Fes to Marrakech desert tour: 3 days with camel trekking

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/8

Duration3d

GroupUp to 10

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Camel trekking at sunset, towering gorges, a fortified kasbah, and nights between desert camp and mountain hotel

A 3-day tour from Fes to Marrakech that crosses the Merzouga desert by camel, sleeps in a luxury camp under the stars, and visits Todra Gorge, Dades Gorge, and Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah with an English-speaking guide. The tour includes camel trekking or 4x4 transport to the camp, all meals at the camp and hotel, and sandboarding; you choose between a small shared group (10 people max) or a private tour for your group only. Lunches and gratuities are not included, and optional activities like quad biking or buggy driving cost extra.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Fes to Merzouga desert journey

Pick up travelers in Fes Medina
Short walk in Ifrane
Stop at Cedar forest in Middle Atlas
Lunch at roadside restaurant
Stop for panoramic oasis view
Arrive Merzouga desert
Camel ride to luxury desert camp
Watch sunset from high dune
Dinner and campfire with Berber music

Day 2 — Merzouga desert to Dades Gorges

Watch sunrise in desert camp
Breakfast at camp
Depart camp by camel or 4x4
Optional quad biking or buggy driving
Stop at Rissani souk (on market days)
Walk in Todra Canyon
Visit monkey fingers rock formations
Panoramic view of Dades Gorges

Day 3 — Dades Gorges to Marrakech via Ouarzazate

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Ouarzazate via Kelaat Mgouna
Photo stop at Atlas Studio
Visit Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah
Drive over High Atlas Mountains
Arrive in Marrakech and drop off

The Experience

The tour starts with pickup from the Medina of Fes and heads south through Ifrane—a French colonial town built in 1928 with gabled roofs—and the Middle Atlas Mountains, where you may spot Barbary macaques in a cedar forest. After lunch along the way, you'll pass an oasis full of palm trees before reaching Merzouga in the afternoon. Here the desert begins: you ride a camel across the huge sand dunes of Erg Chebbi for about an hour and 40 minutes, stopping on a high dune to watch the sunset. If you prefer not to ride, a 4x4 vehicle is included at no extra cost. Either way, you arrive at a luxury desert camp where staff show you to a private tent with an en-suite bathroom.

The night at the camp includes dinner, a campfire with traditional Berber music and drums, and a view of the starry sky. On day two, waking early for sunrise is recommended. After breakfast, you choose again between camel or 4x4 to leave the camp. If your dates fall on Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday, the tour stops at Rissani to walk through a traditional Moroccan souk—the market runs only three days a week. Then you drive to Todra Gorge, the deepest canyon in Morocco with cliffs over 300 meters high, for a walk beneath them. The day ends at a hotel in Dades Gorges with another private room and en-suite bathroom.

Day three takes you west through Kelaat Mgouna, known for roses (a stop in springtime when the valley fills with them), to Ouarzazate. You'll see the Atlas Studio from outside—the world's largest film studio by land area, used for Aladdin, Vikings, and Prison Break—and can pay extra for an inside tour lasting about an hour and a half. The guide then escorts you through Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah, a fortified village and former caravan stop featured in Gladiator and Game of Thrones, explaining its Moroccan architecture and history. The final leg crosses the High Atlas Mountains with stops for views before dropping you at your hotel in Marrakech in the late afternoon.

What’s included

Private tent with en-suite bathroom at a luxury desert camp.
camel trekking across Erg Chebbi dunes or 4x4 transport to the camp.
all dinners and breakfasts at the camp and hotel.
private room with en-suite bathroom at a hotel in Dades Gorges.
air-conditioned vehicle throughout.
English-speaking driver and guide.
guided tour of Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah.
sandboarding activity.
walks through Todra Gorge and Dades Gorge.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats availableNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Morocco Fabulous travel

Is this one for you?Book the shared group if you want to meet other travelers and split costs, or choose private if you need flexibility to linger at stops and set your own pace.