Marrakech to Fes: The Classic Route Through Desert and Mountains

You leave Marrakech heading south on the N9, and within thirty minutes the flat Haouz Plain gives way to the first foothills of the High Atlas. The road begins to climb through terraced hillsides planted with olive and almond trees, passing Berber villages where houses are built of the same red earth as the mountains themselves. This is the Tizi n'Tichka road, one of the great mountain highways of the world, built by the French Foreign Legion in the 1930s.

The pass reaches 2,260 meters at its summit, the highest paved road crossing in North Africa. The temperature drops noticeably as you climb, and on clear days the views extend across an ocean of peaks and valleys in every direction. In winter, the upper sections can carry snow, though the road is maintained and rarely closed for more than a day. Vendors sell geodes and minerals at pullouts near the top — the Atlas Mountains are rich in amethyst, quartz, and fossils from an era when this range lay beneath a shallow sea.

Ait Benhaddou— An hour before Ouarzazate, you turn off the main road to the ksar (fortified village) of Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. This is one of the most photographed places in Morocco: a cluster of terracotta kasbahs rising from the banks of the Ounila River against a backdrop of barren mountains. It has appeared in Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Mummy. A handful of families still live within the walls, and your guide can arrange a visit inside to see the centuries-old construction techniques using pisé (rammed earth), straw, and river stones.

You cross the shallow river on foot (stepping stones in dry season, a plank bridge in winter) and climb through the ksar to the granary at the top for panoramic views across the valley. Allow at least ninety minutes for the visit. Lunch is best taken at one of the terraced restaurants overlooking the ksar, where you can sit in the shade with a tagine while watching the light shift across the earthen walls.

Ouarzazate— You arrive in Ouarzazate in the late afternoon. Known as the gateway to the desert and the Hollywood of Africa, this town sits at the junction of the Draa and Dadès valleys at an elevation of 1,160 meters. The air is dry and clear. The nearby Atlas Studios are the largest film studio complex in the world, where sets from Kingdom of Heaven, Babel, and Asterix still stand in the desert sun. If you arrive with energy, the Taourirt Kasbah in the town centre is worth a brief visit: a vast labyrinthine fortress that belonged to the Glaoui dynasty.

Insider tip:Depart Marrakech by 8:00 AM. This gives you time for photo stops on the Tichka pass, a proper visit at Ait Benhaddou, and arrival in Ouarzazate before sunset. The late afternoon light on Ait Benhaddou is the best light of the day — the kasbah faces west and glows amber in the hour before dusk.

This is the longest driving day, and also the most varied. You head east from Ouarzazate along the N10, which locals call the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. The name is not hyperbole. Crumbling fortified villages appear every few kilometres, perched on hilltops and riverbanks, their towers silhouetted against the pale sky. The road follows the Dadès River through a valley thick with date palms, almond trees, and roses.

Skoura— The first worthwhile stop is Skoura, about 40 km east of Ouarzazate. This oasis town sits within one of the largest palm groves in Morocco, with an estimated 700,000 palms. The Amridil Kasbah, depicted on the Moroccan 50-dirham note, is one of the best-preserved kasbahs in the country and offers guided tours of its interior. The palm grove is beautiful for a short walk in the morning light when the air is still cool.

Kelaat M'Gouna and the Valley of Roses— In April and May, the Dadès Valley between Kelaat M'Gouna and Boumalne Dadès erupts in Damascene roses, and the air carries their scent for kilometres. The annual Rose Festival takes place in the second week of May. Even outside rose season, the local cooperatives sell rosewater, rose oil, and rose soap at a fraction of the prices you would pay in Marrakech. The cooperative visits are free, pressure-free, and genuinely interesting.

Todra Gorge— The N10 continues to Tinghir, where you turn north for 15 km into the Todra Gorge. This is one of the most dramatic natural formations in Morocco: a narrow canyon where sheer limestone walls rise 300 meters on either side, leaving a gap just 10 meters wide at the narrowest point. A river runs through the base of the gorge, and in the morning the light filters down between the walls in a way that makes photographers forget about their schedule. Rock climbers from around the world come here for the vertical routes on the canyon walls.

Walk into the gorge for at least 30 minutes past the initial car park to reach the narrowest section, where the walls close in and the temperature drops by several degrees. The cafes at the gorge entrance serve fresh-squeezed orange juice and simple tagines and make a good rest stop.

Arrival in Merzouga— From Todra Gorge, the road continues east through the town of Erfoud (known for its fossil workshops, where Devonian-era trilobites and ammonites are polished into tabletops and sculptures) and south to Merzouga. As you approach, the landscape flattens into a gravel hamada, and then suddenly, rising from the plain like a golden wall, you see the dunes of Erg Chebbi. These are the largest sand dunes in Morocco, reaching heights of 150 meters. Your accommodation for tonight sits at the edge of the erg, and the dunes are visible from your room.

Insider tip: Depart Ouarzazate by 7:30 AM to give yourself time for Skoura, Todra Gorge, and the Erfoud fossil workshops before reaching Merzouga by late afternoon. You want to arrive at least two hours before sunset to have time to settle in before the camel trek.

This is the day most travelers remember for the rest of their lives. There is no driving today. The entire day belongs to the Sahara.

