziz valley, a ribbon of date palms cut into the desert. Lunch is in Midelt, an apple-growing town at about 1,500 metres between the High and Middle Atlas, at a place we choose for the food, not for a shop. In the afternoon the road climbs into the Atlas cedar forest near Azrou, where Barbary macaques often feed by the trees, then passes Ifrane, an alpine-style town of steep roofs that the French founded in 1929. We reach your riad in the Fes medina in the evening.

   Included

   • Ziz valley viewpoint
   • Lunch stop in Midelt
   • Atlas cedar forest near Azrou
   • Ifrane

   Free time: Evening free in Fes

   Activity: About 8 hours of driving, 9 to 10 hours with four stops.

7. Day 7: Fes el Bali

   Guided day in the Fes medina

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Fes
   Day 7 details

   We start at 8 am at Bab Boujloud, the blue-tiled gate of 1913, before the day groups arrive, with a licensed Fes guide. Fes el Bali has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981 and is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world, so the day is on foot. The Chouara tannery comes early, when the dyes in its stone vats are fresh and the light over the terraces is still soft. Then the Bou Inania Madrasa, built in the 1350s, and the Al-Attarine Madrasa, both rich with carved cedar and plaster, and a look through the doors of al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859. At midday a tagine class: buy spices at a market stall with the cook, then cook and eat lunch. The afternoon is free, and at sunset we drive up to the Marinid Tombs for the view over the old city.

   Included

   • Guided day in Fes el Bali with a licensed local guide
   • Chouara tannery terrace
   • Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasa entries
   • Tagine cooking class with lunch
   • Sunset at the Marinid Tombs

   Optional experiences

   • A hammam in the medina

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: The medina is steep in places and every lane is on foot.

   

8. Day 8: A slow morning, then home

   Fes to Fes-Saïss Airport

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   Nothing is scheduled today, so you can fly at any hour without missing anything. After breakfast at the riad, take a last walk on your own: Jnan Sbil, the shaded public garden just outside Bab Boujloud, is quiet in the morning, and the brass doors of the Royal Palace stand in Fes el Jdid beside the old Jewish quarter, the Mellah, a short taxi ride from the medina. If your flight is late, there is time for one more mint tea on a rooftop over Fes el Bali. When you are ready, we drive you to Fes-Saïss Airport (FEZ), about 15 km south of the city, or to Fes railway station if you are carrying on by train to Rabat, Casablanca or Tangier.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Fes-Saïss Airport (FEZ) or Fes railway station

   Free time: Morning free

   

Wildlife and weather: Barbary macaques often feed in the cedar forest near Azrou on day 6. We cannot promise them. Sand blows in the dunes on windy days: bring a cover for your camera.

• Marrakech1 night
• Ait Benhaddou1 night
• Todra Gorge1 night
• Erg Chebbi2 nights
• Fes2 nights