7 DAYS DESERT TOUR FROM MARRAKECH TO Merzouga

Our driver will pick you up at the airport and you’ll have the day to relax while exploring the main square Jemaa el Fnaa and the souks.

An optional private guided tour of the Medina in Marrakesh will be available today with a local guide. You will see the well-known Koutubia Mosque, the Medina and its souks, and discover more of Marrakesh’s hidden gems. Additionally, the Saadian, Bahia Palace, Majorelle Gardens, and a night at a Riad in the Medina. Ali Ben Youssef Koranic School.

At eight in the morning, a driver will pick you up from your Marrakech lodging and take you to the High Atlas highlands in southern Morocco. Along the way, you’ll stop at Tizi N’Tichka port for panoramic views and to take pictures of the Berber hamlet settlements that blend into the surrounding terrain. Then we go farther south to Ait Ben Haddou, a ksar (fortified settlement), where we will explore the well-known Kasbah, which was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. Famous movies like Gladiator, Obelix, The Mummy, The Jewel of the Nile, Sahara with Penélope Cruz, etc. were filmed on this magnificent set.

Lunchtime in the town is free. Then we proceed to Ouarzazate, also referred to as “The Gate of the Desert” and translated from Berber as “noiseless or without confusion.” The Taourirt kasbah, one of Morocco’s most impressive ksars, may be found here. The Rose Valley, which passes through the expansive Skoura palm grove, is the next destination to see. It’s a lovely place to admire the more than 700.000 palm trees there as well as the numerous kasbahs that have been constructed nearby. Damascene roses are grown in this valley for use in beauty products like the highly prized rosewater. This location hosts the Rose Festival every year in May and is a significant museum for Moroccan culture. We arrive to the Dades valley, where we will spend the night, at last.

After breakfast, we’ll take in one of the most stunning views of the Dades Valley from a well-placed mountain lookout, where we can take in the abundance of kasbahs and their individual aesthetic qualities. From the city of Tinerhir, a very nice asphalt road ascends the valley to the gorge and then to the desert. We will arrive in the Todra Gorges after a few stops along the road. The view is breathtaking. Local residents can be observed in their adobe villages, where they reside. These gorges are famous with rock climbers because of their rocky sides with numerous uneven surfaces.

After a brief stroll through the Todra gorges, you’ll have some free time to grab lunch in Tinejdad or Touroug before we continue on to the desert and the magnificent Merzouga dune system. From there, we will go on an hour-long camel journey to Erg Chebbi, the site of our nomadic camp. We’ll watch the sunset from a dune’s top before dinner, and we’ll spend the night in a tent under a starry sky.

This whole day is in the desert. If you’re in the midst of the desert, making a “Sunrise Appointment” to watch the most amazing sunrise you’ve ever seen from the top of a dune close to your tent is definitely worth the early wake-up call.

We ride camels back to Merzouga after sunrise, where a substantial breakfast is waiting for us. Then we will circumnavigate the Erg Chebbi, a vast stretch of sandy desert where we can find the tallest dune in all of Africa, standing at more than 250 meters. After that, we travel along a route where we may observe nomad villages and discover their customs.

Then, we will arrive in Khamlia Village, which is originally from Mali, where we will enjoy a soothing cup of tea while we take in a performance of Gnawa spiritual music. Transfer to your opulent lodging. Spend the afternoon exploring the town or the dunes next to the hotel to catch the sun setting. Have dinner and spend the night at your hotel or back in your individual nomadic tent.

After breakfast, we ride camels back to Merzouga after viewing the sunrise in the desert. Additionally, have a shower in the hotel before we begin traveling to Ouarzazate through the Berber communities of the Atlas Mountains (Alnif, Tazarine, agdz, and Draa valley). We plan to get to Ouarzazate in the evening.

After viewing studios, we will leave Ouarzazate and travel across the High Atlas Mountains. It will travel across Tizni Tichka, Morocco’s highest road pass, which is 2260 meters high and offers breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, valleys, and Berber settlements. Marrakesh will be reached in the evening.