I'm planning a trip to Morocco. My two priorities are to spend some time in Fes and Merzouga.. other than that I'm not too picky, and somewhat limited in time (the trip will be about 1.5 weeks total, including transport via somewhere in Europe from the US). What are the best modes of transportation? Is it better to take a bus between Fes and Merzouga, or to rent a car? I'll have one companion. From Merzouga, how best to return to Fes or Tangier (preferably not the same route back)? How long is the drive between Merzouga and Ouarzazate? (considering driving/bussing that then flying back to Tangier) What is the best way of traveling between Fes and Tangier?

Thank you for any and all responses!

I think the best (cheapest) way to travel to Merzouga is with a group. You can get information in almost every hotel or (big) restaurant about trips to Merzouga.
You will travel with other people in a minibus wo departs when it is full. The costs are ca. $20 a day.
The roads to Merzouga are not in good condition. I think that it is not easy to drive by yourselve to the dessert. The last few kilometers to the dessert you will drive trough a place that is almost a dessert. Their are no roads anymore, so you need a good car if you are driving by yourselve.
If you drive from Ourzazate to Merzouga you must drive for 12 ours or something. You can go back with a normal bus.

Good luck!

hello
for a good way to know morocoos is this.
marrakech.
what you can visit in marakech??
try to visit the oldeset medina called mallah;the mosque of elkoutoubia;and the big scare called jamma elfna.
in marrakech is a bilion of hotels:hotel ali;hotel foucoult;hotel elhamra;hotel la renaissance;;;;
try to get to hotel elhamra;quit a nice hotel.
if you like to do a trip to the desert from marrakech;don't do it with hotel ali in marrakech;hight prices and they bring tourestes to somewhere where they can take their comission;otherwise i knew somebody from desert charged 5euros a day knows too much his irea;if you think to cantact him here is his numberfhoon:0021268652285
from marakech take a bus or either a train (a big taxi cost a bit expansive)to ourzazat.
ourzazat;what you can visit??
ourzazat as a city just nothing to see;but outside ourzazat is the oldeset kasbahs called aitbenhadou;tefoultoute;glui;and a small nice oisis called fint.
from ourzazat there are two ways to do.
you can either do the draa vally to zagoura or to thenrir to visit the todraa gorges and boumelen dades.
from zagoura or todraa gorge you can do it directly to merzouga.
fes and meknes are nice;chouen and essauira are nice too.
for more details about a cheaper hotels and more whrite me in :loura1974@yahoo.fr
have fun.

Hi

I took a tour from Marrakech which took four days. It only cost about $140 including food. We went from Marrakech via Ouarzazate to Zagora then accross to Merzouga. We took the high pass back to Marrakech. It was really enjoyable and saved a lot of time over doing it independently also it probably wouldn't have been much cheaper.

We booked the tour through the Hotel Ali in Marrakech which is the usual backpacker hangout.

It's possible to take a direct train between Marrakech and Tangier which takes about 9 hours.

Have fun

The cheapest way to get to merzouga from fes is bus. The buses leave from Bab El Mahrouk in Fes El Bali and goes to Rissani leaving at 4:00, 6:30, 10:00, 22:30. The CTM bus which is the safest leaves at 20:30 and arrives 6:30am. It costs approx 130 Dirham. From Rissani you can get a share taxi to Merzouga for about 10-20 dirham. There is a newly paved road connecting the two so there is no longer a need for a 4*4.

As to the bit about travel between Fes and Tangier - The train is better than a bus and in Morocco there is often little difference in price between trains and busses.

Hello,
It is much better to take the bus from Fez to Erfoud,it costs cheaper.From Erfoud to Ouarzazate it is only about 6 or 7 hours.
if you want to realize a camel trek in the desert here is my friend hostel where they start camel treks:Auberge Erg Chebbie.You may have a trip with camel for a couple of days or the time you want.
For more inf here is my e-mail address:benami_aziz@hotmail.com

I lived in Ouarzazate for two years and think the best way for you to get from Fes to Merzouga is by car or bus. If you have a couple of days to play with I strongly recommend some dessert treking outside of Merzouga and a trip through the Draa Valley and can recommend contacts if you are interested. Have fun! Sounds like youre in for a great time.
Laura Miller lem12479@yahoo.com