Day by day itinerary
1. Marrakech - Tizi n'Tichka - Ouarzazate - Draa Valley - Zagora (7h drive)
Over the High Atlas to Ouarzazate, then down the Draa to Zagora
We collect you at 07:30. The road runs southeast into the High Atlas and over the Tizi n'Tichka Pass at 2,260m, pausing for photographs at Berber villages on the climb. In Ouarzazate you visit the Taourirt Kasbah; lunch is at leisure. From there the route turns south into the Draa, the longest river valley in Morocco: over 200km of henna, barley and corn growing beneath date palms and fortified kasbahs. You reach Zagora and check into a hotel with ensuite rooms, air conditioning, a pool and a garden. Dinner and the night there on a half-board basis. A comparable Zagora property may be used instead, again with dinner and breakfast.
2. Zagora - Tazarine - Alnif - Erfoud - Merzouga - sunset camel - luxury camp (6h drive)
Across the volcanic Anti-Atlas and into Erg Chebbi at sunset
Breakfast, then east into the volcanic ranges of the Anti-Atlas. Dark rock, lunar ground, horizons that go nowhere. The road passes isolated oases and the village of Tazarine before lunch is taken at Alnif, an oasis known locally for its fossils and trilobites. Erfoud comes next, then Merzouga in the late afternoon. You climb onto a camel and ride out over the Erg Chebbi dunes as the sun drops, arriving at the luxury ensuite camp: a private tent with real beds, quality linens and a hot shower. Moroccan dinner under the stars, Berber drumming afterwards. The night is spent at the Merzouga luxury camp, half-board.
3. Merzouga - Rissani - Tinghir - Todra Gorge - Dades Valley (4h drive)
Sunrise on the dunes, then Rissani, Todra Gorge and the valley of kasbahs
Up before dawn for the sunrise camel ride over the dunes, with breakfast back at camp afterwards. The drive goes first to Rissani, where Morocco's Alaouite dynasty began, then to Tinghir, where you walk the riverbank under the palms. Todra Gorge follows, its limestone walls rising 300m from the flat riverbed; lunch is at the gorge. The afternoon belongs to the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs into the Dades Valley, with the light going down over the fortified villages. Dinner and overnight at a Dades Valley hotel, half-board. An alternative Dades Valley hotel can be used instead for a supplement of 40 EUR per person, dinner and breakfast included.
4. Dades - Rose Valley - Skoura - Aït Ben Haddou - Tizi n'Tichka - Marrakech (6h drive)
Roses, Skoura, the UNESCO ksar and the last crossing of the pass
The morning belongs to the Valley of the Roses, with a stop at Kalaat M'Gouna and a rose water cooperative distilling essential oils and perfumes. Next comes the Skoura oasis and Kasbah Amridil. The road carries on to Ouarzazate and then to Aït Ben Haddou, UNESCO-listed and familiar from Gladiator and Game of Thrones; you cross the river with a guide to walk the ksar, and lunch is nearby. In the afternoon you recross the High Atlas at Tizi n'Tichka, reaching Marrakech late in the day and stepping out at your hotel or riad.