Morocco · Culture

10-Day Morocco Cultural Tour with Erg Chigaga and Marrakech

10 Days Round trip from Marrakech Easy pace

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The journey

Trip highlights

01 Cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka Pass and its Berber villages
02 Explore the remote golden dunes of Erg Chigaga, Morocco's largest sand sea
03 Visit Tamegroute's Zawiya Naciria and its historic Quranic library
04 Discover UNESCO-listed Aït Benhaddou before returning to Marrakech
05 Experience Marrakech through its medina, Jemaa el-Fnaa, and Majorelle Garden
06 Enjoy a sunrise hot-air balloon ride, a cooking class, and a Moroccan hammam

Embark on a private Morocco cultural tour that delves deep into the south for wild mountains, desert landscapes, and historic kasbahs. Travel from Marrakech across the High Atlas to Ouarzazate, Dades, and Todgha Gorges, then continue to the remote dunes of Erg Chigaga and the spiritual village of Tamegroute. Return via the green Fint Oasis and UNESCO-listed Aït Benhaddou before ending in Marrakech with guided medina discoveries, a cooking experience with a local family, a spa and hammam session, and a sunrise hot-air balloon ride.

Today, you should be prepared to begin your off-road journey to Erg Chigaga, a splendid stretch of towering dunes and golden sand sea, the largest sand sea in Morocco.

From the itinerary

At a glance

What this trip includes

Duration 10 Days

Tour type Private

Activity level Easy

Accommodation Included · Standard

Transport Included

Wheelchair access Yes

Cities Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Zagora, Todgha Gorge, Aït Benhaddou, Erg Chegaga, Tamegroute, Boumalne Dades

Languages Arabic, English, French, Spanish

Day by day

The itinerary

Day 01

Marrakesh Arrival

Welcome to Morocco! Your driver/tour guide will hold a card with your name and wait to drive you to your hotel to settle in before you start your adventurous Journey. Depending on your arrival time, you will visit the Marrakech Medina. If not, you will do it the last day before your departure.

Day 02

Marrakesh / Ouarzazate / Boumalne Dades

You’re going to start your cultural tour around 8 am. Your driver/tour guide will pick you up from the nearest point of your hotel/Riad. Through Tizi- N’Tichka pass (2260m) in the High Atlas Mountains, you will enjoy a snaky windy road (if you get car sick, have your medication), beautiful landscapes with different colours and Berber villages along the way.
The first pause will be in Ait Barka village. It will be around 10 am to take beautiful pictures and have a cup of mint tea. It’s a point at which to start the highest Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
The second pause will occur at the top of Tizi n’Tichka, arriving at Ouarzazate, « Ouallywood » studio and Taourirte Kasbah.
Traversing the valley of roses and daggers straight to Dades gorges a rust-red and mauve mountains. A series of crumbling Kasbahs and Ksours line the valley in the Berber villages to the Monkey Fingers Mountains.

Day 03

Boumalne Dades / Todra Gorge / Nkob / Zagora

This morning, you’ll have the opportunity to marvel at Todgha Gorges by daylight, with its gigantic rock walls changing colour to magical effects as the day unfolds.
Later on, you leave Todgha gorges towards the rambling Ksar of N’kob with its prehistoric rock-carving sites and 45 mud-brick ksour make you stop by and stare. The name N’kob comes from a cave that once served as a lodging for nomads.
Then, we continue driving via the 125km belt of palm-tree oases and villages that eventually merge into the Sahara near M’hamid to reach Zagora.

Day 04

Zagora / Tamegroute / Erg Chigaga

Today, you should be prepared to begin your off-road journey to Erg Chigaga, a splendid stretch of towering dunes and golden sand sea, the largest sand sea in Morocco. Before that, you’ll stop in an unusual place that was once the most important settlement in the Valley of Draa, which had green pottery.
The Zawiya Naciria is still a pilgrimage site and refuge for the mentally ill. It is also a working Quranic school with a library, once the richest in Morocco of ancient illuminated texts containing 4000 books.
Leave Tamegroute through a dauntingly bleak landscape of sun-scorched rubble to the end of a paved road of M’hamid El-Ghizlane to begin your off-road journey to Erg Chigaga, where you’ll surely choose to drift off to sleep while watching the twinkling stars in mid of an awesome stretch of the golden sand sea after dinner.

