1. Marrakech - Tizi n'Tichka - Telouet - Ounila Valley - Aït Ben Haddou - Ouarzazate - Fint Oasis, guesthouse (5h drive) / Over the Atlas to Telouet, UNESCO Aït Ben Haddou and the Fint Oasis
You leave Marrakech at 08:00 and drive southeast through the High Atlas by way of the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 m, stopping at Berber villages along the climb. Telouet is the first proper stop, for the Glaoui Kasbah, Thami El Glaoui's palace, now crumbling, where the zellige tiles, the carved stucco and the painted ceilings of cedar are still there to see; access to the palace may be restricted since the 2023 earthquake, and your driver checks the position on the day. From Telouet the route drops into the Ounila Valley and follows the back road there, threading Berber hamlets built of red earth, terraces and fortified granaries, until the UNESCO-listed Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou comes into view; a local Berber guide, included in the price, shows you round the fortified village that film crews keep coming back to. Then it is on to Ouarzazate for lunch, which is not included, and you can add the Atlas Film Studios here, or the Taourirt Kasbah. A 15 km run south brings you to the Fint Oasis, a canyon of red and ochre rock filled with palms, Berber villages and irrigated terraces. You arrive late in the afternoon, walk out through the palm groves in the evening, check in at the traditional guesthouse and eat a Moroccan dinner on the terrace above the palms.