5 Days Desert Tour from Casablanca to Merzouga

Best 5 days desert tour from Casablanca

5 days desert tour from Casablanca – Private 5 days desert tour from Casablanca: Fes, Merzouga camel trek and Sahara camp, Todra and Dades gorges, Ait Ben Haddou and Marrakech.

A 5-day private desert tour from Casablanca to Merzouga covers about 1,300 km, taking you through Rabat, the Middle and High Atlas mountains, Fes, and the Erg Chebbi dunes. Expect a rich mix of imperial city sights, cedar forests, dramatic canyon gorges, and a night in a Sahara desert camp.

Architectural Marvels: Marvel at the oceanfront Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, one of the world's largest mosques open to non-Muslims.

Step Back in Time: Get lost in Fes traditional riad, with a hospitality of Morocco.

Sahara Night: Ride camels over the golden Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga to watch the sunset, followed by a night of traditional music around a campfire in a luxury desert camp.

Hollywood Landscapes: Explore the ancient, UNESCO-listed earthen village of Ait Benhaddou, a famous filming site for Gladiator and Game of Thrones.

Sensory Overload: Watch snake charmers, acrobats, and food stalls come alive at sunset in Marrakech’s legendary Jemaa el-Fnaa square.

Pick up from your hotel or riad or airport in Casablanca. Visit Hassan || Mosque. Rabat: Hassan Tower, Kasbah des Oudaias. Meknes: Bab Mansour Gate, The Roman Ruins of Volubilis, Moulay Idriss. Overnight in Fez.

Riad with breakfast.

A full first day through three imperial cities. In Rabat you see the Hassan Tower and the white lanes of the Udayas kasbah above the ocean. After lunch, Meknes shows its huge Bab Mansour gate and the stables of Sultan Moulay Ismail, and on request we stop at the Roman ruins of Volubilis and the holy town of Moulay Idriss. You reach Fes in the evening and check in to a riad in the medina.

Overnight: traditional riad in Fes
Meals: breakfast (dinner free in the medina).

After the breakfast Leaving Fez and going to Merzouga, passing through Ifrane to arrive to the cedar forests of Azrou where the wild monkeys are located.

It will be good opportunity to take photos of wilderness in Morocco. Lunch in a small Berber village of Zaida.

We continue the way through the Atlas Mountains enjoying the landscapes of Medilt to arrive to the small town of Rich, Erfoud in which we’ll feel the beginning of the Saharan oasis of Tafilalet.

And then continue to Merzouga, the camels they will be ready with camel guide to take you to inside the desert of Erg Chebbi, for an interesting ride for one hour, they you will arrive to the camp and the team will show you your own luxury tent with private bathroom,

Then will be a time for a cup of tea, then you have the time for sunset and sand boarding in dunes near the camp, later will be the dinner and Berber music.

This long but beautiful drive crosses the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, where Barbary macaques live, and the Ziz valley with its palm groves and kasbahs. In the late afternoon you meet your camels at the edge of Erg Chebbi and ride for about 1 h 30 to the camp while the dunes turn orange. Dinner is served under the stars, often with Berber drums around the fire.

Overnight: desert camp in the Erg Chebbi dunes (private tent with bathroom)
Meals: dinner and breakfast.

Woke up for sunrise in dunes near the camp, you come back to the camp for breakfast then you ride back the camels to Merzouga village, then we go to Rissani where we’ll visit the marketplace (market days: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday), we continue then to Erfoud where we can visit the manufactures of fossilized marble before starting our way to Touroug and Tinjdad palm groves.

One hour later we’ll reach one of the best places of the High Atlas, the Todra Gorges. The course of the river has carved out cliff-sided canyon and it’s because of its beauty and the high rock sides that’s very popular among climbers.

Free time to have lunch in this wonderful place. A short walk through the gorges is very advisable to better appreciate the beauty of the landscape. In the afternoon we continue to Boumalne Dades for the overnight hotel with dinner and breakfast.

Wake up early to climb a dune and watch the sunrise, then ride back by camel to shower and have breakfast. On the way west you pass Rissani, home of the Alaouite dynasty, and the long palm groves of Tinjdad. In the Todra Gorge, walk between the rock walls beside the clear stream. The evening road climbs into the Dades valley, famous for its strange rock formations called the Monkey Fingers.

Overnight: hotel in Boumalne Dades
Meals: dinner and breakfast.

After breakfast we can enjoy one of the better views of the Dades valley from one strategic look out in the mountains, from there we can appreciate the great number of kasbahs and the scenic characteristics of each one. After some stops to enjoy the “One thousand kasbahs road”.

The Roses Valley and the big Skoura palm grove we’ll get to Ouarzazate to visit the Kasbah of Taourirt, old residence of the Glaoui or Marrakech pasha, then cinema studio in Ouarzazate, we will stop at ksar (fortified village) of Ait Ben Haddou where we will visit the famous Kasbah (declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986). Famous films have been shot in this spectacular stage,

including Gladiator, The Mummy, The Jewel of the Nile, Free time for lunch in town. In the afternoon we start our way to Marrakech going through the mountain port of Tizi Ntichka. We’ll get to Marrakech about 6pm, transfer to a traditional Riad in Marrakech with breakfast.

A day of kasbahs and mountain views. Drive through the Skoura oasis to Ouarzazate, then visit the UNESCO ksar of Ait Ben Haddou with a local guide, climbing to the granary at the top for the view. After lunch the road crosses the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass (2,260 m), with Berber villages and wide viewpoints, before descending to Marrakech in the evening.

Overnight: traditional riad in Marrakech
Meals: breakfast (dinner free in the medina).

After breakfast we go to Casablanca on your airport flight or to your accommodation in Casablanca. End of our service.

After breakfast, enjoy a last stroll in the medina or a coffee on a rooftop terrace. The motorway to Casablanca takes about three hours across the plains. Depending on your flight time you can stop at the Hassan II Mosque by the ocean before your driver takes you to the airport or to your hotel.

End of the tour: drop-off at Casablanca airport for your flight or at your hotel in Casablanca.