The most beautiful road trips from Fez: the big guide

Fez is the perfect base for exploring northern and central Morocco: within a few hours' drive you can trade the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas for the dunes of the Sahara, or the blue medina of the Rif for Roman ruins. Here is our big guide to the most beautiful driving routes, with distances, journey times and tips.

1. Fez → Merzouga: the great desert thrill

This is the legendary road trip: head south to the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Allow around 460 to 470 km and 7 to 8 hours of driving, via Ifrane, Azrou, Midelt, Errachidia and Erfoud, according to route calculations. Good news: the road is paved all the way to Merzouga, so a standard car is all you need. Best done over 3 days, with an overnight stop in Midelt. Full details in our Merzouga desert guide.

2. Fez → Chefchaouen: the blue pearl of the Rif

Head north into the Rif mountains for Chefchaouen, the blue-walled town perched at around 600 m above sea level. The drive is roughly 200 km, or 3 to 4 hours on the road, according to guides to Chefchaouen from Fez. Perfect for a weekend: blue alleyways, a 15th-century kasbah, Outa el-Hammam square and sunset from the Spanish mosque. Our weekend in Chefchaouen tells you everything.

3. Fez → Ifrane & Azrou: the cool air of the Middle Atlas

Just ~60 km away (a 1-hour drive), Ifrane — nicknamed "little Switzerland" and built at ~1,650 m altitude — offers a welcome breath of fresh air, while the Azrou cedar forest is home to the famous Barbary macaques (an endangered species). Ideal for a day in nature, especially when the heat builds up in Fez. Details in our article Ifrane & Azrou.

4. Fez → Meknes & Volubilis: imperial cities and Rome in Morocco

Less than an hour away, the Meknes–Volubilis pairing is a deep dive into history: Meknes, the imperial city of Moulay Ismail (UNESCO-listed, with the immense Bab Mansour gate), and Volubilis, the best-preserved Roman site in Morocco, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997 for its mosaics and columns, as detailed in the UNESCO listing for Volubilis. Easily done in a day: see our Meknes & Volubilis day trip.

5. The long hauls (for going further)

With a little more time, Fez connects to the kingdom's major cities: Rabat (~206 km, ~2 h 15), Casablanca (~290 km, ~3 h), Tangier (~277 km, ~4 h) and Marrakech (~530 km, ~5 h 30-6 h by motorway via Casablanca), according to distances between Moroccan cities. These journeys largely follow the A2 motorway (Rabat–Fez), which is fast and comfortable.

Preparing your road trip properly

• Which car? A compact or an SUV with air conditioning and an automatic gearbox makes long distances far more pleasant. A standard car is fine anywhere on paved roads.
• Budget: fuel plus tolls, both easy to estimate — see our budget guide.
• Driving rules: speed limits, tolls, speed cameras — it is all in Driving in Morocco.
• Season: spring and autumn are ideal; avoid midsummer for the desert and the medinas (see When to visit).
• Drive in daylight, fill up before remote stretches, and keep your maps available offline.

With Fez at the centre, all of Morocco is within driving distance. Book your car and put your itinerary together — we are always happy to help over WhatsApp.