Day 05

Erg Chigaga Desert

Always, the best way to live a nomadic life, explore the desert and hear its windy whisper is by riding a camel. So, today, you will have a chance to fully live a real desert experience with your camel guide and discover the fauna, flora and history of the desert.
Lunch will be served in the middle of nowhere in the 300-meter-high dunes.

Day 06

Erg Chigaga / Foum Zguid / Ouarzazate

Wake by dawn to watch the sun start its daily arc with a calm blue morning sky as it replaces the Sahara shadows before becoming a glowing ball of fire.
You exit Erg Chigaga and head north to Fint via a rough road out of the desert through the 80-kilometer-long dry lake bed of Lac Iriki, made well-known by the Paris-Dakar rally. You then pass through the Sahel and reg to Foum Zguid and then 85km north to Taznakht, a handy stop for a quick bite, coffee, petrol and, yes, carpet.
The green valley of Fint, which is wedged between its arid mountains, is strewn with many palm plantations, the gardens are carefully cultivated, and the villages of traditional cob houses are perfectly integrated into the surroundings. It is really hard to preserve this fragile nature and to make each visitor understand that the survival of its terrestrial beauties depends on the respect of each one towards the man and his environment.
You also have to know that the Oasis has been the place of filming for many famous movies such as: « Indigènes » with Jamel Debbouze and Sami Naceri, « Prince of Persia » with Jake Gyllenhaal, « Kingdom of Heaven » with Orlando Bloom, « Babel » with Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett, etc.

Day 07

Ouarzazate / Ait Benhaddou / Marrakesh

From Fint to Marrakech via Ait Benhaddou, A protected UNESCO site, Aït Benhaddou is the most famous kasbah in Morocco and, once upon a time, held an important position along the trans-Saharan trade route between Marrakech, Ouarzazate, and the southern desert.
Before the crowds’ filter into the old kasbah, explore the narrow passageways and alleys to get a natural feel for this 11th-century fortified city. Leave Aït Benhaddou behind and return to Marrakech, travelling again up and over the High Atlas Mountains and through the Tizi n'Tichka Pass.
After exploring Morocco's quiet desert towns and various deserts, you will soon be back in the bustling city of Marrakech. You may wish to take the afternoon at a slower pace—find a café near Jemaa el-Fna and enjoy the vibe square.

Day 08

Marrakesh Walk & Talk Guided Medina tour

After breakfast, you’ll have plenty of time to carry out your Morocco Cultural Tour with your private Marrakech-born and bred guide. You embark on exploring the Red City from its old part, with its Medina's skinny lanes leading to lavish sites, tombs, and religious monuments decked out in marble. Bahia and El-Badii Palace and Saadien’s Tombs will be your targets.
Afterwards, your driver or tour Guide will pick you up for an outside medina visit to explore the Majorelle Garden, Museum Saint Laurent, and Berber Museum.
While in Marrakech, you will undoubtedly encounter thousands of motorcyclists and horse-carts roaming the city. Some of them pull over next to 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.

Day 09

Marrakesh Adventurous & Wellness Day

Do you want to discover Marrakech from the sky? So be ready because today your driver will pick you up early to catch up with the Air Balloon ride for a nearly hour flight over the red city of Marrakech.
Enjoy the breathtaking views of the High Atlas Mountains in the background and enjoy a sunrise over red dust, palm groves, and majestic open landscapes from the sky.
You cannot leave this cultural tour without learning to cook Tagine or Couscous with all their side dishes, such as the thick, very filling soup—most often the spicy bean and pasta Harira or Salad that is often very finely chopped. NO WORRIES; you’ll be with a local family for that.
Later, you’ll have time for a Spa and a typical Moroccan Hammam to loosen up and purify your body and soul.

Day 10

Marrakesh departure

Today is not goodbye. It is merely “take care and see you sooner rather than later” for another adventurous journey. If your departure is late today, complete any last-minute gift and souvenir shopping. Or, depending on your departure details, you may wish to check out Menara Garden.
Not far from the commotion of the medina, a visit to these lush and expansive gardens offers the perfect place to escape the afternoon heat and noise. Leave the quiet behind and bring with you your memories as you make your way home. Your guide will drop you off at the airport when ready.