From Marrakech: waterfalls, Fez and Sahara in 10 days

Itinerary: From Marrakech: waterfalls, Fez and Sahara in 10 days

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   Day 1 · Marrakech

   We meet you at the airport and take you to your riad in the medina. In the afternoon a first walk with the guide: the Koutoubia, the spice and lantern souks and, at sunset, Jemaa el-Fna square filling up with stalls, musicians and storytellers.

   
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   Day 2 · Marrakech — Ouzoud waterfalls

   A road through olive groves to Ouzoud. A walk down the trail to the foot of the falls, a boat ride under the spray and an encounter with the macaques. Night in a guesthouse near the falls.

   
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   Day 3 · Ouzoud — Beni Mellal — Ifrane — Fez

   The Bin el Ouidane lake, Beni Mellal and then the Middle Atlas among cedars and mountain lakes to Ifrane. Arrival in Fez at sunset.

   
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   Day 4 · Fez with a guide

   The Fez medina isn't visited, it's crossed: with the official guide we start at the top and walk slowly down towards the river. Along the way we stop where the craftsmen work: some carve cedar, some glaze zellige tiles, some dye wool. We visit the Bou Inania madrasa and the Nejjarine fountain, and climb to the terrace overlooking the Chouara tanneries, in use for almost a thousand years. After lunch, the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter with its wooden balconies, and the great gate of the royal palace with its seven golden doors.

   
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   Day 5 · Fez — Midelt — Merzouga

   We leave Fez early and climb into the Middle Atlas: Ifrane with its mountain houses, the ancient cedars of Azrou where the macaques live and the Midelt plateau, dominated by Jebel Ayachi. After lunch the road drops into the Ziz gorges and runs along an endless palm grove to Erfoud. The last kilometres towards the Erg Chebbi dunes, which suddenly appear on the horizon. Night in a hotel at the foot of the dunes.

   
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   Day 6 · Day in the desert

   A full day among the dunes. A morning by 4x4 to discover the desert you can't see from the camp: black stone plateaus, small villages, the flamingo lake when there is water, tea with a nomad family. We stop in Khamlia to listen to Gnawa music and in Rissani for lunch with medfouna. In the afternoon, when the heat drops, the camel caravan sets off for the camp. You arrive as the sun sets behind the dunes; after dinner, music around the fire and stars as far as the eye can see.

   
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   Day 7 · Merzouga — Todra — Dadès

   The day begins with dawn light on the dunes, then back to the vehicle and west. The road skirts the ksars of Jorf and the palm groves of Tinejdad, where the khettaras still carry water underground. In Tinghir we enter the Todra Gorge and walk between walls of red limestone, where at midday the sun barely reaches the bottom. Lunch with a meat and prune tajine at a canyon restaurant, then up into the Dadès valley, with earthen kasbahs that blend into the mountain. Night in a guesthouse.

   
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   Day 8 · Dadès — Skoura — Ouarzazate — Aït Ben Haddou

   The Valley of Roses with its cooperatives, the Skoura palm grove and the Amridil kasbah. In Ouarzazate, the 'Hollywood of the desert', we visit the Taourirt kasbah or the film studios. Arrival in Aït Ben Haddou in the afternoon and a climb to the granary for sunset. Night in a kasbah.

   
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   Day 9 · Aït Ben Haddou — Telouet — Marrakech

   Early risers can see the ksar in the first light. Then we drive up the Ounila valley, among red-earth villages and riverside fields, to the kasbah of Telouet, residence of the Glaoui pashas, with halls decorated with stucco and tiles. Finally the Tizi n'Tichka pass and the descent to Marrakech, where we arrive in the afternoon.

   
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    Day 10 · Marrakech

    Free morning: the Majorelle Garden, blue and full of cacti, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum or a traditional hammam to relax after ten days of travel. Transfer to Marrakech-Menara airport according to your flight time.