7-Day Marrakech to Fes Desert Tour via Merzouga

A day to discover the red city with a licensed local guide. You begin at the Koutoubia, whose twelfth-century minaret set the pattern for the Hassan Tower in Rabat and the Giralda in Seville, and continue to the Bahia Palace, a nineteenth-century vizier's residence of painted ceilings, courtyards and orange trees.

Nearby are the Saadian Tombs, sealed up for two centuries and rediscovered in 1917, and the old Jewish quarter with its spice market. After lunch you enter the souks: lanes of slipper makers, dyers, metalworkers and woodturners, where your guide helps you find the workshops rather than just the shops.

If you would like to add them, the Ben Youssef Madrasa and, if you have not seen it yet, the Majorelle Garden are both worth the time. The day ends on Jemaa el-Fna, the great square that fills at dusk with food stalls, storytellers and musicians.

Today you cross the High Atlas at an easy pace. From Marrakech the road climbs through Amazigh villages and terraced fields to the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres, with stops for views and mint tea.

After the pass you turn off to Telouet, where the half-ruined palace of the Glaoui family hides rooms of carved cedar and tilework, then follow the Ounila Valley, an old caravan route of red cliffs and kasbahs, down to Ait Ben Haddou.

You explore the ksar in the softer afternoon light and spend the night nearby or in Ouarzazate, with dinner included.

An easy day on the road of the kasbahs. In Skoura you walk through date palms to Kasbah Amridil, a fortified house built in the seventeenth century.

Further east, Kalaat M'Gouna is the town of the Valley of Roses, where you see how rosewater is distilled.

Then the Dades Gorge, with its red walls, the Monkey Fingers and the famous switchbacks. Dinner and the night are in a guesthouse in the valley.

Breakfast comes with a view of the valley, and a short drive up the Dades Gorge shows you the Monkey Fingers before you head east.

In Tinghir's palm grove and Todra Gorge you leave the car for a walk between sheer cliffs beside a clear river. Lunch comes next, close by.

In the afternoon the road leads past Erfoud to Merzouga, where camels carry you into the dunes for sunset. The night is in a desert camp, with dinner, drumming and stars.

Sunrise is the reason to set an alarm today: from a high dune the whole erg turns pink and then gold. Breakfast is served in camp before a camel or 4x4 takes you back to Merzouga.

After a shower, a 4x4 excursion explores the region. In Khamlia you listen to Gnawa drums and castanets, on the black desert you pass old lead mines, and in a nomad tent you are offered tea and a chance to ask about life with the herds.

Free time in the afternoon is for the pool or a sandboard, and the night is in a hotel near the dunes, with Fes waiting tomorrow.

A day of changing landscapes, from desert to mountains to the imperial city. After breakfast you drive along the Ziz Valley, a canyon of palm trees, and stop at a viewpoint above it.

The Ziz gorges and the Legionnaires' Tunnel lead to Midelt, where you have lunch.

In the afternoon you cross the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, home to Barbary macaques, and pass through Ifrane, arriving in Fes in the evening.

The tour ends with a day inside one of the world's great medieval cities. With a licensed guide you walk through Bab Boujloud into Fes el-Bali, a maze of lanes busy with mules, porters and craftsmen.

You visit a madrasa where every surface is carved, see the great doors of the Al-Qarawiyyin, pass through the noisy coppersmiths' square and look down on the dye pits of the Chouara tannery from a leather shop's terrace.

In the afternoon a drive takes you to the gates of the Royal Palace, the old Jewish quarter and a pottery workshop, ending at a viewpoint over the city. Your tour finishes in Fes.

The final drive brings you to Fes, where the tour ends at your hotel. If your flight is the next day, we can arrange the airport transfer as well.