Fez to Marrakech: 3-Day Desert Tour with Camel Trek & Kasbahs

4.92

(147 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We were barely out of Fez when our driver, Youssef, pulled over near Ifrane so we could try these little honey cakes from a roadside vendor. He joked that the monkeys in the cedar forest might steal them if we weren’t careful. The air changed as we drove — crisp pine scents mixing with something sweet and earthy. I’d heard about the “Switzerland of Morocco” but seeing those tidy rooftops in Ifrane was a surprise. Later, in Azrou’s cedar woods, we watched a family of Barbary apes squabble over crumbs (one made off with my napkin — not sure if that counts as a souvenir). Lunch in Midelt was simple: tagine with prunes and almonds, eaten slowly while sunlight flickered through dusty windows.

The drive south felt like flipping through postcards — Ziz Gorge’s palm groves, then the sand growing redder by the mile. By the time we reached Merzouga, dusk had already softened everything. Mint tea at the kasbah tasted extra sharp after hours on the road. Camel trekking across Erg Chebbi felt both awkward and magical; my legs wobbled but I couldn’t stop grinning at the way shadows stretched across dunes. Dinner at camp was laughter around a fire — someone played drums, and for a second you forgot how far you were from anywhere familiar. The silence before sleep was almost physical. I still think about that sky.

We woke up shivering before sunrise (I’d underestimated desert mornings), then rode back to real beds and hot showers. Youssef teased us about our camel-walking style — apparently mine is “classic tourist.” The day blurred into kasbahs and valleys: Rissani’s market smells (cumin? leather?), Todra Gorge echoing with voices bouncing off stone, Dades Valley’s switchbacks making my stomach flutter. Ouarzazate felt different: movie-set quiet, wide streets, pinkish walls catching late sun. Dinner was couscous and stories from other travelers who’d come from everywhere.

On our last morning, we wandered Taourirt Kasbah’s maze-like halls (I lost track of Youssef for a bit; he found me peering into a shadowy room). Atlas Studios looked half-fake but somehow charming — bits of Egypt next to medieval castles in one dusty lot. We stopped for lunch at Ait Ben Haddou (my attempt at pronouncing it made our server laugh), then wound up through Tizi-n-Tichka pass where clouds seemed close enough to touch. Marrakech appeared suddenly out of nowhere — loud, bright, alive again after all that open space. Hard to believe it was only three days.