Tour overview
Six days is enough to cross Morocco from the Mediterranean to the edge of the Sahara because the route never doubles back. From Tangier you drop south through Tetouan into the Rif and spend a night in Chefchaouen, a town small enough to walk in an evening and painted blue from the doorsteps up. The second leg runs through Volubilis, the best-preserved Roman site in Morocco, and past the Bab Mansour gate at Meknes to Fes.
The third day south is the long one. The road climbs through Ifrane and the cedar forest above Azrou, crosses the Middle Atlas at Midelt, then follows the Ziz Valley between palm groves and red cliffs until the ground turns to sand at Merzouga.
The return runs west along the old caravan road — Todra Gorge, the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs, the Dades Valley, the Skoura palm oasis, Ouarzazate and Ait Benhaddou — then over the Tizi n'Tichka pass into Marrakech on the final afternoon. It is a driving tour and some days are long. In exchange you see the north, an imperial city, the Sahara and the south without flying, and you finish in Marrakech rather than back where you started.
Route
Tangier → Tetouan → Chefchaouen → Volubilis → Meknes → Fes → Ifrane → Azrou → Midelt → Ziz Valley → Merzouga → Todra Gorge → Boumalne Dades → Skoura → Ouarzazate → Ait Benhaddou → Tizi n'Tichka → Marrakech.
What to expect
This is a crossing rather than a base-and-excursion holiday: five nights in five different places, and a long distance covered. Day four is the hardest — expect to be on the road for most of it. In return you never drive the same road twice.
The climate range across six days is wider than most people pack for. The Rif can be cool and wet, the dunes are hot by day and cold at night, and the High Atlas pass is high. Layers travel better than a single warm coat.
Practical information
The lines above without a note are confirmed: the tour is private, the driver is yours for all six days, and the road transport and both transfers are ours. Everything marked subject to confirmation — the five nights, the meals, the camel ride at Merzouga and the local guides — is the package we propose for this tour. We price it for your dates when you enquire and confirm it in writing before you book. We do not publish fixed properties, fixed prices or fixed departure times on this page, because they depend on when you travel and how many of you there are.
The tour is private throughout: your party travels alone with its own driver, and the pace and the stops can be adjusted while you are on the road.
Tour highlights
- The blue medina of Chefchaouen, Plaza Uta el-Hammam and the viewpoint above the town
- Volubilis, the Roman city, standing in open farmland
- The Bab Mansour gate and El Hedim square at Meknes
- A night in Fes, the oldest and largest of Morocco's medinas
- The cedar forest above Azrou and the Barbary macaques that live in it
- The Ziz Valley, where palm groves run for miles between red cliffs
- The Erg Chebbi dunes at Merzouga
- Todra Gorge, walked along the riverbed between walls three hundred metres high
- The Dades Valley and the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs
- Ait Benhaddou and the Tizi n'Tichka pass over the High Atlas
Day by day
Day 1
Arrival in Tangier
We collect you in Tangier — from the airport, from the port if you have crossed by ferry from Spain, or from your accommodation. The rest of the day is yours. Tangier sits where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, and the old Kasbah quarter above the port is a short walk from most of the city centre.
Night: Tangier.
Day 2
Tangier – Tetouan – Chefchaouen
We leave along the coast and turn inland at Tetouan, whose white medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and wears its Andalusian descent more plainly than anywhere else in Morocco. From there the road climbs into the Rif to Chefchaouen. The blue lanes are at their best in the late afternoon; Plaza Uta el-Hammam and the restored kasbah sit at the centre, and the path up to the Spanish Mosque above the town takes about forty minutes on foot if you still have the legs for it.
Night: Chefchaouen.
Day 3
Chefchaouen – Volubilis – Meknes – Fes
South out of the Rif to Volubilis, where a Roman provincial capital stands in open farmland with its triumphal arch, its colonnaded street and its floor mosaics still in place. Then Meknes, the capital Moulay Ismail built, for the Bab Mansour gate and El Hedim square. We reach Fes in the late afternoon.
