6 Days from Fes: Morocco Day Trips

Six days from Fes keeps Meknes, Volubilis, Ifrane and Azrou from the shorter plans, trades Sefrou for the bigger upgrade, a 2-day, 1-night Sahara tour to Merzouga, 7-9 hours each way, on top of the Chefchaouen overnight. Something has to give at six days, and Sefrou is the easiest cut. Coming from the 5-day version ? This drops Sefrou for the desert. Want the fuller 3-day Sahara loop instead, the 7-day plan is next.

Book these before you go:

Day Focus Distance / drive time
Day 1 Meknes and Volubilis (plus Moulay Idriss) ~60-90km / 60-90 min each way
Day 2 Ifrane and Azrou’s cedar forest ~60-65km / 1.5-2 hrs each way
Day 3 Depart for Chefchaouen ~200km / 4.5 hrs each way
Day 4 Chefchaouen morning, return to Fes ~200km / 4.5 hrs back
Day 5 Depart for the Sahara, desert camp ~450-500km / 7-9 hrs each way
Day 6 Desert sunrise, return to Fes ~450-500km / 7-9 hrs back

Day 1: Meknes and Volubilis in One Day

A 45-minute to 1-hour ONCF train reaches Meknes for 18-26 MAD, or take a shared grand taxi if you’d rather skip the timetable. Meknes is an imperial city in its own right, Bab Mansour gate and its own medina worth an hour, but the real draw sits 30-45 minutes further on: Volubilis, Morocco’s best-preserved Roman ruin and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 , roughly 70 MAD entry (confirm at the gate). Pair it with Moulay Idriss, the hilltop pilgrimage town next door, a chartered grand taxi covering all three stops runs roughly 400-500 MAD for the whole vehicle, or book a guided Meknes and Volubilis tour and skip the logistics entirely.

Day 2: Ifrane and Azrou’s Cedar Forest

Ifrane earns its “Little Switzerland” nickname honestly, alpine chalet architecture and a climate that turns properly cold and sometimes snowy in winter. Push on to Azrou’s cedar forest, 1.5-2 hours from Fes, for a near-guaranteed Barbary macaque sighting, these monkeys are resident year-round, not a rare spot you might miss. Guided day trips run roughly 7-9 hours round trip with a morning pickup; prices vary widely by operator, compare a couple before you book the Middle Atlas day trip .

Day 3: North to Chefchaouen

Pack an overnight bag, most riads will hold your main luggage while you’re away. The CTM bus leaves Fes’s dedicated Gare CTM Atlas station and covers the roughly 200km to Chefchaouen in 4 hours 15 minutes to 4 hours 45 minutes, tickets running roughly 150-180 MAD (about $16-18); book a couple of days ahead, this route sells out. Check riad availability in Chefchaouen on Booking.com before you go, rooms in the blue town go fast in spring and autumn. Settle in by afternoon and spend the evening wandering the blue-washed alleys while the light is still good.

Can you really not do Chefchaouen in a day? No, not honestly. A same-day round trip means 8.5-9.5 hours on a bus for a few rushed hours in town, and tour operators who sell a 10-plus-hour single-day excursion are selling you a bad trade. Staying the night costs one extra day but means you actually see the blue town in proper light instead of at a dead sprint.

Day 4: Chefchaouen Morning, Then Back to Fes

Spend the morning back in the blue alleys before the day-trippers from Fes and Tangier arrive, then catch an afternoon CTM bus back, another 4 hours 15 minutes to 4 hours 45 minutes. You’ll want a full night’s rest before the long drive south starts the next morning.

Day 5: South Toward the Sahara

Pack light for one night and leave the rest at your riad. The drive to Merzouga runs 7-9 or more hours via the Middle Atlas, Ifrane and the Ziz Valley, a genuine haul broken up by real scenery, not a padded transfer. Arrive by evening, transfer to a desert camp near Erg Chebbi, and catch sunset over the dunes before dinner. A 2-day, 1-night package runs roughly 600-1,300 MAD per person (about 55-120 euros); book the 2-day Sahara tour from Fes rather than trying to arrange the drive and camp separately.

Day 6: Desert Sunrise, Then Home to Fes

Catch the sunrise camel ride before the heat sets in, then settle in for the 7-9 hour drive back to Fes. Keep a printed or offline copy of your tour voucher, cell signal disappears for long stretches past Errachidia.

Is the 2-day Sahara tour enough, or should you go for 3? Two days gets you one genuine night in the desert, a camel ride and a sky worth the whole drive, but it’s a rushed there-and-back with very little slack. If your schedule can stretch to 3 days and 2 nights instead, see the 7-day plan , the extra day buys real breathing room on both ends of a long drive.

Six days turns Fes from a base for day trips into a base for an actual desert overnight, on top of a genuine blue-town stay. That’s a fuller Morocco trip than most visitors manage from either city alone. Check the official Fez tourism page for the medina itself before you commit these dates.