4-Day Casablanca to Marrakech Desert Tour via Fes

Many international flights into Morocco land in Casablanca, and many leave from Marrakech. This private four-day tour links the two in the most rewarding way possible. You start on the Atlantic with the Hassan II Mosque, stop in the capital, Rabat, and spend the night in Fes. Then you cross the Middle Atlas to the dunes of Erg Chebbi for a sunset camel ride and a night at our luxury camp, and return west through the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and Ait Ben Haddou to Marrakech.

It’s a fast itinerary, with a substantial drive every day, but it shows you an astonishing range of Morocco in a short time: an ocean-front mosque, a royal capital, a medieval medina, the Sahara and the kasbahs of the south.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Casablanca → Hassan II Mosque → Rabat → Fes (about 330 km)
• Day 2: Fes → Ifrane → Azrou cedar forest → Midelt → Ziz Valley → Merzouga, then by camel to camp (about 470 km)
• Day 3: Erg Chebbi → Rissani → Tinghir → Todra Gorge → Dades Valley (about 310 km)
• Day 4: Dades Valley → Valley of Roses → Ouarzazate → Ait Ben Haddou → Tizi n’Tichka → Marrakech (about 350 km)

Day 1: Casablanca, Rabat and Fes

Your driver meets you at Mohammed V Airport or your hotel in Casablanca. The first visit is the Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993 on a platform over the Atlantic. Its minaret rises about 210 metres, making it one of the tallest religious buildings in the world, and the prayer hall can hold tens of thousands of worshippers. It’s one of the very few mosques in Morocco that non-Muslims can enter, on guided tours outside prayer times. Inside, the scale and the craftsmanship are extraordinary: carved cedar ceilings, marble floors, zellige tilework and chandeliers of Murano glass, the work of thousands of Moroccan artisans.

An hour up the coast is Rabat, the capital. On a plateau above the Bou Regreg river stands the Hassan Tower, the minaret of a vast mosque begun by the Almohad sultan Yacoub al-Mansour in the 12th century and never finished. Around it, rows of broken columns mark where the prayer hall would have been. Opposite is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the white marble tomb of the king who led Morocco to independence, guarded by royal horsemen in red uniforms.

From Rabat, the motorway runs inland through farmland to Fes, where you arrive in the evening and spend the night at a riad in the medina. Dinner in Fes isn’t included, which leaves you free to try one of the city’s restaurants.

Day 2: to the Sahara

This is the longest day of the tour, about seven and a half hours with stops. Leaving Fes, you climb into the Middle Atlas to Ifrane, a mountain town built in an Alpine style, and continue through the cedar forest near Azrou, where Barbary macaques live wild. The road then crosses the high plateau and the Tizi n’Talghemt pass to Midelt, and descends through the Ziz Gorges into a long valley of palms.

By late afternoon you’re in Merzouga. The dunes of Erg Chebbi, among the tallest in Morocco, glow orange in the evening light, and your camels are ready. Ride out into the sand for the sunset and on to camp, where dinner is served and the drums play after dark.

Day 3: Rissani and the gorges

After sunrise and breakfast, you start heading west. Rissani, the ancestral home of Morocco’s ruling Alaouite family, has one of the liveliest markets in the south on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Beyond it, the road crosses a wide, stony plain to Tinghir and turns into the Todra Gorge, where you walk between limestone walls about 300 metres high. You spend the night in the Dades Valley, known for its red cliffs and the eroded “monkey fingers” rocks.

Day 4: kasbahs and the High Atlas

The last day follows the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through the Valley of Roses and Ouarzazate to Ait Ben Haddou, the fortified earthen village that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk up through its lanes to the top of the hill. Then you cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n’Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres, and descend to Marrakech. You’re dropped at your riad or at the airport in the early evening.

Planning your flights

The tour works best if you land in Casablanca in the morning, so there’s time for the mosque tour and Rabat before the drive to Fes. If your flight arrives in the afternoon, we can adjust day one, but you may have to choose between the mosque and Rabat. If you land late in the evening, we recommend a night in Casablanca first; we can pick you up at the airport at any hour.

At the other end, the tour arrives in Marrakech in the early evening of day four. We recommend flying out the following day, and spending at least one night in the city. If you need to fly home from Casablanca instead, we can end the tour at Casablanca airport.

Where you’ll sleep

• Fes (1 night): a riad in the medina, with breakfast.
• 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. Dinner and breakfast are included.
• Dades Valley (1 night): a kasbah hotel with dinner and breakfast.

Best time to go

The best months are March to May and September to November. In winter, the coast is mild, but the desert nights are cold and snow is possible on the Middle Atlas and the Tizi n’Tichka. In summer, Casablanca and Rabat are pleasant thanks to the ocean breeze, while the desert is very hot in the afternoon; the camel ride and sunrise are timed for the cooler hours.

Who this tour is for

Travellers with only four days between a flight into Casablanca and a flight out of Marrakech who want to see the Atlantic coast, an imperial city and the Sahara. It suits active travellers who don’t mind long days in exchange for variety.

Good to know

• This is a fast itinerary. Every day has a substantial drive, and Fes is an overnight stop only. For a proper visit, see the 6-day itinerary.
• Dress for the mosque: cover shoulders and knees for the Hassan II Mosque tour. Women don’t need to cover their hair for the visitor tour.
• Mosque tours run outside prayer times and are reduced on Fridays. Tickets are sold on site.
• Book your flights around the tour: land in Casablanca in the morning and fly out of Marrakech the day after the tour ends.