How many days for an Ouarzazate to Fes Sahara desert tour?

Three days is the standard one-way version: day 1 Ouarzazate to Merzouga via the Dadès and Todra gorges, day 2 in Erg Chebbi with a camel ride and night in a Berber camp, day 3 across the Middle Atlas cedar forest to Fes.

What is included in this 3-day Ouarzazate–Merzouga–Fes tour?

Private transport with English-speaking driver, all transfers, two nights of accommodation (one hotel in Tinghir or similar, one in a Berber desert camp), a camel ride into the Erg Chebbi dunes, plus dinner and breakfast at the camp.

Is the desert camp comfortable?

Yes — comfortable Berber tents with proper beds and blankets, washbasins and a shared dining tent. Premium luxury camps with en-suite tents and hot showers are available on request.

When is the best time to visit Merzouga?

October to April is most pleasant — warm days and cool nights. Summer (June–August) is very hot. Spring and autumn give the best photography light on the dunes.

3-Day Ouarzazate to Merzouga & Fes Desert Tour

3 Days Ouarzazate: Merzouga & Fes

English / French / Spanish Meet with guide 3 days / 2 nights

Ouarzazate, Morocco (69 Reviews)

3-day desert tour from Ouarzazate to Merzouga and Fes

Overview

Discover the real Morocco on a 3-day morocco desert tour with comfortable private transfers from Ouarzazate to the Sahara desert at Merzouga and on to Fes — the same route as our popular sahara desert tour from Marrakech, just joined further south. Along the way you cross UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Atlas Mountains and the great Erg Chebbi dunes. See our wider Marrakech desert tours or the dedicated Fes tours page for the reverse direction.

Highlights

Ouarzazate Skoura Dades Gorges Dades Gorges Todra Gorge Erfou Merzouga desert Midelt Fes Private driver-guide Authentic experience

Day-by-day itinerary

Day 1

Ouarzazate Skoura Dades Gorges Merzouga

Begin your private Sahara desert tour from Ouarzazate with Local Morocco Tours, your dedicated desert specialist. We leave Ouarzazate for Skoura, stopping in the Valley of Roses before reaching Boumalne Dadès. We then explore the Dades Gorges and continue to the Todra Gorges to discover its dramatic rock canyon. Our 3-day Ouarzazate to Sahara journey continues via Tinjdad, Jorf and Erfoud, where you can see fossil workshops, before arriving in Merzouga for dinner and an overnight stay in a traditional kasbah.

Day 2

Dades Gorges Todra Gorge Erfoud Camel ride in Merzouga

After breakfast we explore the highlights of the Sahara area around Merzouga. In the late afternoon you ride a camel into the Erg Chebbi dunes, where we watch the sunset from the top of the highest crests. Dinner is served around the campfire at a luxury Sahara camp, followed by an evening of traditional Berber drum music under the stars.

Day 3

Merzouga desert Midelt Fes

On the final morning, after sunrise and breakfast, we ride the camels back from the dunes and drive to Erfoud and on to Midelt for lunch. We then cross the Middle Atlas Mountains and the famous cedar forests near Azrou. After a short stop in Ifrane, we drop you off in Fes. At Local Morocco Tours, we will do everything we can to tailor a private Morocco tour that is perfect for you, your family, your friends or your group.

What's included

Transfers from/to the airport/hotels
Private travel to Fes in A/C comfortable 4x4 or minibus
Experienced local tour guide
Includes all dinners and breakfasts
A night in hotels / riads and desert camp
Desert Sahara guide with camel trek

Not included

Lunches and soft drinks
Admission fees and Gratuities

Guide languages

English, Spanish, French, and more languages are available upon request.

Departure

We can leave whenever you choose, although we normally leave at 9 a.m. — request a quote with your dates.

Departing from Ouarzazate, ending in Fes

A three-day one-way tour from Ouarzazate to Fes via the Sahara is the southern-to-northern crossing of Morocco’s desert and mountain interior. Starting from Ouarzazate — the film city, with the UNESCO Ait Benhaddou just 30km north-west — the route heads east through the Dades and Todra gorges to Merzouga for a Sahara overnight, then turns north through the Ziz Valley and Middle Atlas cedar forests to Fes.

The Ouarzazate departure is efficient: the drive east to Merzouga takes about four hours, meaning Day 1 can include a stop at the Todra Gorge or Skoura oasis and still arrive at Erg Chebbi in time for the sunset camel trek. Day 2 is for the desert and the drive north begins the same day toward the Middle Atlas. By Day 3 you arrive in Fes via Ifrane and Azrou — a complete change of climate and culture from the desert.

This Ouarzazate-to-Fes routing is ideal for travellers who flew into Ouarzazate (Moulay Ali Cherif Airport) from Casablanca or who are based in the south and want to end their Morocco trip in Fes. Fes has its own international airport for onward flights. All accommodation, camel trek, breakfasts, dinners, and private vehicle throughout are included. Request a quote.

3 Days Ouarzazate: Merzouga & Fes

Overview

Highlights

Day-by-day itinerary

Day 1

Ouarzazate Skoura Dades Gorges Merzouga

Day 2

Dades Gorges Todra Gorge Erfoud Camel ride in Merzouga

Day 3

Merzouga desert Midelt Fes

What's included

Not included

Guide languages

Departure

Route map

Departing from Ouarzazate, ending in Fes

Let's craft your perfect Morocco journey.

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