The journey from Fes to Merzouga is an amazing immersion in the diversity of the Moroccan landscape. The road south takes you into the Middle Atlas Mountains with its huge cedar forest where the indigenous Barbary Monkeys live, through the alpine towns of Azrou and Ifrane. Then we continue to Midelt, through the Tizi n´Talghemt pass and along the magnificent Ziz Gorge. You will notice how the scenery changes to reveal hints of the desert as you approach the city of Errachidia. After lunch there we will continue our journey along the Ziz Valley to Rissani and Merzouga. We will stay overnight in a Hotel or Riad in Merzouga.

After breakfast we explore the area visiting Khamlia village, these people are descendants of Sudanese slaves that were brought here, their music is the spiritual Gnawa music and through it, they tell stories of times past. Here we experience their music and lifestyle. Just nearby where there is a seasonal lake which has migratory birds that visit, flamingos being the most colourful. Then we drive to Rissani; this is also called Sijilmassa and was the meeting place for the salt caravans, coming from Timbuktu in Mali. Here you’ll walk through the local souk, with its amazing array of vegetables and fruits and colourful aromatic spices. After a tasty pizza lunch in Rissani; Madfouna is a local speciality, we’ll travel back to our accommodation where our camels will be waiting for us. After a glass of mint tea, you will depart guided by an experienced camel guide, to begin your camel safari exploring the sand-sea of Erg-Chebbi dunes. Here you will spend the night under the stars in a traditional Berber nomad tent. Dinner will be served in the tent accompanied by Berber music.

We recommend an early morning start to experience the wonder of the sunrise and then we will return by camels to the hotel where you can have breakfast and refresh. Our trip continues as we depart the desert for Rissani and Erfoud, there we visit the workshops where marble and fossils are cleaned and crafted into wonderful projects. We continue to Touroug and Tinjdad to see the palm groves and arrive at the Todra Gorge where we will have lunch and explore this canyon with its 300-metre-high vertical walls and crystalline clear water as you walk along. Later in the afternoon, we will drive to Dades Gorge via Boumalne Dades for our overnight stop where you can enjoy dinner and sleep in a traditional local hotel in the heart of the gorge.

After breakfast in our hotel, we drive back down the gorge so you can see the amazing rock formations known as the monkey fingers and the rose-coloured adobe kasbahs that can be seen in the valley. From Boumalne we drive through the Dades Valley towards Kelaat M´gouna. The road through Dades Valley is known as the road of a thousand Kasbahs and you will see why. We’ll stop at Kelaat M´gouna; “the rose city”, where you can purchase the rosewater, which will make your clothes and laundry smell good long after your trip is finished. Then we continue to Ouarzazate; “the Hollywood of Africa” where we will stop for lunch at the famous Ait Benhaddou Kasbah; the largest Kasbah in Morocco, and a UNESCO heritage site. Then our journey continues through the Tizi n’Tichka Pass at 2260 metres altitude and over the High Atlas Mountains. Then we arrive in Marrakech, where our 4-Day Tour Fez to Marrakech ends.