5-Day Sahara Desert Tour from Casablanca to Marrakech

Day 1: Casablanca Airport – Rabat – Fez

Your driver meets you at Casablanca airport. On the way to Fez you stop in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, to visit the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the Hassan Tower and the Kasbah of the Udayas. You then continue to Fez and check in to your hotel or riad.

Overnight: Fez

Day 2: Fez (guided tour)

After breakfast a professional guide takes you through the old medina of Fez, a maze of narrow lanes where craftsmen and merchants still work as they did centuries ago. You will see colourful babouche slippers, leather goods and the famous Fez-blue pottery, along with Koranic schools, fountains and medersas such as Al-Attarine, and the Qarawiyyin, one of the oldest universities in the world.

Overnight: Fez

Day 3: Fez – Ifrane – Midelt – Erfoud – Merzouga (Sahara)

Leave Fez for the Sahara. You pass Ifrane, the mountain resort of the Middle Atlas, and the cedar forest of Azrou, where you may spot wild monkeys. Lunch is in Midelt, a town known for its fossils and minerals. The road then leads through Erfoud and Rissani, the gateways to the desert, to Merzouga. A camel ride takes you across the dunes at sunset to your camp. Dinner is served under the stars, followed by Berber music around the fire.

Overnight: Merzouga – nomad-style tent

Day 4: Merzouga – Todra Gorge – Dades Valley

Wake early to watch the sunrise over the dunes, then ride your camel back for breakfast. Drive via Rissani and Tinghir to the Todra Gorge, often called Morocco’s Grand Canyon, where you can walk between its high, narrow walls. After lunch, continue to the Dades Valley and its rock formations known as “Monkey Toes”. Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Dades Valley

Day 5: Dades Valley – Kelaat M’Gouna – Ait Ben Haddou – Marrakech

After breakfast, follow the winding road out of the Dades Valley, past green oases fed by the Dades River. You pass Kelaat M’Gouna, the “Valley of Roses”, which celebrates the rose harvest with a festival every May, and the palm grove of Skoura with its kasbahs. You then visit Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site used as a location for Gladiator and many other films. Arrival in Marrakech in the evening and drop-off at the airport or your hotel or riad.