The 3 Days Morocco Desert Tour from Fes takes the same road south as the two-day version and adds the day that makes the difference: a full day at Merzouga instead of a sunset arrival and a dawn departure.
That day is spent away from the dunes as well as on them. You take tea with a nomad family living in a tent on the open hamada, cross the black volcanic desert, look at the abandoned kohl mines at Mfis, and spend the late afternoon at Khamlia, where a Gnaoua group plays music carried north across the Sahara generations ago.
You return to Fes on the third day by the Ziz Valley and the Middle Atlas, having seen the desert properly rather than in passing.
Early pickup in Fes and up into the Middle Atlas. Ifrane comes first, a 1930s hill town with steep roofs and gardens, then the cedar forest near Azrou, where Barbary macaques come down to the roadside.
Lunch at Midelt on the plateau, then the Tizi n Talghomt pass and the descent into the Ziz Valley, a green corridor of date palms between bare red cliffs, with a viewpoint above the gorge.
You reach Merzouga in the late afternoon, leave the heavy bags, and ride into Erg Chebbi by camel. Camp is reached at sunset, with time to climb a crest before dinner under the tent and drums by the fire.
Accommodation: Berber desert camp, Erg Chebbi
Wake early for sunrise on the dunes, then the camels take you back for breakfast and a shower at your hotel.
The day is spent circling the erg by 4×4. You stop at a nomad family camp on the open hamada, where tea is made over a small fire, and pass the seasonal lake at Dayet Srji, which draws flamingos in spring when there is water.
Further out, the black desert is a plain of dark volcanic stone, and at Mfis the abandoned kohl and galena workings are still open to walk around.
The afternoon ends at Khamlia, a village founded by descendants of sub-Saharan Africans, where a Gnaoua ensemble plays the deep, trance-driven music the region is known for. Back to the dunes for a second sunset.
Accommodation: Hotel or kasbah in Merzouga
After breakfast the road turns north, with a stop at Rissani, the old caravan town and seat of the Alaouite dynasty, whose covered market is one of the busiest in the south.
The Ziz Valley follows, then the climb onto the plateau and lunch at Midelt.
The last stage crosses the cedar forest and Ifrane before dropping into Fes. Arrival in the evening, with drop-off at your accommodation.
A 4×4 circuit of the desert rather than more camel riding: nomad camps, the black desert, the old mines and Gnaoua music at Khamlia. It is the day most travellers say turned the trip into something they remember.
One night at the camp on the sand and one at a hotel or kasbah in Merzouga, which gives you a hot shower and a real bed mid-trip. Two camp nights can be arranged instead.
Yes, this is a round trip. If you want to finish in Marrakech instead, take the 3 or 4 day Fes to Marrakech versions.
Yes, along with the Khamlia visit and the nomad family stop.
Around eight hours each way with stops. Day two involves almost no transfer.
Yes. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free meals are prepared at the camp and the hotel with advance notice.
Two days reaches the Sahara. Three days lets you spend time in it. The extra night costs one more day and changes the balance of the trip from driving to being there.
Everything is private, so the schedule can shift: leave earlier, stay out longer at sunset, or swap the standard camp for a luxury one.
