Shared Marrakech to Fes desert tour

This was the highlight of our weeklong travels through Morocco! I knew I wanted to visit the desert but was unsure how to do it on our own. I decided a guided organized tour would be much more logical. It took me a long time before I felt comfortable booking because it seems like there are a lot of scams out there that create horrible three day experiences for travelers. I decided to book Marrakech Desert Trips because I felt that by all the reviews they were a reputable company. Before we even arrived in Marrakech I sent a few emails back and forth with the company and they were very prompt and clear in their responses. C The night before when I pick-up was in the wrong area they quickly fixed the problem and messaged me the fix. Communication was sublime. Our driver was Anouar and we had so much fun with him! He's a great driver and just an overall kind person. We asked him questions about Morocco and he gives us good tips and helped us navigate the various places we visited. All that to say there are still a lot of times when they will offer to "visit" something along a stop or providing another guide and if you don't feel like spending more money just say no and there's no problem. Our time in the desert was amazing and beautiful and a great memory for the rest of our lives! We stayed in the standard camp and it was sufficient to our needs. Some people on our trip stayed in the luxury tents and that in itself is an experience which I think woud be worth trying. Its perfectly comfortable in the standard tent, but sometimes its a little bit fun to be extra ~fancy~ and apparently the rooms there are just shocking and well worth the extra costs. You also go a bit further into the desert which is nice. The night before our arrival to Fes Anouar called each of our riads to check their locations and by doing so incidentally confirmed our reservations which was a nice detail. He then drove all of us to our various lodgings in the city. The people on our trip were lovely as well. We were from all over and we continued to eat together and spend time together in Fes and beyond in our travels. Overall it was a wonderful experience and I highly highly recommend booking Marrakech Desert Trips for your venture into the Moroccan desert! Show more Show less

