6 DAYS TANGIER TO MARRAKECH STARGAZING DESERT TOUR

Sahar Stargazing Experience

6 DAYS TANGIER TO MARRAKECH STARGAZING DESERT TOUR

The sixth day on this crossing buys one specific thing: a full guided day inside the Fes medina. On the 5-day route Fes is where you sleep between two long drives, which is a poor use of the largest intact medieval city centre in the world. Here it becomes a proper stop.

Everything else holds. You start at the Strait of Gibraltar, climb into the Rif for a night in the blue town of Chefchaouen, come south through the Roman city at Volubilis and the imperial gates of Meknes to Fes, cross the Middle Atlas and the Ziz Valley to the Sahara at Merzouga, and finish by tracking west through the Todra Gorge and the Dades Valley, past Ait Ben Haddou, and over the High Atlas.

Stargazing in the Merzouga Desert

Stargazing is one of the unforgettable experiences included in our Morocco desert tours. Rather than being a separate activity, it is part of your desert camp experience and takes place during your stay in the Erg Chebbi dunes, as outlined in your tour itinerary.

How Our Stargazing Experience Is Organized

After enjoying a traditional dinner at the desert camp, we gather together and take a peaceful 10-minute walk into the heart of the dunes. Away from any artificial lights, you’ll reach a quiet location where the night sky reveals thousands of stars in remarkable clarity.

Our experience begins with fascinating stories about the nomadic people of the Sahara and how they relied on the stars for navigation and orientation across the desert. You’ll learn about their traditions, legends, and their deep connection with the night sky.

Using a professional laser pointer, your guide will introduce you to the most prominent stars, constellations, and celestial objects visible above the Sahara. With virtually no light pollution, the Merzouga dunes offer one of Morocco’s most spectacular stargazing environments, making this a truly memorable part of your desert adventure.

Duration: 6 days / 5 nights

Start: Tangier

End: Marrakech

Tour Style: Private

Stargazing Experience : Merzouga Desert

HIGHILGHTES:

– The Rif Mountains and a stop at the Tetouan medina
– A night in the blue-painted town of Chefchaouen
– The Roman ruins of Volubilis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
– Bab Al-Mansour and the imperial architecture of Meknes
– A full guided day in the Fes medina
– Al-Qarawiyyin, the oldest continuously operating university in the world
– The Chouara tanneries and the artisan quarters
– Ifrane and the cedar forest Barbary macaques
– The Ziz Valley palm corridor
– Camel trekking into the Erg Chebbi dunes at sunset
– A night in a luxury desert camp with Berber music around the fire
– A guided stargazing session in the dunes
– The Todra Gorge and the Dades Valley
– Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah
– Crossing the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass at 2,260 metres

TOUR Itinerary

Your guide collects you in the morning from your accommodation or the ferry terminal in Tangier. The road follows the Mediterranean coast east before turning inland at Tetouan, whose medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site built by Andalusian refugees after the fall of Granada.

The climb into the Rif follows. Chefchaouen sits in a fold between two peaks, and the approach gives you the whole town at once, stacked up the hillside in blue and white.

The afternoon and evening are free. The medina is compact and rewards walking without a plan, and the hour before sunset is when the blue walls are at their best.

The morning is free, with the option of the half-hour climb to the Spanish Mosque for the view back over the town and the mountains behind it.

After an early lunch the road runs south to Volubilis, the most complete Roman site in Morocco, where the street plan is still legible and the basilica, triumphal arch, and floor mosaics survive in place.

Meknes follows, the imperial capital built by Moulay Ismail, where the monumental gate at Bab Al-Mansour gives the clearest sense of the scale he was working at. From there it is a short run to Fes and your riad in the medina.

A full day in the medina with a licensed local guide. Fes el-Bali has functioned more or less continuously since the ninth century, and it does not give up much to someone wandering alone for an afternoon.

The morning covers the area around Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 and recognised as the oldest continuously operating university in the world, along with the Al Attarine Madrasa and its carved cedar and zellige work. The Chouara tanneries follow, where hides are still worked in stone vats by a process that has changed very little in centuries.

The afternoon moves through the artisan quarters, where trades are grouped by street: coppersmiths, weavers, woodcarvers, ceramicists. A drive takes in the Royal Palace gates, the Mellah, and the Borj Sud fortress for the view over the whole basin the city sits in.

Overnight: Riad in the Fes medina

An early departure, because the camels leave for the dunes before sunset.

Ifrane comes first, a town of pitched roofs and clipped hedges that could be dropped into the Alps unnoticed. Past it, the cedar forest around Azrou holds troops of Barbary macaques, one of the last wild populations of the species anywhere.

Lunch is usually at Midelt. Beyond it the road runs through the Tizi n’Tilghmt pass and enters the Ziz Valley, where a mountain-fed river supports a ribbon of date palms running for miles through bare rock.

