Day by day itinerary
1. Agadir - Taroudant - Taliouine - Taznakht - Ouarzazate - Dades (7h drive)
Your driver picks you up at your Agadir hotel or at the airport and turns east for Taroudant, called "Little Marrakech" for its red walls and its souks, where there is a short walk along the ramparts and through the artisan quarter. The road climbs on to Taliouine, Morocco's saffron capital, past the saffron fields themselves; you can stop at a cooperative to watch how the harvest is processed and buy saffron at source, and lunch is taken in the town. Taznakht comes next, a place known for its Berber carpets, then Ouarzazate, then the eastward run into the Dades Valley, which you reach in the late afternoon. Dinner and the night are at a hotel in the Dades Valley with ensuite rooms and air conditioning, half-board.
2. Dades - Tinghir - Todra Gorge - Rissani - Erfoud - Merzouga - sunset camel trek - luxury camp (5h drive)
Breakfast, then a short drive to Tinghir and a walk along the palm-lined riverbank before the road enters the Todra Gorge, where the limestone walls stand 300 m over your head and lunch is taken. From there it is east again, through Rissani, where Morocco's Alaouite dynasty began, and Erfoud, a town built on fossils, to Merzouga. In the evening you ride a camel over the Erg Chebbi dunes with the sun going down and arrive at the luxury ensuite camp, where the tent is private and comes with a hot shower, real beds and quality linens. Dinner is Moroccan and eaten under the stars, with Berber drumming to follow.
3. Merzouga - Zagora - Draa Valley - Agdez - palm-grove guesthouse (6h drive)
Up before dawn for a camel ride over Erg Chebbi at sunrise, then breakfast at camp. The day's driving runs southwest to Zagora and then north along the Draa Valley, Morocco's longest river oasis, where date palms, fortified kasbahs and Berber villages follow one another for hours; lunch happens in Zagora or somewhere along the valley. The night is spent at Agdez, at a boutique guesthouse standing in a palm grove and built in traditional Berber style, with dinner served there.
4. Agdez - Taznakht - Taliouine - Taroudant - Agadir (6h drive)
Breakfast at the guesthouse, then southwest into the Anti-Atlas for Taznakht, whose carpets are woven by the Ouaouzguite tribe, with the option of calling at a carpet cooperative. The road carries on west through the mountains to Taroudant, where lunch is taken in the medina, and the final stretch brings you into Agadir with drop-off at your hotel or at Al Massira Airport.