There are a couple of different options to visit the Sahara especially from Marrakech or Fez. Since our trip would be stopping in Marrakech first and we planned on visiting Fez as well, we found a tour that would pick us up in Marrakech, take us to the Sahara, and end in Fez. This was the most convenient and time efficient option for us. There are also round trip options from either city or you can make the journey from Fez to Marrakech as well. After doing some research we booked with Marrakech Desert Trips. We were picked up near our Riad in Marrakech and transported to a meeting point where groups were split up based on their packages. Then our 3 day journey started. It will involve A LOT of driving with some pit stops along the way. Unfortunately there isn't an easier way to get to the closest point of the desert. The site mentions you will have an English speaking guide- this was not true for our case but somehow between all of the folks in the group, we figured out a way to communicate with him. Day 1: Marrakech to Dades Valley There is one major stop along the way at Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou allowing you some time to stretch your legs and enjoy the fresh air. This is mentioned to be an UNESCO world heritage site but apparently has not received any funding for years so your guide will be asking for donations. The entrance for the fee is included in the package but there is an "optional" tour guide that is not. (It's not so optional haha ~5$/person). This is also the site of many famous hollywood movies and shows like Gladiator and Game of Thrones! After touring the Kasbah, you will be taken to a local shop and convinced to buy scarves you can wear on your desert trip. Don't be fooled, its a scam! If you have a nice cotton scarf already, I recommend bringing that. Or if you really want to purchase a 'traditional" scarf there, don't get persuaded to buy the super high end ones. The prices at the shop are not great. The guide will show you how to properly wear your scarf in the Sahara. It's fairly easy- as long as your scarf is long enough. You will then go to a touristy lunch spot with mediocre food and high prices. The journey will continue to your hotel for the night with some additional stops on the way. Depending on the time of year, you do not need to upgrade to a room with AC. The temperature drops a lot in the evenings. The hotel we stayed at was okay. I guess you can not expect much considering you are in the middle of no where. My only wish was having hot water to shower. Dinner is served family style and it gives you an opportunity to get to know your fellow passengers! Day 2: Dades Valley to Merzouga (Erg Chebbi dunes - Gateway to the Sahara) Breakfast is included with your hotel stay and it is pretty good! You will get a chance to try some local items. Even though the official itinerary mentions only 4 hours of driving, it definitely felt like more than that. I kind of wish the site seeing stops for this day were removed from the trip. We all would have preferred the chance to sleep in and then drive straight to the Sahara with some short breaks. So your first stop will be a farm. There was nothing special about this place and the Todgha Gorges is neat but not all that magnificent. We were then guided to an area where some nomads had set up a carpet/rug shop. We watched an old woman demonstrate how to make rugs and then were shown some rugs and what to look for when buying and price ranges. Once again you will stop for lunch at a touristy restaurant before the journey continues. You will reach Merzouga in the evening and will be greeted at the Nasser Palace to start your trip into the Sahara. PACK LIGHTLY! You really do not need a huge bag and the only way to take your bag is with you on the camel so bring a long a bookbag to carry extra clothing and some other essentials. The remainder of your luggage will stay in the van. We were split into 2 groups and assigned a camel who you will ride on your way in and on the way back. If you want to enjoy the camel ride with the people you are traveling with, I suggest staying in the same camel line as them. We did not see the other half of the group during our ride. It is not the most comfortable ride and it can be VERY hot (It is the desert after all) so wear sunscreen and preferably long loose pants and long sleeve light shirt to protect your skin. Once you arrive at the campsite, you will get a chance to climb up the highest dune in the area to enjoy the sunset. This is not an easy task because you know..its a mountain of sand. The only way to really see the sunset is to climb to the top but you can enjoy the view from one of the lower levels as well which is what most of us ended up doing. Relaxing and watching the sand change colors with the sun light. You will see just sands as far as the eyes can see. It is a beautiful, peaceful, surreal experience. After the sunset, the desert can get pretty chilly. We grabbed some blankets from our tents and huddled in the courtyard. Watched the stars and the dunes around us. Dinner was served in the main tent family style. Afterwards some of the locals and guides entertained the crowd with music and drums! Additional things to note: - Restroom accommodations are not great. Try not to drink too much water haha It is just one night! - When booking your trip, there's an option for a guaranteed private tent. All tents are occupied by 4 people. The only difference for the private tent is that there is a divider which gives you some privacy. - The camels are kept behind the campside. If you are one of the unfrotunate ones who gets a tent on that side, you will get to smell them all night haha. You won't get much sleep so stay up and enjoy the night. Day 3: Merzouga to Fes In order to catch the sunrise over the dunes, the day begins REALLY early. Which is fine because you won't get much sleep anyway. The night we spend there happened to be a full moon! We rode the camels with the moonlight guiding us back. We made one stop to enjoy the sunrise and take some pictures before heading back to the Palace. Breakfast will be served at the Palace before heading to your next destination. Some of the group will head back to Marrakech and the others to Fes. Since there were only 4 of us going to Fes, the company arranged a taxi for us. This will be a long drive with a couple restroom stops along the way. Once again, our taxi driver did not speak English which can be a bit frustrating. You're traveling in an unfamiliar country and the folks driving you can't properly communicate with you. Anyway, this drive didn't seem as bad as Day 1. It is also one of the most beautiful routes! We started off in the desert, went through farm land, the mountains, and even experience SNOW! Breathtaking scenery along the way. Show more Show less

We did the SHARED MARRAKECH TO FES DESERT TOUR and it was a great experience. We went for the camels / desert camp and loved it. Day 1 felt like a travel day. Even though we made a few stops we were all exhausted at the end of it. The hotel we stayed at was ok. Basically a place to rest before we got back on the bus in the morning. Day 2 was much better. We made a few stops and had more time off the bus (although not a lot of free time as we were on a tight schedule). The camel ride felt like a surreal experience. I think I smiled the entire time. We expected the typical tourist camel experience (“enjoy your 10 minute circular ride and get off”) but it definitely wasn’t. We rode for 1.5 hours each way and stopped for photos and to climb sand dunes. The desert camp was nice but very basic. Simple meal and a drum show. We got to climb one of the sand dunes at night and looked at the stars. The next day we rode out, had breakfast and were driven to Fes. I’m extremely glad I planned our trip so that we didn’t have to backtrack to Marrakech. It saved time and I imagine the trip back would have been extremely long having already seen the route. The ride to Fes was enjoyable and we got to see a different landscape. I should note that the shared group tour included people that booked with other tour agencies on the same bus. Thus people on the bus had different experiences (some seemed to have paid more for luxury and others paid less for a no-frill experience. Ours was in the middle). Also, our guide was nice but not a guide in the traditional “talk your ear off” sense. He was more a curator making sure that people got where they needed to go. If you’re looking for someone to explain things in detail I would suggest booking a private tour instead. All and all I really enjoyed the trip. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I would highly recommend seeing the desert and riding a camel to anyone visiting Morocco. Show more Show less

