3-Day Errachidia to Fes Desert Tour
Duration
3 Days
Starting Location
Errachidia
Ending Location
Fes
Overview of our 3 day Errachidia to Fes desert tour
Our 3 day Errachidia to Fes desert tour is a private route we adapt to your dates and your pace. This trip is for those who have limited time but still want to see the Sahara without driving all the way from Marrakech to get there. It is a one-way trip, not a loop: you start in Errachidia, spend a full day and two nights in the Merzouga dunes, and end in Fes instead of retracing your steps.
Why choose Our 3 day Sahara desert tour from Errachidia
It takes several days to drive from Marrakech to the Sahara and back, alone. Starting from Errachidia instead cuts that out completely, meaning you spend more time in the desert and less on the road. It’s also a one-way route rather than a loop – you don’t turn back from Merzouga but head north into Fes so no stretch of road is driven twice.
Highlights
- The palm oasis of the Ziz Valley on the drive south from Errachidia
- Camel trek to Erg Chebbi dunes and overnight under the stars
- full day to explore the desert
- Barbary macaques in the Middle Atlas cedar forest
- Ifrane’s alpine-style architecture is a stark contrast to the rest of this route
Our Itinerary
Day 1: Errachidia → Ziz Valley → Erfoud → Merzouga
Morning:
Pickup from Errachidia is in the morning and almost straightaway the road follows the Ziz River south and this is really the first sign the trip has properly started. This stretch – the Ziz Valley – is one of those drives that’s best enjoyed slowly rather than rushed through, so it’s worth asking to stop a couple of times. The valley is a long corridor of date palms squeezed between dry, reddish hills, and has been farmed for generations. You’ll see irrigation channels cut into the land, small kasbah-style villages and terraced plots that make clear this isn’t just a scenic backdrop but a working agricultural landscape.
Noon:
By midday the road reaches Erfoud, a town that feels like something of a threshold – the last place that still feels fully connected to normal Moroccan town life before the desert starts taking over. Erfoud is also regionally famous for its fossil extraction, and if you have time, a quick stop at one of the local workshops shows how the ancient marine fossils extracted from the surrounding rock beds are cut and polished into tabletops and decorative pieces – a rather unusual local industry that most visitors never hear about elsewhere in Morocco. Lunch is usually taken here and then we proceed south.
Afternoon:
Leaving Erfoud, the vegetation quickly disappears, palms are replaced by bare, rocky plains called hamada, and finally the first dunes of Erg Chebbi appear on the horizon, tall and orange in a way that looks almost artificial from a distance. You arrive in Merzouga with enough daylight left to actually put it to good use: after a short rest and a welcome tea at camp, you’ll head out by camel towards the dunes, timed to reach a good vantage point as the light starts to turn gold. There are moments when photos just don’t do justice, like watching the sun set over Erg Chebbi and seeing the sand shift through orange, pink and deep red as the light falls. Back at camp there is dinner and music around the fire and on clear nights a sky dense with stars that’s hard to find in most places with more light pollution.
Day 2: Merzouga Full day
Morning:
For many people the sunrise is even better than the sunset the light is softer, the air is still cool, and the dunes have a stillness that the busier sunset hour does not. Most of the travellers head back out, either on camel or on foot to a nearby dune, to have a good look at it before returning to camp for breakfast. After breakfast the day starts with a more extensive exploration of the area around Merzouga by 4×4 as there is really more to see here than just the dunes. First, a stop at a local khettara, the underground irrigation channels that have long carried water out to the palm groves, and a short walk through the oasis they feed.
Noon:
The 4×4 route normally continues to a nearby seasonal lake (Dayet Srji) that fills with water depending on the rains of the season, and that can attract flamingos and other migratory birds if the conditions are right. The drive continues to Khamlia, a village renowned for its Gnawa musical tradition, brought to the region by families of sub-Saharan origin that settled here generations ago. Lunch is often Berber pizza – a flatbread stuffed with meat and vegetables, baked in hot sand – sometimes shared with a local nomadic family in their home, a much more direct insight into daily desert life than a scheduled activity usually can.
