15-Day Morocco Tour from Ouarzazate: Fez & Erg Chegaga

A day that ends on foot. We follow the road east through Tinghir to the Todgha Gorges, then cross the hamada to Merzouga, timed so the camels leave in the late afternoon and you reach camp as the light goes.

• Morning through the Dades gorge and its switchback road
• Tinghir, with its palm oasis strung along the valley floor
• The Todgha Gorges, where the cliffs close to a few hundred metres apart
• Lunch in Tinghir
• Afternoon across the hamada by Tinejdad and Erfoud
• Arrival at the edge of Erg Chebbi
• Camel trek into the dunes, roughly ninety minutes
• Dinner and Gnawa drumming at camp

Overnight in a desert camp at Erg Chebbi.

The day the itinerary makes room for. With no transfer to drive, the desert opens up past the dune crest: nomad families still working the hamada, the Gnawa village at Khamlia, and the dry lake north of the erg.

• Sunrise over the dunes, then breakfast at camp
• Camel trek back to Merzouga
• 4x4 circuit around the erg
• Khamlia, the Gnawa village, for a session of their music
• Visit to a nomad family living out on the hamada
• Dayet Srji, the dry lake where flamingos gather after rain
• Afternoon at leisure, or sunset from the dune crest

Overnight in Merzouga.

West along the southern road below the Jbel Saghro, a quieter route than the way out, ending deep in the Draa where the palm groves run more or less unbroken for a hundred kilometres. Around six hours.

• Sunrise over Erg Chebbi before breakfast
• Rissani and its souk, on the site of Sijilmassa
• The southern road below the Jbel Saghro
• Alnif, known for its fossil beds
• Nkob and its cluster of kasbahs
• Lunch en route
• Tazzarine and the descent into the Draa
• The palm groves along the river to Zagora

Overnight in Zagora.

South to the end of the tarmac. Tamegroute holds a Koranic library of manuscripts going back to the thirteenth century and a pottery quarter still working its green glaze. Beyond M'Hamid the road stops, and the last stretch to Chegaga is by 4x4 across open desert.

• Morning at the Tamegroute library and its manuscripts
• The pottery kilns and their green glaze
• South through the Draa to M'Hamid, where the tarmac ends
• Lunch in M'Hamid
• Transfer to 4x4 for the crossing to Erg Chegaga
• Around two hours across reg and low dunes
• Erg Chegaga, the larger and emptier of Morocco's two great ergs
• Sunset from the dune crest, then dinner at camp

Overnight in a desert camp at Erg Chegaga.

A desert crossing most itineraries never take: west by 4x4 over the dry bed of Lake Iriqui to Foum Zguid, then north-west across the plateau to the walled town of Taroudant. Around seven hours, a good part off-road.

• Sunrise over Erg Chegaga
• 4x4 west across the Iriqui basin, a dry lake bed
• Watch for gazelle and desert larks out on the reg
• Foum Zguid and the return to tarmac
• Lunch in Foum Zguid
• West by Tazenakht and Taliouine, the saffron country
• Late afternoon arrival at Taroudant

Overnight in Taroudant, inside the red earth walls.

West through the argan groves to the Atlantic, then north along the coast road. Around four and a half hours with stops.

• Morning on the ramparts at Taroudant
• West down the Souss valley through the argan groves
• The coast at Agadir, then north past Taghazout
• Lunch at a fishing village on the coast road
• The cliffs and the surf beaches north of Tamri
• Goats grazing up in the argan branches along the roadside
• Late afternoon arrival in Essaouira

Overnight in Essaouira.

North up the coast, a road most itineraries skip, past the Portuguese cistern at El Jadida. Around five hours of driving with stops.

• Morning departure from Essaouira
• North along the Atlantic through Safi
• The pottery quarter at Safi and its hillside kilns
• Lunch on the coast
• El Jadida and the Portuguese cistern beneath the old town
• The ramparts of the Cite Portugaise
• Evening arrival in Casablanca

Overnight in Casablanca.

A gentle day. The morning in Casablanca, then an hour up the coast to the capital with the afternoon there.

• The Hassan II Mosque, built out over the Atlantic
• The Habous quarter and its arcaded streets
• Place Mohammed V and the downtown Art Deco quarter
• Lunch on the corniche
• The coast road north through Mohammedia
• The Kasbah of the Udayas above the river mouth
• The Hassan Tower and the Chellah necropolis

Overnight in Rabat.

Inland from the coast for the last day, by way of Meknes and the Roman city at Volubilis. Around three hours of driving spread across the day.

• Morning in Rabat, or an early departure inland
• East across the Gharb plain
• Bab Mansour and the imperial granaries at Meknes
• Lunch in Meknes
• Moulay Idriss, the hill town above the ruins
• Volubilis and its mosaics
• Late afternoon arrival in Fez

Overnight in Fez.

Fez el Bali is the largest car-free urban area in the world and the oldest of the imperial capitals. A full day is the least it takes to get any sense of it, and most of that day is on foot.

• Morning in Fez el Bali, entering by Bab Boujloud
• The Chouara tanneries, seen from the terraces above
• Al Quaraouiyine, founded in 859 and still in use
• The Bou Inania medersa and its carved cedar screens
• Lunch in the medina
• The souks by trade: coppersmiths, dyers, weavers
• Afternoon at the Merenid tombs for the view over the city

Overnight in Fez.

West to the Roman city at Volubilis in the morning, then north into the Rif mountains, reaching Chefchaouen in the late afternoon. Around four and a half hours of driving.

• Morning departure from Fez
• Volubilis, the Roman provincial capital, with its mosaics still in place
• Moulay Idriss, the hill town above the ruins
• Bab Mansour and the imperial walls at Meknes
• Lunch in Meknes
• The climb into the Rif mountains
• Arrival in Chefchaouen in the late afternoon
• The blue-washed medina and Place Outa el Hammam at dusk

Overnight in Chefchaouen.

Out of the mountains and back to the coast, around four and a half hours, arriving in the capital with the afternoon free.

• Morning in Chefchaouen, or an optional walk toward the Akchour valley
• Descent through the Rif to the plain
• Lunch en route
• West across the Gharb to the Atlantic
• The Kasbah of the Udayas above the river mouth
• The Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V
• The Chellah necropolis, walled and overgrown

Overnight in Rabat.

South down the coast with a stop in Casablanca, then inland across the plain to Marrakech. Around four hours of driving.

• Morning departure from Rabat
• The coast road south through Mohammedia
• The Hassan II Mosque, built out over the Atlantic
• Lunch on the Casablanca corniche
• South across the Rehamna plain by Settat
• The Haouz plain and the first view of the Atlas
• Arrival in Marrakech in the late afternoon
• Evening on Jemaa el-Fna as the food stalls open

Overnight in Marrakech.

The last crossing of the High Atlas, southbound, with the afternoon at Ait Ben Haddou before the drop-off. Around four hours of driving.

• Ascent of the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with photo stops on the switchbacks
• Views back across terraced valleys and scattered Amazigh villages
• Ait Ben Haddou: the fortified earthen ksar that guarded the old caravan route, now UNESCO listed
• Time to walk up through the kasbahs to the granary at the summit
• Lunch below the ksar
• Ouarzazate and the Taourirt Kasbah
• Optional stop at the film studios on the edge of town

Drop-off in Ouarzazate.