Night: Fes.
Day 4
Fes – Ifrane – Azrou – Midelt – Ziz Valley – Merzouga
The longest drive of the tour, and the one that changes everything you are looking at. Ifrane first, built by the French in the 1930s and still looking like an Alpine village; then the cedar forest above Azrou, where troops of Barbary macaques come down to the roadside. We break at Midelt, cross the pass and drop into the Ziz Valley, where a river of date palms runs between red cliffs for the best part of an hour. The last stretch reaches Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi dunes in the late afternoon.
Night: Merzouga.
Day 5
Merzouga – Todra Gorge – Dades Valley
The sunrise over the dunes is worth waking for. Then west along the old caravan road through Tinghir to Todra Gorge, where the canyon narrows to a few metres and you can walk in along the river between walls three hundred metres high. The afternoon follows the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs into the Dades Valley, past the rock formations known locally as the Monkey Fingers.
Night: Dades Valley.
Day 6
Dades – Skoura – Ouarzazate – Ait Benhaddou – Marrakech
We follow the valley out through Skoura, where an old palm oasis hides a scattering of kasbahs, to Ouarzazate and the Kasbah Taourirt. A short drive on is Ait Benhaddou, the fortified village above the river that you have seen in more films than you realise. From there the road climbs the Tizi n'Tichka pass over the High Atlas and drops into Marrakech in the early evening, where we take you to your accommodation or to the airport.
Want a different pace or an extra night? Tell us and we'll adapt the itinerary.
What's included
Included in this package
- Private tour: your party travels alone, never combined with other travellers.
- A dedicated driver for all six days.
- Road transport over the whole route, Tangier to Marrakech.
- Pick-up in Tangier — airport, ferry port or accommodation.
- Drop-off in Marrakech — accommodation or airport.
- A one-way crossing: no day is driven twice and there is no return leg.
- Five nights' accommodation: riads, hotels or guest houses, and a desert camp at Merzouga — subject to confirmation
- Breakfast every morning — subject to confirmation
- Dinner at Merzouga and in the Dades Valley — subject to confirmation
- A camel ride at the Erg Chebbi dunes — subject to confirmation
- A local guide for the medina of Fes and for Marrakech — subject to confirmation
Not included
- Plane ticket.
- Travel insurance.
- Lunches and drinks.
- Monument entrance fees — Volubilis, Meknes and Ait Benhaddou.
- Personal expenses and tips.
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Frequently asked questions
Where does this tour start and finish?
It starts in Tangier and finishes in Marrakech. We collect you from the airport, the ferry port or your accommodation in Tangier, and drop you at your accommodation or the airport in Marrakech on the evening of day six.
What does a 6 day Morocco tour from Tangier cover?
The north first — Tetouan, Chefchaouen, Volubilis and Meknes — then Fes, then a full day south through the Middle Atlas and the Ziz Valley to the Merzouga dunes, and the old caravan road west through Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and Ait Benhaddou into Marrakech.
Can it run in the other direction, Marrakech to Tangier?
Ask when you enquire. The route works both ways; the question is usually what suits your flights.
How long is the drive to the desert?
Day four, Fes to Merzouga, is the long one — a full day with stops at Ifrane, the cedar forest, Midelt and the Ziz Valley.
Is there a camel ride at the dunes?
Yes — a camel ride at Erg Chebbi is part of the package we propose for this tour. It is subject to confirmation, like the rest of the package, and we confirm it in writing with your quote.
Where do we sleep in the desert?
At Merzouga, in a desert camp. Tell us what standard you would like and we will confirm what is available for your dates before you book.
When is the best time to go?
See our guide to Morocco weather by month. The desert is very hot in July and August and cold at night in winter.
Can the route be changed?
Yes. The tour is private, so the stops and the pace can be adjusted.
