3 days Dades Sahara Tour

Your 3 days Dades Sahara "Monkey Toes & Camel Humps" Tour starts from Marrakesh. We’ll pick you up from your hotel/riad after an early breakfast and head into the High Atlas Mountains, crossing 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 then drive 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 pass through Ouarzazate, known as the "Hollywood of Morocco". Ouarzazate is home to 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.

We’ll then head to Skoura, where we’ll visit the picturesque Kasbah Amridil. The 17th century fortified village (ksar) along the river is mostly in ruins now, but the Kasbah (fortified mansion) on the south end was built in the late 19th century and is one of the most impressive kasbahs in Morocco. The Kasbah is still owned and maintained by the same family today.

Winding through the Dades Valley, we’ll arrive at Kalaat M’Gouna, the “Valley of the Roses”. This is Morocco’s rose-growing hub, where millions of rose petals are harvested each year to produce a huge array of rose-infused products for culinary and cosmetic use. The harvest culminates in May with the annual Rose Festival – worth attending if you can arrange your visit around this popular festival. We'll make a stop here so that you can see, smell, and, if you wish, purchase some products made from local roses.

Afterwards, we’ll take a side road to reach the stunning Dades Gorge and the nearby rock formation known as “Monkey Toes”. You’ll have dinner & stay the night in a Berber guesthouse overlooking the gorge.

In the morning of Day 2 of your 3 day Marrakesh desert tour you’ll have time for a walk along the Dades Gorge before we start heading towards the Sahara Desert. We’ll drive to the town of Tinghir, a lush green oasis full of palm trees and farmers’ crops, and visit the nearby Todra Gorge. The steep walls of the Todra Gorge are 300 metres high. This is a popular spot for rock climbers, as well as Moroccan families enjoying a picnic by the river.

We’ll stop here and you’ll have a chance to walk along the river.

Our next stop is the town of Rissani. We’ll have lunch and visit the local souk (market). This jumble of covered stalls is where local people buy everything – food, clothing, household items – even livestock! On Tuesdays, the travelling market arrives, and people flock from nearby villages to shop.

After Rissani, we’ll head to the Merzouga region of the Sahara Desert. We’ll leave the highway to drive off-road across flat rocky 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 reach the desert hotel in late afternoon, where your camels will be waiting. You’ll leave civilization behind and camel-trek into the high dunes, where you’ll see 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 to the desert camp in the smaller dunes nearby.

There, you’ll enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal, followed by African music – drumming and singing and dancing – around a campfire. You’ll spend the night in tents surrounded by nothing but sand and sky.

After breakfast in the desert, you’ll start the final day of your 3 days Dades Sahara Tour. We’ll leave the dunes behind and drive through the lush, green Dra’a Valley Oasis – the longest valley in Morocco. We’ll pass through numerous villages, including Tazzarine, which was featured in the film “Babel”, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchette.

Heading into the High Atlas Mountains, we’ll stop for lunch in N’Qob , where you can enjoy the stunning mountain views while you eat.

After lunch, we’ll cross over the High Atlas Mountains via a different mountain pass before descending to Marrakesh. We’ll reach Marrakesh in the evening and drop you off at your hotel/riad, bringing your 3 days Dades Sahara "Monkey Toes & Camel Humps" Tour to a close.