Morning exploration— Wake early to watch the sunrise from the dunes near your hotel. The first light turns the sand from grey to pink to blazing gold in a sequence that takes about twenty minutes. After breakfast, you have several options. The village of Khamlia, home to a community of Gnawa musicians descended from sub-Saharan Africa, offers live performances in a simple mudbrick house that are among the most authentic musical experiences in Morocco. The music is hypnotic, rhythmic, and deeply moving. Alternatively, you can visit a nomad family in the desert fringes, where Berber families still live in goat-hair tents and herd camels and goats across the hamada.

Afternoon at leisure— The desert in the middle of the day is hot and still. This is time for reading on your hotel terrace, swimming in the pool if your accommodation has one, or exploring the edge of the dunes on foot. Some travelers take a 4WD excursion deeper into the desert to visit seasonal lakes (in spring) or to see desert wildlife: the Erg Chebbi is home to fennec foxes, desert hedgehogs, jerboas, and a surprising variety of birdlife.

Sunset camel trek— In the late afternoon, you mount a dromedary camel and ride into the heart of the erg. The trek takes about ninety minutes, winding between dunes that grow steadily taller as you move deeper into the sand sea. Your camel guide leads the caravan at a pace that feels timeless. As the sun drops toward the horizon, the dunes cast long shadows and the sand ripples become sharply defined. You reach your desert camp as the sky turns crimson.

Desert camp overnight— Desert camps in Morocco range from simple bivouacs (mattress on the sand under a canvas shelter) to luxury camps with private tented suites, hot showers, and multi-course dinners. At our recommended camps, you dine under the stars on traditional Berber cuisine — lamb tagine slow-cooked in a sand oven, couscous with seasonal vegetables, flatbread baked over coals — while Berber musicians play drums and sing around a fire. After dinner, the silence of the desert is profound. Light pollution is essentially zero at Erg Chebbi, and the Milky Way arcs overhead in a density that is difficult to describe. You fall asleep to the sound of absolute nothing.

Pre-dawn sunrise— You are woken before dawn, around 5:30 AM, to climb the nearest high dune for sunrise. The climb takes fifteen minutes in soft sand, but the reward is a 360-degree panorama of the erg as the first rays of light set the dunes on fire. This moment — standing alone on a sand ridge in the Sahara as the sun breaks the horizon — is indelible. You ride the camels back to Merzouga after sunrise, shower, have breakfast, and prepare for the drive north.

The final day covers the most distance, but the drive is straightforward and the landscape keeps you engaged the entire way. You leave Merzouga heading north on the N13, climbing gradually out of the desert and into the pre-Saharan steppe. The terrain shifts from sand and gravel to rocky plateaus dotted with esparto grass and low scrub.

Errachidia to Midelt— The road passes through Errachidia, a garrison town on the Ziz River, and follows the Ziz Gorge north. The gorge is less famous than Todra but equally spectacular in places, with a green ribbon of palms lining the river at the bottom of steep canyon walls. Between Errachidia and Midelt, the road climbs steadily through the Tizi n'Talghemt pass at 1,907 meters, crossing from the Saharan climate zone into the temperate Middle Atlas.

Midelt— This small market town sits at an elevation of 1,520 meters in a wide valley between the High Atlas to the south and the Middle Atlas to the north. It is the natural halfway point for the drive and the best place for lunch. Midelt is known for its apple orchards (the region produces most of Morocco's apples) and for the mineral shops that sell vanadinite, azurite, and other specimens from the nearby Mibladen mines. The Kasbah Myriame restaurant, run by Franciscan sisters, serves excellent Moroccan cuisine and is a reliable lunch stop.

Azrou and the cedar forests— North of Midelt, the landscape transforms into something that looks nothing like the Morocco of postcards. Stands of Atlas cedar — some of the oldest and largest in the world — cover the hillsides, interspersed with oaks and junipers. Near the town of Azrou, you can stop at the Cèdre Gouraud forest to see Barbary macaques, the only species of wild macaque in Africa. These monkeys are habituated to visitors and will approach you if you stay still. The forest is a jarring contrast to the desert you left that morning: thick, cool, green, and fragrant with cedar resin.

Ifrane— A brief stop in Ifrane, the alpine-style university town at 1,650 meters, is worthwhile for its sheer incongruity. Red-roofed chalets, manicured gardens, and a stone lion sculpture in the town centre make it look more like a Swiss village than a Moroccan town. In winter, there is a ski resort just outside town. The air temperature here can be 20 degrees cooler than in Merzouga.

Arrival in Fes— You descend from the Middle Atlas into the Saiss Plain, and the minarets and white walls of Fes appear ahead. Your riad is in the Fes el-Bali medina, the world's largest car-free urban area: over 9,000 lanes, 350 mosques, and a living medieval city that has operated continuously since the 9th century. After the silence of the desert and the solitude of the mountain roads, the sensory density of Fes is electrifying.

Insider tip:Depart Merzouga by 7:00 AM. The early start ensures you reach Fes by mid-to-late afternoon with time for lunch in Midelt and a stop in the cedar forests. Do not attempt to rush this day — the driving is not difficult but the distance is real.