We had a hard time deciding which tour to take but at the end we were very happy that we had chosen this one. We highly recommend it. First of all we had a quick response to our questions while preparing for the trip. Our driver Ibrahim was speaking well English, French and Spanish and replied to all our questions about the Arabic culture, traditions and the sites we were passing by. First day we passed through the Atlas mountains and the driver stopped for scenic views and we visited the Ait Ben Haddou where we had a guide. The first night we spent it at Le Vieux Chateau - which had everything you needed - traditional beautiful looks, super clean and with dinner and breakfast included. The second day started with a stop at the Gorges Du Tondra and we also saw the Taourirt Kasbah (you can choose to visit the Cinema Museum or The Atlas Cinema Studio). We got to the desert in the afternoon where we had around 3 hours with the camels (dromedary) and hiked some of the highest dunes. This was definitely the best part of the trip. We slept at Auberge Sahara Garden - really nice place! There were toilets and showers available in great conditions. We enjoyed a traditional berber evening, with dinner and derbuga demonstration. We continued the last day to Fes with a couple of stops again for scenic views. Really thankful to Marrakech Desert Trips, for this great Morocco experience! I totally recommend this tour. Show more Show less

I will preface this by saying this review is based solely on the amount of money of money spent on the tour. We knew from the price that it would not be a high end luxury tour, so we were not surprised by any aspect of it. If you are looking for luxury, this is not the right tour for you. This was a great way to see so much of the Moroccan country side in a short amount of time. The scenery everywhere we went was amazing, and the landscapes changed so much as the tour went on. Keep in mind this tour has A LOT of driving hours, which we knew ahead of time. If you get car sick, i recommend taking motion sickness medicine ahead of time, especially on day 1 as the roads are super curvy. Our driver did not talk much, no commentary was given during the drive (which was okay with me) and he said very little when we would stop, however, he would answer people's questions. All guides at the stops expect tips at the end of their tour, so be prepared for that. In Ait Benhaddou, you will be expected to pay the guide approximately 3 Euros for "entrance fee" even though it is free entrance. Marrakesh Desert Tours said in their email that we did not have to have a tour with the guide, however, when two members of our group elected not to go with the guide, the guide made a scene and demanded they go back and sit on the bus. This guide is not associated with Marrakesh Desert Tours so it is no reflection on them, but just a heads up, be prepared to pay. On day two we were also taken to a cooperative who produced carpets, and were given a presentation on the carpets. I was a bit nervous at the beginning as I had no desire to buy a carpet and did not want to have to deal with the sales pitch. However, the presentation was very informative, and they let us go without any pressure to actually buy. The lunch places they take you to are VERY pricey and only have the tourist food (Tagine, couscous, pizza). The first place was actually really delicious, but the second two were horrible. Breakfast at both hotels was not filling, make sure to bring snacks! The included dinners at the hotel/camp were very good. Apparently, according to the company, you are no longer allowed to camp in the dunes, so now you stay in tents outside the dunes. Tents were extremely basic so be prepared for that. The camel ride into the dunes was GREAT!!! The guides were extremely nice and personable. One guide took AMAZING pictures on our phones.... he was very eager to get the best shots and we truly appreciated it. After departing the dunes, those transferring to Fez were met by a taxi (which was actually nicer than the van) and began the long journey, which was broken up by several stops. Overall, I would only recommend this tour if you are looking to do this 3 day trip on a budget, and you understand ahead of time it is not a five star experience. If you understand this upfront, you will have a good time! Show more Show less

