Itinerary
Our driver will meet you at the airport in Marrakech and take you to your accommodation. Depending on your arrival time, you might have a short tour of the city after the check-in.
The second day of our 7-day tour will be a full day visiting Marrakech with a local guide. Today you will discover the Koutoubia Mosque, Saadian tombs, Bahia Palace, the historic Jewish quarter "Mellah," Menara, and the Majorelle Gardens. Our day continues discovering the Medina of Marrakech, including Jemaa el-Fnaa square, a bustling marketplace where performers, narrators, and jugglers converge to entertain tourists. Later, you have free time to watch the sunset from your hotel/riad or from the terrace of a local restaurant with a view of the square.
We’ll go south across the high Atlas Mountains and will stop along the way to take in the breathtaking vistas of the Atlas Mountains and the Tizi N’tichka pass (2260m). Our journey continues past tiny Berber Villages and the Ounila valley heading to Ait Benhaddou kasbah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where one of the most remarkable red earth castles lines the ancient path of the Kasbahs. Ait Benhaddou was once a bustling commercial hub in the 17th century and starred in films such as Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, and Game of Thrones. After lunch and a visit to the Kasbah, we will continue our journey through Skoura’s palm grove and the Valley of Roses. By the end of the day, we will reach Dades, a magnificent valley where we will spend the night.
The fourth day will be a traveling day from Dades to the Sahara desert. On the way, we will be driving through several villages and valleys. We will visit Tinghir’s Oasis, and then we’ll continue to Todra Gorge, a series of limestone river canyons. We’ll take our time exploring this magnificent gorge before continuing our journey to the Sahara. The road will take us through several small cities such as Tinjdad, Melaab, Erfoud, and the Saharian oasis of Tafilalet. Depending on your arrival time in Merzouga, you will either have time for a short break or be able to ride the camels right away. The camel tour begins at approximately 17:30 in the summer and about 15:00-16:00 in the winter. You will enjoy an hour camel trek and the sunset over the dunes before reaching the desert camp. Upon your arrival, you will be welcomed with a cup of tea, check into your tent, and then you will have free time on the dunes to wander or try sandboarding. Later on, the local guides will perform drums music around a bonfire. You’ll have a great time listening and dancing to the drum rhythms under millions of stars. Because of the hot temperatures and storms, the campfire is only during the cold months when the weather is nice.
We will wake you up early to enjoy the sunrise in the desert before heading for Ouarzazate after breakfast and a shower. Today we'll take the southern road, enjoying the vast black rocky desert's landscapes as we pass through Rissani, Alnif, Tazarine, Nkoub, Agdez, and the lovely Draa valley. Depending on your stops, we'll be reaching Ouarzazate in the afternoon/evening.
We'll be visiting Ouarzazate, known as the gateway to the Sahara Desert or the African Hollywood. We'll visit the studios that have been used in several well-known films, and we'll visit Taourirt Kasbah, which has a 19th-century palace with views of the surrounding countryside. Our journey continues as we travel across the magnificent Atlas Mountains back to Marrakech.
Free time in Marrakech before the airport transfer. End of the 7-day tour from Marrakech