Can I do a one-way desert tour (Marrakech to Fes)?

Yes, absolutely, and honestly it's the format I recommend most often when a guest's plan allows it. The one-way 3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Fes (or Fes to Marrakech) uses the Sahara as the bridge between Morocco's two great cities, so the long transfer you'd have to make anyway becomes the highlight of your trip rather than dead time. Instead of driving down to the desert and back the same way, you arrive at the other end having seen the whole south.

Here's how the three days actually unfold going Marrakech to Fes. Day one crosses the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, stops at the kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, and runs through the Dades or Todra gorges before reaching Merzouga. Day two is the desert — a sunset camel trek into Erg Chebbi, a night in camp, sunrise over the dunes. Day three drives out a completely different way: through the great palm oasis of the Ziz Valley, over the plateau via Midelt, and down through the cedar forests near Azrou (with their wild macaques) into Fes. Every road is new scenery.

The practical beauty of it is zero backtracking. On a there-and-back tour you see the same gorges and kasbahs twice; on the one-way you don't repeat a single stretch, which means more variety and, frankly, less monotony over the hours in the car. It also slots neatly into a classic Morocco route — fly into Marrakech, explore the south and desert across these three days, end in Fes and continue north to Chefchaouen or out via Fes's airport. No wasted day returning to where you started.

A couple of honest logistics. A one-way tour usually costs a little more than a round trip because the vehicle and driver finish in a different city, but the value you get from covering so much new ground easily justifies it. And it works equally well in reverse — Fes to Marrakech — which is slightly shorter on the desert approach. I'd just make sure you book it as a genuine one-way with your luggage coming along to the final city, and time any onward flight for the day after you arrive, since day three lands in the late afternoon or evening.