5 Days Tours from Marrakech to the Desert

Day 1: Marrakech – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate:

Pick up at the agreed time in your Hotel / Riad, then travel to the south of the High Atlas Mountains along the spectacular Tizi-n-Tichka pass (2260m above sea level). This is an utterly spectacular road of red mountains and Berber villages. We will visit Ait Ben Haddou, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the most famous Berber village in Morocco. Here where films like Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Prince of Persia were shot. We will continue to Ouarzazate where you can visit the Kasbah Taourirte and the film studio. Dinner and overnight in Ouarzazate.

Day 2: Ouarzazate – Draa Valley – Merzouga “Erg Chebbi”:

After the collection, we will drive for 60 km to the oasis of Agdz. We will cross the lunar landscapes of the Anti-Atlas before reaching the Draa Valley admiring the palm grove and the ancient tribal Ksours. Approximately 20,000 tons of dates are produced in this one valley every yeat, as well as many henna plants. In Tansikht we will drive through spectacular landscapes of rocks and Tazarine and Alnif oases to reach Rissani. Afterwards, we will ride a camel to a Berber camp in the Erg Chebbi Merzouga desert where we will spend the night.

Day 3: Merzouga – Khamlia – Visit to the nomads – Rissani – Desert Erg Chebbi:

In the morning you can get up early to climb a dune and see the sunrise in the desert, then we will return to the hotel on a camel for breakfast and take a comforting shower and rest. You will then visit Khamlia, a town whose residents are originally from Mali, where we will have the opportunity to relax with a tea while enjoying a gnawa music concert. Then we will circle the dunes of the Erg Chebbi in a 4 × 4, an extension of the desert where the Great Dune of Morocco –  more than 250 meters high – is, before connecting by track with part of the route followed by the old Paris -Dakar Rally, with the mountains that border with Algeria in the background. We will visit the khol mines and the remains of an abandoned French and Berber settlement, before stopping at a panoramic point where you can contemplate the Erg Chebbi as a whole. We continue to a nomadic settlement where we will discover some secrets of their life and customs. We will go to Rissani, the first imperial city, where we will visit its original market, the largest in the south, where nomads and inhabitants of nearby towns come to sell their merchandise. If you wish, you can sample the tasty Berber pizza which is only found here. Return to the hotel in the afternoon and you’ll have some free time to walk through the dunes and rest. Night in hotel near the dunes.

Day 4: Merzouga – Gorges of Todra – Gorges of Dades:

After breakfast we will leave the Sahara and head towards the old irrigation system that is still used in the oasis of Eljerf. We will rest on the way to Tinjidad. We will have lunch in the Todra Valley, considered one of the oldest valleys in Morocco. It is a beautiful valley of 15 kilometers of date palms which ends with spectacular Gorges, used mainly for rock climbing and as a picnic area. We embark on the Dades Valley, which has an amazing rock formation formed by millions of years of erosion. We will visit the gorges and accommodation at the hotel.

Day 5: Gorges of Dades – Telouet – Marrakech:

Our last day of travel will be a beautiful road through Dades and the Valley of Roses, in the direction of Telouet where a Kasbah built by the Lord of the Atlas is still standing; this place was used as a meeting point for caravans. Free time to visit Telouet Kasbah with its beautiful architecture. We will cross again the mountains of the High Atlas towards Marrakech. The end of the trip.