Overview

You will start your tour in Marrakech and then you will travel by private 4×4 over the High Atlas Mountains to the Sahara Desert with a visit to UNESCO World Heritage site of Ait Ben Haddou, Todra Gorge and Dades Gorge. You will walk through desert palmeries, take a sunset camel trek in the Erg Chebbi dunes to spend the night in a nomad camp. After this you will travel to Essaouira where you will be able to spend the day exploring and relaxing on the beaches of the Atlantic Coast.

You can choose to start or end your tour in Marrakech, Fes or Casablanca. We are extremely flexible with our itineraries and our happy to make any changes to ensure you have the best experience possible in our beautiful country of Morocco.

Whichever tour you choose you will be accompanied by a guide and driver who will make sure that all your needs are met and provide you with information on all of the different places you will visit. Bringing your camera is essential as you will want to capture these memories to look back on when you go home.

Trek Grading:

Day 1: Marrakech – Ouarzazate via Ait Ben Haddou

You will depart from Marrakech at 9:00am and take the road to the Tizi n’Tichka pass driving through picturesque countryside and typical Berber villages and breathtaking views offered by the High Atlas Mountains. We then take the old caravan route leading to Ouarzazate visiting several kasbahs on the way. After lunch, we follow a trail which will take us through the ksour (fortified villages), until we reach the Ounila Valley. Another trail takes us to the Kasbah Tamdaght, also fortress-like palace, which once belonging to the powerful Glaoui clan. Our last stop before Ouarzazate is Ait Ben Haddou. Now a World Heritage site, this is one of the finest and best preserved examples of both earth architecture and of a fortified village in Morocco, and has served as an appropriate location for many epic films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Alexander. Then we leave for nearby Ouarzazate, where we will dine and spend the night at a hotel

Day 2: Ouarzazate – Tinghir

After breakfast, we head for Dades Gorge via the lake, park and Kasbah of Ouarzazate. We then continue westward into the Dades Valley to the village of Bou Thahrar and the Kasbah of Ait‐Youl, another splendid Glaoui stronghold, and then on to the Dades Gorge. From there we continue along a winding road through the dramatic scenery of the foothills of the High Atlas to the Todra Gorge. We have dinner and spend the night at the nearby oasis of Tinghir

Day 3: Tinghir – Tazarine – N’Kob – Zagora – M’hamid

We need to make an early start, as this will be the longest stretch of our journey, which takes us through Tazarine, then N’Kob, a small Berber village, and Zagora, where we stop for lunch. After lunch we take the M’hamid road, stopping at the holy city of Tamgroute, an important religious and learning centre of the Nasiriyya Sufi where we will visit the Koranic library, explore an underground Kasbah and be tempted by the products made in the Tamgroute pottery, renowned for its special green glazes. Finally, we take the trail through the palm groves of Ouled Brahim and Reg Elfaija to M’hamid, on the threshold of the Sahara, and on to our camp, where we will spend the evening, dining and sleeping in Berber tents After breakfast, we will go for an hour’s camel ride and then take a 4×4 truck to the mountainous Chegaga dunes, stopping on the way for lunch in the shade of palm and tamarisk trees. Then we resume the trail to Chegaga to settle into our bivouac, by which time we will be ready to relax and spend the evening watching the ever shifting sands and enjoying a spectacular sunset, and then dinner. We sleep in our Berber tents or under the stars

Day 5: Chegaga – Foum Zguid – Taznakht – Taroundant

In the morning we bid farewell to the dunes of Chegaga and leave for Zagora. We stop at Taznakht, a village known for its fine Berber carpets before we cross the Anti Atlas Mountains to Talioulin, a small town but one of the world’s largest producers of saffron. Not far from Talioulin are the argan forests. Amongst other attributes, the oil from these trees is said to be health giving and to prevent wrinkles, and is much sought after. But its production is labour-intensive and it is extremely expensive. We then cross the citrus-rich plain of Souss and arrive in Taroundant – an attractive walled city, renowned for its tannery and markets – where we will have dinner and spend the night in a hotel

Day 6: Taroundant – Agadir – Essaouira

After breakfast we head for Agadir, a large seaside resort with magnificent beaches. The city was entirely rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1960. We then go further along the Atlantic coast to Essaouira, once an important trading port – another of Morocco’s gems and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and where we will have dinner and stay in a hotel for the night

Day 7: Essaouira – Marrakech

In the morning you will be free to roam the beautiful city of Essaouira and its enchanting fishing harbour. Essaouira is one of Morocco’s most ancient and most charming fortified port towns, which for centuries, has not only been one of the most important trading ports linking Morocco to the world, but also a magnet to artists, poets and musicians from all over the world. The town’s eclectic architecture reflects the influence of its multicultural history from the Phoenicians and the Romans, to the Portuguese and the French. Its whitewashed walls and blue shutters are reminiscent of Portuguese towns; its beautiful doorways are entirely Moroccan; while the medina and fortress, are a good example of 18th century French military architecture. It’s worth paying a visit to the Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah Museum, which displays ancient artefacts, as well as some fine marquetry examples crafted from local Thuya wood, and jewellery and carpets. In the afternoon, we return to Marrakech.

The Price will vary depending on

• Special offers
• Age of participants
• Number of participants
• Length of tour requested
• Type of hotel requested

Departures

All prices are based on a minimum of 2 people on the tour.

Questions