Shared Desert Tour from Marrakech to Fes

Today marks the start of your shared-group crossing from Marrakech to Fes via the Sahara. Your group boards a shared minibus and departs Marrakech in the morning, heading south toward the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi n'Tichka Pass, the highest major mountain pass in North Africa at 2,260 metres, with sweeping views over terraced Berber villages and mineral-rich rock formations. The group stops at Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO-listed fortified ksar above the Ounila River and one of the best-preserved examples of pre-Saharan earthen architecture in the world, for a guided walk through its narrow lanes to the old communal granary at the top. After a group lunch in Ouarzazate, the 'Hollywood of Africa', we continue along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs into the Dades Valley, also known as the Valley of Roses, checking in to a shared kasbah-style hotel with terrace views over the valley's dramatic rock formations for a group dinner as the sun sets. Lunch today is usually a shared group stop in Ouarzazate, a good chance for the group to get acquainted before the long drive continues.

After a group breakfast overlooking the valley, we continue toward Todra Gorge, where sheer pink and orange limestone cliffs rise up to 300 metres on either side of a narrow canyon, stopping for a group walk along the canyon floor. Continuing south, the group arrives in Merzouga on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dune sea in the late afternoon, where camel handlers meet everyone for a shared sunset trek across the dunes to the group desert camp, nestled among some of the highest dunes in Morocco. After a group dinner cooked over an open fire, everyone gathers around the campfire as Berber musicians play traditional drums under one of the most spectacular starscapes anywhere on Earth — a highlight that group travellers consistently rate as the best part of the trip. The shared camp atmosphere on this second evening, with fellow travellers from a genuine mix of nationalities, is something many group guests remember as a real highlight of the trip.

For early risers, this morning offers the group a chance to climb a nearby dune together and watch the sunrise transform the desert from soft pink to deep gold. After a group Berber breakfast at camp, everyone says goodbye to the camel guides and boards the minibus for the final leg north to Fes, following the dramatic Ziz Valley, a ribbon of palm groves and mudbrick ksour villages, before climbing into the Middle Atlas via Er-Rachidia and Midelt for a group lunch stop. The landscape shifts through Azrou's cedar forests, home to wild Barbary macaques, and the alpine-style town of Ifrane, before descending toward Fes, Morocco's spiritual and cultural capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the group arrives in the early evening — your shared-group crossing from Marrakech to Fes via the Sahara concludes here, having shared UNESCO kasbahs, dramatic gorges, and a night beneath the stars with fellow travellers from around the world. On behalf of your tour leader, drivers, and the entire Marokko Travel team, thank you for travelling with us on this accessible shared-group crossing to Fes.