5-Day Tangier Desert Tour: Chefchaouen, Fes and the Merzouga Dunes

Overview

Highlights

• A night in Chefchaouen, the blue city
• Guided visit of the Fes medina
• Ifrane, the cedar forests and Barbary macaques
• Camel trek at sunset over the dunes of Erg Chebbi
• Night in a desert camp in Merzouga
• Ziz Valley canyon and palm groves

Itinerary

1. 1

   Day 1 Tangier – Chefchaouen

   Pickup at your Tangier hotel, the port or the train station. Drive south through green hills, with an optional stop in Tetouan, to Chefchaouen in the Rif mountains, about two to two and a half hours away. Check in to your riad and spend the afternoon exploring the blue medina: the Outa el Hammam square, the kasbah garden, the Ras el Maa spring and the craft shops. At sunset, walk up to the Spanish Mosque for a view over the whole town.

   Overnight: Riad in Chefchaouen Meals: Dinner

2. 2

   Day 2 Chefchaouen – Fes

   Enjoy an early-morning walk through the empty blue lanes, ideal for photos, then have breakfast at your riad. Drive south for about four hours through the foothills of the Rif and the fertile plains around Ouazzane, with stops for coffee and lunch. Arrive in Fes in the afternoon and settle into your riad. If you have energy, walk to the panoramic viewpoint at the Merenid tombs for sunset over the old medina. Dinner is served in the riad courtyard, and your driver briefs you on tomorrow's guided visit.

   Overnight: Riad in Fes Meals: Breakfast, dinner

3. 3

   Day 3 Fes guided visit

   A full day with a local guide in Fes el-Bali, one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world. Enter by Bab Boujloud, visit the Bou Inania madrasa, the Nejjarine fountain and the doorway of the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university, and see the dye pits of the Chouara tannery from a terrace above. Meet craftspeople working brass, cedar and silk thread. In the afternoon, visit the gates of the royal palace and the old Jewish quarter. Your guide adapts the rhythm to your group, with a break for mint tea on a rooftop. Evening free for dinner at your riad.

   Overnight: Riad in Fes Meals: Breakfast, dinner

4. 4

   Day 4 Fes – Ifrane – Midelt – Merzouga, desert camp

   Leave early for the Sahara. Climb into the Middle Atlas to Ifrane, a tidy mountain town, and look for Barbary macaques in the cedar forest. After lunch in Midelt, follow the Ziz Valley south through a canyon full of palm trees. Arrive in Merzouga in the late afternoon and ride a camel across the dunes of Erg Chebbi to watch the sunset. Dinner and the night in a desert camp, with drums around the fire and a sky full of stars.

   Overnight: Desert camp in Merzouga Meals: Breakfast, dinner

5. 5

   Day 5 Merzouga – Ziz Valley – Midelt – Fes, end

   Wake early for sunrise over the dunes, then ride back to Merzouga for breakfast and a shower. Drive north through Erfoud and Errachidia, then along the Ziz Valley with its gorges and palm groves, stopping at viewpoints along the way. Lunch in Midelt, then cross the Middle Atlas back to Fes, arriving in the evening. Your driver drops you at your hotel or the train station. End of the tour. It is a long day, so we leave early and keep stops flexible. If you prefer, we can drop you at Fes airport for an evening flight.

   Overnight: — (tour ends in Fes) Meals: Breakfast

Prices

Prices in euros per person. The amount in your currency is an estimate; payment is processed in USD. Some peak-season dates carry a supplement; you will see it when you pick a date.

Included

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