6 day Sahara Tour from Marrakesh

Your 6 day Sahara Tour from Marrakesh, “3 Ergs, 2 Camels & a 4x4” starts after an early breakfast. We’ll pick you up from your hotel/riad and head into the High Atlas Mountains. We’ll cross over Morocco’s highest road pass – the Tizi-n-Tichka pass at 2260m. We’ll stop at the top of the pass for refreshment and to take pictures of the stunning views.

We’ll take a side road to visit the ruins of Telouet Kasbah (Palace of Glaoui) in the traditional Berber village of Telouet, before continuing a short way to Ait Ben Haddou, the oldest Kasbah in the south of Morocco, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the village was originally built in the 17th century, people still live and work there today, their homes built right into the rock or with mud bricks, which are made locally using the same methods as in ancient times. Ait Ben Haddou has also featured in many films, including The Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven.

We’ll have lunch in the village, and you’ll have time to explore the Kasbah. It’s a gentle climb through winding streets to the top, where you can see in all directions.

We’ll then follow the winding Dades Valley through the mountains. Dades is known as the “Valley of the Thousand Kasbahs”. We’ll stop along the way to visit Kalaat M’Gouna, the “Valley of the Roses”, Morocco’s rose-growing region. Every year, millions of rose petals are harvested to produce a wide variety of rose-infused products. The harvest is celebrated with the Rose Festival each May. We'll make a stop here so that you can see, smell, and, if you wish, purchase some products made from local roses.

Next, we’ll detour from the main road to travel into the spectacular Dades Gorge. You’ll have dinner & spend the night at a Berber guesthouse overlooking the gorge. Nearby you’ll see the rock formation known as “Monkey Toes”.

In the morning you’ll have time to walk along the gorge before we head back to the main road and continue our journey towards the Sahara Desert.

We’ll pause at Tinghir, a lush green oasis town full of palm trees & gardens, and drive into the nearby Todra Gorge. The steep walls of the Todra Gorge are 300 metres high. We’ll stop here and you can walk along the shallow river that runs through the gorge.

Our next stop is the town of Rissani, where you’ll have lunch and visit the local souk (market). Local residents do almost all of their shopping in this warren of covered stalls. On Tuesdays, the market expands as the travelling market arrives, and people flock from other towns & villages to shop.

In the afternoon, we’ll head to the Merzouga region of the Sahara Desert. We’ll leave the paved road to drive across the flat desert towards the magnificent sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Erg Chebbi has the highest dunes in North Africa, and the sight of them rising suddenly out of the desert floor never fails to impress!

We’ll arrive at the desert hotel in late afternoon, and your camels will be waiting. You’ll leave civilization behind as you camel-trek into the high dunes, watching the sands change colour as the sun moves across the sky. You’ll have time to explore, take pictures, and watch the sunset before camel-trekking back out of the big dunes.

When you reach the desert camp, you’ll enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal. After dinner you’ll be entertained with African music – drumming and singing and dancing – around a campfire. You’ll spend the night in tents surrounded by small dunes under the starry Saharan sky.

After breakfast, we’ll leave the big dunes behind and drive through the lush, green Dra’a Valley Oasis – the longest valley in Morocco.

We’ll stop for lunch in N’Qob, where you can enjoy mountain views while you eat.

In the afternoon, the journey takes us across the Dra’a River to Tansikht. Here we go off-road to follow the ancient caravan route along the valley with its huge palm trees and ancient villages.

You’ll spend the night in Zagora at the foot of the Atlas Mountains.

After breakfast on Day 4, your 6 day desert tour from Marrakesh continues. We’ll travel to Erg Lihoudi, where you’ll enjoy a 2 hour camel trek into the dunes.

We’ll have lunch in M’Hamid on the edge of the Sahara Desert. M’Hamid is home to the annual International Nomad Festival, celebrating Bedouin (Sahrawi) & Berber nomad lifestyles, handicrafts, & music.

After lunch the tour continues by 4x4 to Erg Chigaga. The dunes of Erg Chigaga are smaller than those of Erg Chebbi, but the erg itself is much larger. It really does seem like an ocean of sand! We’ll drive about 60km off-road through the dunes, heading further into the Sahara and leaving civilization far behind. You’ll have dinner and stay overnight in tents in a desert camp near the dunes.

After breakfast, we’ll travel by 4x4 through another 90km of desert, following a winding track. We’ll gradually leave the dunes behind as the landscape slowly changes and we start seeing more rocks & vegetation.

We’ll stop at the dry Lake Iriki, where we’ll look for fossils. Next, we’ll stop for lunch in Foum Zguid, the first village after leaving the desert.

After lunch, we’ll head to the village of Taznakht. You’ll see local carpet-weavers at work making the Berber kilims & carpets for which the town is known.

Later in the afternoon, we’ll arrive in Ouarzazate. You’ll check in to your riad/hotel & have some free time to explore. Ouarzazate is known as the "Hollywood of Morocco", due to its thriving film industry. It has several film studios, both Moroccan and international. The surrounding landscape is a popular on-location site and has been used to portray everything from the Egyptian desert to the surface of Mars.

After breakfast, we’ll take pictures at the kasbah of Taourirt, then you’ll tour one of the Moroccan film studios.

We’ll then drive cross-country to visit the Fint Oasis in the mountains. It was once a crossroads for caravans travelling in southern Morocco. We’ll have lunch there before starting back to Marrakesh, following the winding road back over the High Atlas Mountains.

We’ll reach Marrakesh in the evening and drop you off at your hotel/riad. This completes your 6 day Sahara Tour from Marrakesh, “3 Ergs, 2 Camels & a 4x4”.