9-Day Morocco Desert Tour with Aït Benhaddou and Erg Chigaga

Welcome to Marrakech, the vibrant hub of Moroccan tourism and often the first destination for travellers exploring the country's many attractions. Upon landing at Marrakech airport, a shuttle service will be waiting for you, with your driver holding a personalized card bearing your name for easy identification. Your journey will then continue seamlessly to your selected hotel or riad, giving you time to settle in and relax before our shared adventure begins.

From Marrakech, we set off for some of Morocco's most stunning landscapes, framed by the soaring peaks of the Atlas Mountains. We drive along craggy cliff tops to tiny Berber villages in North Africa's highest mountain range.

As we make our way toward Aït Benhaddou, we cross the Tizi n'Tichka pass (2260 m / 7400 ft), then continue to the splendid Glaoui Kasbah in Talouate and through the lush green Ounilla Valley. We then arrive at Aït Benhaddou, the UNESCO-protected red mud-brick ksar dating from the 11th century, where we offer a local lunch experience with a family.

The scenic route then takes you via the "Ouallywood" movie studio and the sprawling Taourirte Kasbah before continuing to Skoura, known for its historic mud-brick kasbahs such as Amridil Kasbah, one of Morocco's most coveted 17th-century kasbahs.

Travelling through the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs and about 50 km from Skoura, we cannot miss the bottles of local rosewater for sale in Kelaa M'gouna, a small town famous for roses and daggers.

After that, we take an off-road route into the Atlas and toward M'goun Mountain to catch some of the best views along hidden livestock paths. The ancient rust-red landscape and a series of crumbling kasbahs and ksour line the Dades Valley.

While you are there, you should not miss the Monkey Toes, one of nature's wonders. This is also the best place to enjoy a couple of hours of hiking after you drop off your luggage at the hotel and get changed.

This morning, you'll have the chance to see Todgha Gorges in daylight, with its gigantic rock walls changing colour in magical ways as the day unfolds.

Later, you leave Todgha Gorges and continue toward the rambling ksar of N'kob, where prehistoric rock-carving sites and 45 mud-brick ksour invite you to stop and stare. The name N'kob comes from a cave that once served as lodging for nomads.

Today, we set the compass to the southeast and head to Morocco's wildest desert via the Draa Valley, a 125 km belt of palm-tree oases that eventually merges into the Sahara near M'hamid.

We'll stop in an unusual place that was once the most important settlement in the Draa Valley, known for its green pottery. The Zawiya Naciria remains a site of pilgrimage and refuge for the mentally ill, as well as a working Quranic school with a library that was once the richest in Morocco, holding 4,000 ancient illuminated texts.

Leaving Tamegroute, we cross a dauntingly bleak landscape of sun-scorched rubble to the end of the paved road at M'hamid El-Ghizlane, where your off-road journey to Erg Chigaga begins. After dinner, you'll surely want to drift off to sleep while watching the twinkling stars above an awesome stretch of golden sand sea.

Wake at dawn to watch the sun begin its daily arc, as the cool blue morning sky replaces the Sahara's shadows before the sun becomes a glowing ball of fire.

You will then take the off-road route out of the desert to M'hamid. About 100 km along the road to Zagora, we pass a mixture of modern houses and older ksour edging the road, with palm groves stretching along the Draa Valley to Agdez.

From there, we traverse the brooding Saghro Mountains, a starkly beautiful jumble of volcanic peaks, via the Bougafer Mines in order to visit dinosaur fossils. We also stop for a while in Taznakht, Morocco's capital of carpets and rugs.

Then we continue to the struggling village of Taliouine, the African centre of l'orrouge (red gold), or saffron, the most expensive spice.

From Taliouine, we travel along the road blasted through the High Atlas Mountains by the French in the late 1920s, passing the famed Tizi n'Test, which offers one of the best panoramic drives in Morocco. Heading north to Marrakech, we will stop in Tinmal village to visit the 1156-year mosque.

NB: Please note that the road to Marrakech via Tizi n'Test, known for its breathtaking panoramic views, may occasionally be blocked due to unforeseen circumstances. In such cases, an alternative route will be taken to ensure the smooth continuation of the journey.

Today is your last full day in Morocco with your private Marrakech-born-and-bred guide. You will explore the Red City, beginning in its old quarter, where the medina's skinny lanes lead to lavish sites, tombs, and religious monuments decked out in marble.

Bahia Palace, El Badi Palace, and the Saadian Tombs will be your main targets. Afterwards, your driver-tour guide will pick you up for an outside-medina visit to explore Majorelle Garden, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, and the Berber Museum.

While in Marrakech, you will surely encounter thousands of motorcyclists and horse carts roaming the city, some of them gathering near the vast square of Jemaa El-Fnaa, where it's carnival night every night and musicians, acrobats, storytellers, and slapstick acting troupes tap into the medina's frenetic pulse.

You will be departing Morocco today, and we hope that you have spent a good time with us. Your driver will set the exact pickup time.