3-Day Errachidia to Fes Desert Tour

Starting a desert tour in Errachidia turns the usual order of a Moroccan trip upside down. Instead of a long drive to reach the Sahara, you’re in the dunes two hours after pickup, and you save the long day on the road for the end, when you head north to Fes. In between are two easy days in and around Erg Chebbi: a sunset camel ride and a night at our luxury camp, then a 4x4 day among nomads, mines and Gnawa musicians, and a night at a riad on the edge of the sand.

It’s a private tour, so your driver and vehicle are yours for the three days, and the schedule adapts to your arrival time, your interests and the weather.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Errachidia → Blue Spring of Meski → Ziz Valley viewpoint → Erfoud → Merzouga, then by camel to camp (about 130 km)
• Day 2: Erg Chebbi by 4x4: nomad family, Mfis and Khamlia, then a riad by the dunes (about 60 km)
• Day 3: Merzouga → Ziz Valley → Ziz Gorges → Tizi n’Talghemt → Midelt → Azrou cedar forest → Ifrane → Fes (about 470 km)

Day 1: straight into the Sahara

We meet you at Moulay Ali Cherif Airport, Errachidia’s bus station or your hotel. The first stop, just south of the city, is the Blue Spring of Meski, a natural pool fed by a spring and shaded by palms, with the ruins of an old earthen ksar on the cliff above. Next comes the viewpoint over the Ziz Valley, where an unbroken belt of date palms follows the river through the desert.

In Erfoud, you visit a workshop where local craftsmen cut and polish fossil-rich stone, revealing ammonites and orthoceras that are hundreds of millions of years old. Then you cross the stony hamada to Merzouga, where the camels are waiting at the foot of the dunes. Ride into Erg Chebbi for the sunset, while your luggage goes ahead by 4x4, and reach camp in the last of the light. Dinner and drumming follow under a sky full of stars.

Day 2: around the dunes by 4x4

After sunrise and breakfast at camp, you set off with your driver on a half-day loop around the dunes. The first visit is to a nomad family, who welcome you into their tent for tea. Then you drive to Mfis, near the Algerian border, a lead-mining village left empty when the mines closed. Its abandoned houses and rusting machinery are a striking sight against the desert. The loop ends in Khamlia, where the Gnawa musicians of this West African-descended community play for visitors.

In the early afternoon you check in to your riad, right on the edge of Erg Chebbi. The rest of the day is free: rest, read, try sandboarding, or walk out onto the dunes for the sunset.

Day 3: north through the Atlas to Fes

The final day is the long one, about seven and a half hours with stops, and it’s one of the most scenic drives in Morocco. Leaving Merzouga after breakfast, you head north along the Ziz Valley, with its palm groves and earthen villages, and into the Ziz Gorges, where the river has cut through the mountains. The road passes through the Tunnel of the Legionnaire, built by French army engineers in the 1920s.

You climb over the Tizi n’Talghemt pass, at about 1,900 metres, and stop for lunch in Midelt, a quiet town on a high plateau below the Jbel Ayachi. In the afternoon, the land turns green as you enter the Middle Atlas. In the cedar forest near Azrou, you stop to see the Barbary macaques, and then pass through Ifrane, a mountain town built by the French in the style of an Alpine resort.

You reach Fes in the late afternoon. Cars can’t enter most of the medina, so your driver takes you to the nearest gate, where a porter carries your luggage to your riad.

The desert first, the cities after

Ending in Fes sets you up for the rest of a Moroccan trip. The city’s medina is best explored with a licensed guide, and we can arrange a half-day tour the morning after you arrive, taking in the tanneries, the madrasas and the souks that are hard to find on your own. From Fes, it’s an easy train ride to Meknes, Rabat or Tangier, or a scenic drive to Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains.

If you’d rather end in Marrakech, the 3-day Errachidia to Marrakech tour goes west from the dunes through the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and Ait Ben Haddou instead.

Where you’ll sleep

• Erg Chebbi (1 night): our luxury desert camp, with a private tent for your booking, en-suite hot shower and flushing toilet, comfortable beds and electricity for charging. Heavy blankets are provided in winter, and family tents are available on request.
• Merzouga (1 night): a riad at the foot of the dunes, with a private room and bathroom.

Dinner and breakfast are included both nights. You can also choose to spend both nights at the camp.

Best time to go

Spring and autumn are ideal, with pleasant temperatures in the desert and the mountains. In winter, the Sahara is sunny and cold at night, and the Middle Atlas around Midelt and Ifrane can be snowy, which makes for beautiful scenery but slower roads. In summer, the two desert days are planned around the heat, with activities early and late in the day.

Who this tour is for

Travellers arriving in Errachidia who plan to continue to Fes and the north, and want two relaxed nights in the Sahara on the way. It works well at the start of a longer trip, when you want to begin with the desert and end in the imperial cities.

Good to know

• The first two days are very easy, with 2 hours and 1.5 hours of driving. Day three is the long transfer north.
• Arriving in Fes: cars can’t enter most of the medina, so your driver will meet a porter at the nearest gate to carry your luggage to your riad.
• Winter: from December to February the Middle Atlas can see snow around Midelt and Ifrane. We’ll keep an eye on road conditions.
• Heading to Marrakech instead? The 3-day Errachidia to Marrakech tour goes west through the gorges and kasbahs.