4 Days Tour Fes to Marrakech: Middle Atlas, Sahara Dunes & Dades Valley

Day 1 starts at Fes where our English-speaking Berber driver collects you from your hotel or airport in a private, air-conditioned 4x4 or comfortable minibus. From here, the road climbs through Fes, the spiritual capital of Morocco and home to the world's oldest continuously operating university, with a medieval medina that has not changed its rhythm in nine centuries. You then continue toward Ifrane, the alpine-style town nicknamed the 'Switzerland of Morocco', with chalet roofs and a stone lion guarding the central square. Lunch is served en route in Azrou and its sacred cedar grove, where Barbary macaques come close enough to eat acorns from a still hand. The afternoon takes you to Midelt, the high-plateau town between the Middle and High Atlas, famous for apple orchards and Berber tribal carpets. Overnight in a carefully selected riad or kasbah hotel with traditional dinner included.

Day 2 continues the journey deeper into Morocco. You travel through Erfoud, the gateway to the Sahara and capital of black marble fossils where ancient ammonites and orthoceras are still mined from the surrounding hills. The afternoon takes you to the Merzouga dunes — the warm, ochre wave of the Erg Chebbi where every photograph turns into a postcard. As the light softens you reach a sunset camel trek across the dunes, riding in a slow caravan with our Berber team toward the luxury desert camp. The route winds on through luxury Sahara camp. Tonight you sleep in a private luxury Berber tent on the Erg Chebbi dunes — real beds, ensuite bathroom, candle-lit dinner and one of the darkest night skies in Morocco for stargazing.

Day 3 continues the journey deeper into Morocco. You travel through the towering Erg Chebbi dunes — Morocco's most cinematic Sahara landscape, rising up to 150 metres in apricot waves at sunset. The afternoon takes you to the Todra Gorge, where 300-metre red limestone walls narrow to just ten metres apart and the river runs ice-cold even in summer. As the light softens you reach Tinghir, the green palm oasis at the foot of the Todra gorges with its old Jewish quarter and tile-roofed kasbah. The route winds on through the dramatic Dades Valley, where ochre cliffs fold over the river and Berber kasbahs stand on every bluff. Tonight's accommodation is a boutique riad with a courtyard pool, fresh towels and Berber breakfast at dawn.

Day 4 is your return day. You travel through the rose-pink Dades Valley with its cliffs sculpted by erosion into the Monkey Fingers and a string of fortified kasbahs. The afternoon takes you to the fragrant Valley of the Roses, where the Damask roses bloom in May and the Kelaat M'Gouna distillery still uses copper alembics. As the light softens you reach Ait Ben Haddou, the UNESCO-listed earthen kasbah whose fortified walls have starred in Gladiator, Game of Thrones and Lawrence of Arabia. The route winds on through the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres — the cinematic switchback road that connects Marrakech to the Saharan south, with hairpin views in every direction. You arrive at your Marrakech hotel or airport in the late afternoon, with photo memory cards full and a head full of Berber drumming.