3-Day Desert Trip From Fez To Marrakech

As you make your way south toward your destination outside the desert village of Merzouga, you'll be traveling a lot of distance today. Cross the Col du Zad pass as you ascend the Middle Atlas mountains through scented cedar groves. Stop in the "Apple City" of Midelt, which is renowned for its orchards of fruit, to stretch your legs and have lunch next to the Moulouya River. Continue across the Tizi n'Talremt pass to the palm-fringed Ziz Valley, observing the numerous fortified ksars that traders constructed to safeguard and store their priceless wares (gold, salt, and spices). When you arrive in Erfoud, a city famous for its fossils and dates, stop by a local artisan collective to learn everything there is to know about the different kinds of fossils that can be found there. Turn in the direction of Erg Chebbi's sand sea, where some of the dunes tower more than 600 feet high. Meet your camel at Merzouga, get on it, and travel to your nighttime lodging—a tent in the Bedouin style—on foot. After watching the desert sunset over the dunes from the top of a nearby dune, sprint back to your campsite for dinner and a campfire under the starry night sky, and overnight in the desert camp.

Try to get up early to see the sunrise; it is quite spectacular. Return to the Merzouga kasbah's kasbah by the dunes for breakfast ( you can also have a shower here at the hotel if you slept in a basic tent). Our itinerary leads us first to Rissani after breakfast; until a century ago, Rissani was a caravan trading post. Even in the 1800s, there were auctions here for gold and slaves. Before it, Sijilmassa, whose ruins are located across the street from Rissani, was the center of the Moroccan caravan trade and the largest city. Ibn Battuta and Leo Africanus departed from its gates to begin their renowned adventures over the Sahara into African nations. at a time when Sijilmassa served as the crossroads for trade between Europe and Africa, and the court of Timbuktu highly valued Arab purebred horses from Morocco, we'll investigate a nearby ksour before Tinerir ( fortified traditional village). Only 15 kilometers from Tinerir, the breathtaking Todra Gorges offer an impressive sight with their crystal-clear river rising from them and their enormous walls magically changing color throughout the day. As we travel through Tinerir, an important center for the Berber nomad tribes with its huge palm grove, the crumbling ksours, and the 19th-century adobe mosque, we are once again in the Atlas highlands. The Dades Gorges, which are less popular with tourists and offer excellent hiking opportunities, are worth the detour, overnight in Dades Valley.

We continue our drive west along the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs, many of which are in ruin due to being constructed of pisé clay (rammed earth). We will drive through Boumalne Dades until you come to the property plots in Kela'a M'gouna, which are surrounded by perfectly maintained fresh flowers. Roses are grown for their rose oil and rose water, which are used in the cosmetics business.

Continue west until you reach Ouarzazate, a well-known desert hub and shooting location.

If there is time, we can visit the filming locations in Ouarzazate, where some of the most recent Game of Thrones episodes were just produced. After 30 minutes, our group makes a right turn and soon arrives at the picture-perfect UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ait Benhaddou. Although there is always someone prepared to lead the way, getting lost in the city's laneways is the finest option. There is always a new route to get to the top, where you can take in the snow-capped Atlas Mountains and the indigo sky. If the ascent hadn't been done so already.

The Kasbah is made famous by the slave scene in "Gladiator," and the valley that snakes beneath the road is breathtakingly beautiful. Your journey continues to the northwest as you ascend the High Atlas mountains, pass through the Tizi n'Tichka, and then descend the High Atlas until you arrive at a plain. The sensual and sleepy Marrakech lies ahead in the night, its walls and 18 gates enclosing hundreds of foundations that were formerly used to guard the caravans and their precious cargo, arriving in the evening in Marrakech, where the tour ends.