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Fez to Marrakech: 3-Day Desert Safari with Camel Ride & Ait Ben Haddou

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Duration3d

GroupUp to 17

LanguagesEN · FR +1

PickupAt your hotel

Three Days Crossing Morocco: From Fez's Medina to the Sahara and Back

You travel from Fez to Marrakech over three days with an English-speaking driver handling all logistics. You ride camels at sunset across Erg Chebbi, sleep in a private tent under the stars, and visit Todra Gorge and the UNESCO Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou. Two nights' accommodation and all transport in an air-conditioned minivan are included, so you show up at your hotel in Fez and arrive in Marrakech with the desert behind you.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — From Fes to Merzouga

Pick up from Fes Medina hotel
Drive through Ifrane ski resort
Visit cedar forest in Azrou
Cross Middle Atlas Mountains
Lunch break in Midelt town
View palm oasis panorama
Arrive in Merzouga and have mint tea
Camel ride to desert camp
Dinner and stargazing in Berber tent

Day 2 — From Merzouga to Oarzazate

Watch sunrise in desert
Breakfast at desert camp
Drive Road of a Thousand Kasbahs
Stop for lunch
Visit Todra Gorge
Drive through Dades Gorge
Pass capital of roses town
Relax at Ouarzazate hotel
Dinner at hotel

Day 3 — Ouarzazate to Marrakech via Tizi n Tichka

Breakfast at hotel
Explore Kasbah of Taourirt
Visit Atlas Studios
Lunch at Ait Ben Haddou
Tour UNESCO Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou
Drive High Atlas via Tizi-n-Tichka pass
Pass villages and waterfalls
Arrive in Marrakech hotel or riad

The Experience

The road out of Fez doesn't look like much at first—just asphalt climbing away from the Medina—but then you're past Ifrane, the French ski resort that somehow ended up in Morocco, and the landscape starts to shift. Your driver picks you up from your hotel in Fez and the minivan heads southeast through cedar forests where monkeys actually live, and you realize this isn't a day trip, it's a three-day crossing. The first day is mostly driving—through Azrou, across the Middle Atlas Mountains, lunch in Midelt—but it's the kind of driving where every hour looks different. By afternoon you're descending toward the Sahara, and then you see Merzouga spread out below, all palms and dust, and the dunes start.

The camel ride happens at sunset, which is the only time anyone should do it. An hour across Erg Chebbi with the light going orange and the sand still warm under the animal's feet, and then you're at the camp—a private tent in the desert, not a hotel, not a resort. Mint tea arrives, dinner happens, and at night the stars are so thick you stop trying to count them. You sleep there, actually sleep, and wake early enough to catch the sunrise if you want it. Most people do.

Day two is the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, which is not an exaggeration. These aren't ruins—they're actual fortified villages, mud-brick and turrets, strung along what used to be the caravan route. The region has been used for Hollywood films (The Last Temptation of Christ, Jewel of the Nile, and others), so you're driving through landscapes that have already been on screen. You stop at Todra Gorge, where the canyon walls rise sheer and narrow, and then push through Dades Gorge before reaching Ouarzazate. The hotel there has a pool, and you'll want it after two days of travel. Dinner is included.

The final push to Marrakech goes through Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO site that's been in Gladiator, Babel, and Lawrence of Arabia. You have time to walk the Kasbah—it's an actual village, not a museum—and then the drive climbs over Tizi-n-Tichka pass at 2,260 meters, dropping you back into Marrakech by evening. The whole thing is three days, two nights in accommodation (one in a desert tent, one in a hotel with a pool), and a driver who speaks English the whole way. You don't arrange transport between cities, you don't negotiate with camel handlers, you don't figure out where to sleep in the desert. It's all there.

What’s included

Your three days include hotel pickup in Fez and drop-off in Marrakech, air-conditioned minivan transport throughout, one night in a private tent at the desert camp in Merzouga with dinner and breakfast, one night in a hotel in Ouarzazate with pool access and dinner, a sunset camel ride across Erg Chebbi, visits to Todra Gorge and Ait Ben Haddou, and an English-speaking driver for the entire journey. Meals on days one and two are provided; day three includes breakfast before departure.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Desert Smile Tours

Is this one for you?Right for travelers with three days between Fez and Marrakech who want the Sahara without arranging their own transport, camel handlers, or desert camp—the fixed itinerary and included driver mean you move through the landscape without stopping to negotiate. Expect a full day of driving on day one and day three, and plan for an early start on day two if you want to catch the sunrise.