Fes
3 Days From Fes to Merzouga Desert
From Fes across the Middle Atlas and cedar forests to the dunes of Merzouga, and back.
From €375 per vehicle, up to 4 people
2 private tours
Desert Tours From Fes
Fes is the closer of the two great cities to the Sahara, and the more scenic approach. Tours below start at your riad and are private to your party.
Multi-day desert tours from Fes
Fes
3 Days Fes to Marrakech via the Desert
The Fes-to-Marrakech transfer done properly: cedar forest, the Sahara, the gorges and the kasbah road.
From €375 per vehicle, up to 4 people
Fes is closer to the desert than Marrakech
It surprises most people. Merzouga is about 470 kilometres from Fes against 560 from Marrakech, and the Fes road crosses one mountain range rather than the full width of the High Atlas. In practice that is around an hour less driving in each direction.
It is also a completely different journey. The Marrakech route is bare passes and kasbah country from the start. This one climbs through the Middle Atlas: Ifrane, which the French built to look like a Savoyard spa town and which still has pitched roofs and snow; the cedar forest above Azrou, where Barbary macaques sit at the roadside; apple orchards at Midelt between the two ranges. Then the Ziz gorges cut down through the rock and, quite suddenly, twenty kilometres of unbroken palm oasis open below the road. The desert starts immediately after.
Round trip, or carry on to Marrakech?
Two ways to do this, and the second is usually the better value.
A three-day round trip takes you down through the Middle Atlas, gives you a night in a camp at Erg Chebbi and a full day at the dunes, and returns you to Fes. Choose it if you are flying out of Fes or heading north afterwards.
A three-day one-way crossing to Marrakech covers the same desert but comes out through the Todra and Dades gorges and Aït Ben Haddou, ending at your riad in Marrakech. If Marrakech is on your itinerary at all, this replaces both a transfer day and a separate desert tour — you were going to spend eight hours on that road anyway.
The two cost the same. The crossing simply shows you twice as much country.
The Middle Atlas, which nobody comes for and everybody remembers
The stretch between Fes and Midelt is not the reason anyone books a desert tour, and it is regularly the part guests mention afterwards.
Ifrane at 1,665 metres has the tidiest streets in Morocco, a stone lion carved by a German prisoner of war, and, in February, actual snow.
The Azrou cedar forest holds some of the last Atlas cedars in the world, some of them close to a thousand years old, and a habituated troop of Barbary macaques — the only macaque species outside Asia. Please do not feed them: it makes them aggressive and unwell, and our guides will ask you not to.
The Ziz Valley escarpment is the moment the trip turns. You come out of a tunnel, the road runs along a cliff edge, and below is a river of palm trees running to the horizon between red walls. Every driver stops here without being asked.
Where we collect you in Fes
At your riad. Fes el-Bali is the largest car-free urban area in the world, so we meet you at the vehicle gate nearest your accommodation — tell us the riad name when you book and we will confirm the exact gate and time the evening before. A porter can meet you there for luggage if you would like; just ask.
Airport pick-ups from Fes–Saïss are included at no extra charge when your tour starts the same day.
Questions we are asked about tours from Fes
How long does it take to get from Fes to Merzouga?
About 470 km and seven to eight hours of driving with stops. It is a full day, which is why every sensible itinerary breaks it — either with a night at Erfoud before the dunes, or by reaching the camp late on day one.
Is Fes or Marrakech better for a desert tour?
Fes is closer and the drive is greener and more varied. Marrakech has more onward options and a wider choice of itinerary lengths. If you are visiting both cities, the strongest answer is neither — take the one-way crossing between them and see the desert on the way.
Do these tours run in winter?
Yes. The Middle Atlas gets real snow in January and February, which is beautiful and occasionally slows the passes; the desert stays clear and cold. We adjust departure times in winter and will call you if the forecast is serious.
Can we be dropped at Marrakech airport at the end of a crossing?
Yes, at no extra cost. Give us the flight time and we will build the last day around it.
Is the road to Merzouga paved the whole way?
Yes, entirely. No 4x4 is needed to reach the dunes; the only off-road driving is the optional excursion around the erg once you are there.
Planning a trip from Fes?
Tell us your dates and how long you have, and we will send a day-by-day plan built around them.