Afternoon:
Free for the rest of the day. Some people head out on camels again, some try quad biking over the dunes, and some are happy just walking the sand closer to camp and taking it easy after a pretty full morning. In any case, the second night in the desert has a way of feeling a bit different from the first, less new but somehow more settled, for by now the rhythm of camp life has grown familiar.
Day 3: Merzouga → Midelt → Cedar Forest → Ifrane → Fès
Morning:
We will say goodbye to the dunes and start heading north after one last breakfast at camp. We drive back through Erfoud briefly in the morning before heading towards Midelt, a town roughly halfway between the desert and the mountains, a natural place to stretch your legs and, if time allows, grab a coffee before the road begins to climb.
Noon:
The road climbs into the Middle Atlas as we leave Midelt, and the change of scenery is pretty dramatic – gone are the flat horizons of the desert and in their place are wooded slopes, and within an hour or so you’re driving through cedar forest that looks nothing like anywhere else on this trip. This stretch is home to Barbary macaques and they are often visible right along the roadside, sometimes close enough to get a good look without even leaving the vehicle. Really good place to stop and stretch your legs and watch them for a few minutes before continuing.
Afternoon:
Drive on to Ifrane, a town that resembles an alpine village in the French or Swiss mountains more than anywhere else in Morocco, thanks to its European-style architecture built during the French protectorate era. It’s a weird nice contrast after 3 days of desert and palm valleys, and worth a short walk if there is time. From Ifrane a relatively short final stretch into Fes arriving in the late afternoon / early evening, ending this three-day route from the Sahara to one of Morocco’s great imperial cities.
Know Before You Go
- Best time to go Spring and autumn are generally the most pleasant times to visit both the desert and the Middle Atlas, though summer afternoons in Merzouga can be long and hot, and winter can bring genuinely cold nights in the desert and occasional snow around Ifrane.
- You take everything with you to camp for your night out in the desert - nothing is left in the vehicle.
- Desert gets cold at night, even if it's hot during the day. Dress warm.
- Cash is handy — small lunch stops and some village shops along the Draa Valley won’t accept cards.
- The way back is quite different from the way out, so even if you have done a similar tour before, this part will be new.
- Please mention any dietary needs when you book or just tell your driver on day one.
Booking
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Frequently Asked Questions: 4Days From Marrakech
Does this tour finish in Fes or back to Errachidia?
It ends in Fes – this is a one-way route, not a round trip, so no retracing the same road and a natural way to combine a desert trip with a visit to Fes.
Is Day 3 just a long drive day?
There is a lot of landscape change – desert, cedar forest, an alpine-style town, and finally Fes – but it is broken up by natural stops at Midelt, the cedar forest, and Ifrane, so it doesn’t feel like one long, continuous drive.
Is this tour possible starting in Fes and finishing in Errachidia?
Yes, as this is a private tour, the route can be reversed or changed, which is something to mention when booking with Bahma Tours.
On this route, how much time do I actually spend in the desert?
Full day and two nights in Merzouga — arrive and take a sunset camel trek on Day 1, then a full second day for a 4×4 excursion, a visit to a nomad family and free time, before continuing on Day 3.
Is there showers and working toilets in the desert camp?
Yes — this itinerary uses upgraded desert camps, so each tent has proper bedding, electricity and a private en-suite bathroom with a flush toilet and hot shower.
Do we have to ride a camel for hours to get to the camp?
No, the camel ride at sunset is usually less than an hour. If you prefer not to ride, we can arrange a 4×4 or quad to go to the big dune or you just stay in the camp.
A sleeping bag is not required for the desert at night.
No – the camps have full bedding, even in the standard tents.
Do you have vegetarian/vegan options?
Yes – just say so when booking or tell your driver/guide on the first day.
What to wear on a desert tour in Morocco?
Light layers for the day, warm layer for cold desert nights, comfortable walking shoes, sunglasses, sunscreen, hat…
How to book and pay?
Your booking is secured with a small deposit, the balance will be paid in cash at pickup (euros, US dollars or dirhams) Full PayPal payment available with a 5% fee.