Merzouga appears in the late afternoon. Camels are waiting at the edge of Erg Chebbi. The trek climbs into the dune field and stops on a high crest for sunset before dropping to the camp, where tea is waiting and your tent is ready. Dinner follows, then music around the fire.

STARGAZING EXPERIENCE – MERZOUGA DESERT

After dinner, we gather together and walk for about 10 minutes into the dunes to a quiet, dark location where there is no light pollution.

We begin with an introduction to the mythology of the nomads and explain how they used the stars they observed at night to navigate during the day.

Using a professional laser pointer, we guide you through the night sky, introducing the most important stars and constellations.

An early start for the sunrise over the dunes, then breakfast at the camp. You leave either by camel again or by 4×4.

If the day falls on a Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday there is the option of stopping at the souk in Rissani, the historic seat of the Tafilalet and still a working regional market.

The route runs west to Tinghir, with a stop at the viewpoint above the palm oasis and the villages along its edge, then up the Todra river to the gorge, where the canyon narrows and the limestone walls rise around 300 metres above the riverbed. There is time to walk the gorge floor.

The day ends in the Dades Valley, with a stop at the viewpoint over the switchback road climbing the valley wall.

The final day runs west through Kalaat M’Gouna, the centre of the Roses Valley, where the fields turn colour in spring and rose products are made year-round.

At Ouarzazate there is the option of visiting Atlas Studios. A short distance on is Ait Ben Haddou, the fortified earthen village on the old caravan route, built from packed earth and straw, with time to walk up through the ksar to the granary at the top.

From there the road climbs the High Atlas and crosses the Tizi n’Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, with stops along the switchbacks. You descend into the Marrakech plain and are dropped at your riad, where the tour ends.

– Pick-up at your accommodation or the ferry terminal in Tangier
– Private air-conditioned vehicle with fuel
– English-speaking driver
– Licensed local guide for the Fes medina
– Five nights accommodation as listed
– Private en-suite rooms in riads and hotels, private tent at the desert camp
– Meals: 5 breakfasts and 2 dinners
– Camel trekking experience in the Erg Chebbi dunes
– Sandboarding
– Stargazing experience in the Merzouga desert
– Drop-off at your accommodation in Marrakech

– Lunches
– Drinks and beverages
– Entrance fees where applicable
– Tips

Please fill out the form below to contact us, and we will respond as soon as possible. For a faster response please send a WhatsApp: +212661144620 message or call us at +212661144620 . We look forward to connecting with you. Email: saharastargazing@gmail.com

How to pay for the tour?

Our payment process is simple and hassle-free. To confirm your booking, we require a small deposit, which can be easily paid via PayPal, bank transfer, or Wise at the time of reservation. The remaining balance is to be paid in cash to your driver or guide on the first day of the tour, in euros, US dollars, or the equivalent amount in Moroccan dirhams.

What currency is used, and how do I get money?

The currency in Morocco is the Moroccan Dirham (MAD). Credit cards are accepted in many hotels and larger businesses, but cash is needed in many smaller towns and markets.

Is it possible to customize the tour itinerary?

The currency in Morocco is the Moroccan Dirham (MAD). Credit cards are accepted in many hotels and larger businesses, but cash is needed in many smaller towns and markets.

What are the camps in the desert like?

You’ll spend the night in a traditional Berber desert camp featuring private tents. The camps offer essential comforts such as comfortable bedding, shared or private bathroom facilities (depending on the camp type), warm blankets, and a communal dining area for meals and relaxation.

Price & Booking Policy

As a staying guest of our hotel ,hotel KASBAH mohayut, we offer you a guided observation of the starry sky after dinner until midnight, seeing conditions permitting,
at 200
Dirhams per person.
As a non-staying guest of our hotel we offer a 3-course dinner with guided stargazing after dinner at 350 Dirhams per person. Only valid with a firm reservation and upon confirmation by hotel mohayut.
For passing through guests: Price: 350 Dirhams pp. Parking of the car and a guided observation after dinner for about an hour and a half .upon firm reservation confirmed by the hotel.
Occasional drive-by’s will not guarantee stargazing at SaharaSky.
Cancellations please 2 days before arrival date as confirmed by the hotel either by email to saharastargazing@gmail.com or by SMS to 0661144620 .

How Our Stargazing Experience Is Organized

Walk through the tranquil Erg Chebbi dunes under a sky filled with stars.
Witness the spectacular Milky Way in a pristine dark-sky environment.
Learn how Sahara nomads navigated using the stars for centuries.
Guided constellation and planet tour with a professional laser pointer.
Discover ancient Berber legends and celestial mythology.
Perfect opportunity for unforgettable night photography and astrophotography.
A romantic, peaceful, and unforgettable experience in the heart of the Sahara Desert.