Shared Group Tour from Fes to Desert

Today marks the start of your shared, budget-friendly desert adventure from Fes. Your group boards a shared minivan, typically carrying between six and twelve travellers, and departs Fes in the morning heading into the Middle Atlas via Ifrane, the curious alpine-style town built by the French in the 1930s, and the Azrou Cedar Forest, home to some of the largest Atlas cedars in the world and a resident troop of wild Barbary macaques, where the group stops to walk among the ancient trees. Continuing south past Midelt for a group lunch stop, the road follows the dramatic Ziz Gorges and then the Ziz Valley, a ribbon of palm groves and mudbrick ksour villages. As the afternoon light softens, the group arrives in Merzouga on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dune sea, where camel handlers meet everyone for a shared sunset trek across the dunes to the group desert camp. After a group dinner cooked over an open fire, everyone gathers around the campfire as Berber musicians play traditional drums under one of the most spectacular starscapes anywhere on Earth — a wonderful shared experience with fellow travellers from around the world. Lunch during the group's crossing is typically taken in Midelt, a shared midday break that gives everyone a chance to compare first impressions of the journey so far.

For those willing to wake before dawn, this morning offers the group a chance to climb a nearby dune together and watch the sunrise transform the desert from soft pink to deep gold. Afterwards, the group enjoys a relaxed Berber breakfast at camp. Given this is a shared, unhurried itinerary, today is deliberately free: guests can relax at camp, join an optional group excursion by 4x4 further into the dunes (available locally for an additional cost), or simply enjoy the shared common areas and get to know fellow travellers. As the second evening approaches, we again watch the sunset over the dunes before another group dinner and an evening of music around the campfire. Lunch today is usually a relaxed group affair back at camp, in keeping with the unhurried pace of this second desert day.

After a final group Berber breakfast at camp, everyone says goodbye to the camel guides and boards the 4x4 back to Merzouga village, where the shared minivan awaits for the return journey. We retrace the Ziz Valley and climb back into the Middle Atlas via Er-Rachidia and Midelt, with a group lunch stop along the way, before completing the descent to Fes in the early evening. This shared-group format keeps costs significantly lower than a private tour while delivering the same unforgettable desert experience under the stars — over these three days, the group will have crossed the Middle Atlas through cedar forests inhabited by wild Barbary apes, driven the length of the striking Ziz Valley oasis, and shared two nights sleeping beneath the stars among the towering dunes of Erg Chebbi. Lunch on the return journey is typically taken in Midelt, a final shared meal before the group arrives back in Fes.