This tour which basically is a three day adventure was easily on of the best experiences i ever had. All the sights were amazing in their own way. A big credit goes to our great driver Youssef which was friendly, helpful and always there for us. Many thanks Youssef. The hotel we stayed in on the dades valley was good as was the camp in the Sahara dessert. Show more Show less

I am very grateful to have been on the Shared Marrakech To Fes Desert Tour. We had a very engaged and knowledgeable driver (Lassan - I think that's how his name is pronounced) and a great group of people who were mostly Canadians and a really nice couple from the Philippines. I did struggle as an introvert to keep up with all the activity, it was A LOT to do in 3 days and the tour is nonstop from sunrise to sunset. If you are an extrovert then this is your dream trip! For me, however, I had to take many naps in the van, but I don't regret the adventure. Our driver stopped at all the best locations and intuitively knew when it was time to stretch our legs and have a pit stop. My favourite parts included exploring the famous town of Ait Ben Haddou, visiting a family who made Berber rugs (and buying 3 between the two of us!), feeding monkeys, and seeing real desert dunes for the first time in my life. I took so many pictures of all the colourful wears and dramatic landscapes. I still can't believe all the things we saw. It was incredible. The only reason my rating is a 4 and not a 5 is due to our Erg Chebbi camel experience. During the evening while most people were enjoying the music by the fire, we saw a couple of young Berber men whipping and kicking the camels who were partially tied up (to keep them from running off, the camels front leg is folded and bound). When I confronted them they told me that there was no other way to get a stubborn camel to move, however, as a person who grew up on a farm with livestock I know when it is definitely wrong to hit a large animal, especially when I see someone kick a camel after you get it to where it needs to be and after it lays down! The Berbers were not happy with my complaint, they let our tour guide know about my upset. Also, just an FYI about riding a camel.. It will hurt your arms and legs. So brace for the pain! In sum, I really liked the tour, but the camel part was disturbing and I'm not sure if the group of men (the Berbers) who oversee the camels necessarily work directly for Marrkech Desert Trips, but they were apart of the overall experience. If I could do it over again, I would choose to walk to the camp and would recommend others to do the same. Overall, I will have all these memories forever and that makes it all worth it so thank you so so much! Show more Show less

My 3 day trip to Merzouga was really great. Tour started from Marrakech and we saw lots of great places on our way to Merzouga. First night we stayed in Gorges Dades and second night stay was in the tent in Sahara Desert. They also provided an option to return to Fes after Merzouga with a taxi with few extra payment which helped me to save lots of time and allow me to make my route in Morocco succesfully. The road from Marrakech to Merzouga almost takes 10 hours but our driver İbrahim was absolutely amazing. First of all he drived very carefully and he was always kind and smiling. He also provided lots of info about the country and he can speak very well English and also Arabic and French naturally. In the tour i had a time when my money is finished and there were no atm on the roads for a long time and i was unable to buy even a water to drink and he gave me 200 dirhams and told you can even send when you go back to your country it is no problem. This really saved my life and a thing that i will never forget in my life. And later when i found an atm and got the money i offered 250 and he also didnt accept it and told he only wants 200. He might be the best moroccan i ever met and i hope you can have a chance to join a tour with İbrahim’s driving. Show more Show less

Me and my friends had a great time during the desert trip, the website gives an accurate description of the activities. The guides that were assigned to our group at ben ait haddou ( I don't remember his name, but he was wearing an orange turban and was an extra in game of thrones) and the oasis berber village (Ali) were awesome, funny and super friendly. The people in the places you visit are not pushy at all like in Marrakech. The accomodations were also way better than expected both the hotel and tent in the desert were very nice, the food was also very good. Our driver Ibrahim was super nice, I've been on a number of these kind of tours and I've never had a driver who connected so well with us. He knows everything there needs to be known and he was always ready to help, his english is really good and he loves joking around. Also his driving is really good, my girlfriend suffers from car sickness and she didn't feel dizzy once because he takes turns like a pro and brakes very carefully. If Ibrahim is your driver, I promise you will have an awesome time. The trip is really memorable and the long drives don't matter because the scenery is amazing. Highly recommend. Show more Show less