Our Destinations
This five-day loop reaches Merzouga by one road and returns by another. It climbs the High Atlas to Ait Ben Haddou, follows the valleys of the Dades and Todra to the Erg Chebbi dunes, where the night is spent in a desert hotel with a swimming pool, and comes back through Rissani and the Draa Valley instead of retracing the outward route.
Tour highlights
- The Tizi n’Tichka pass and a side trip to Telouet
- Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage village used in more than 20 films
- The Skoura palm grove and the Dades Gorge
- The Todra Gorge, a narrow palm-lined valley
- Erfoud and Rissani, once the capital of the Tafilalet region
- A night at a desert hotel with a swimming pool by the Erg Chebbi dunes
- A different way back through Alnif, Nkob and the Draa Valley
Good to know
- The tour starts at your Marrakech riad or hotel on day 1 and ends in Marrakech in the early evening of day 5.
- It is a private tour: your own driver for the whole route.
- All four nights are in hotels. This itinerary does not include a camel trek or a night in a tent; the 3 day and 4 day Erg Chebbi tours do, or ask us whether one can be added here.
- Night 1 is in Ait Ben Haddou or Ouarzazate, depending on how the day goes.
- Days can be hot in summer and nights cold in winter, so pack layers, a scarf and sun protection.
- Send us your dates and group size and we will get back to you with availability and a quote.
Want to see the same dunes on a shorter trip? Compare the Merzouga and Erg Chebbi tours, or ask us to tailor a route. You can also read what past travellers say or get in touch.
Included and Excluded
- Private tour with your own driver
- Pick-up at your Marrakech riad or hotel on day 1
- Night 1 in Ait Ben Haddou or Ouarzazate
- Night 2 in a hotel at the Dades Gorge
- Night 3 in a desert hotel with a swimming pool at Merzouga
- Night 4 in a hotel in Agdez, with dinner
- Anything not listed here – please confirm meals, drinks and entrance fees with us when you book
Tour route
- Marrakech – Tizi n'Tichka – Telouet – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Skoura – M'Gouna – Dades – Todra Gorge – Tinjdad – Erfoud – Merzouga – Rissani – Alnif – Nkob – Draa Valley – Agdez – Marrakech
Itinerary
Your driver picks you up at your riad or hotel in Marrakech and the climb over the High Atlas begins at the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with coffee and fresh orange juice on the way and big views all round. A side road leads to the Berber village of Telouet. Next is Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage village of kasbahs that has been a location for more than 20 films and once sat on a historic trade route along which caravans carried gold, ivory and salt north from the Sahara toward Marrakech. The night is spent either in Ait Ben Haddou itself or a little further on in Ouarzazate, the pre-Sahara town.
After breakfast you head for the Dades Valley through the palms of Skoura, where you can see the old Kasbah of Skoura in the Rose Valley. The road passes Berber villages and a riverside oasis, with fortified kasbahs where many families and their livestock live. The night is in a hotel at the Dades Gorge, and if time allows you can walk a stretch of the gorge.
After breakfast you detour to the Todra Gorge, one of the most colourful landscapes in Morocco, a narrow valley lined with palms. From Tinjdad and Touroug the road continues to Erfoud, the fossil town, and on to Rissani, once the capital of the Tafilalet region and an important caravan stop, then Merzouga at the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. You stay at a desert hotel that has a swimming pool.
You leave Merzouga for the huge Tafilalet palm grove, passing Rissani, the old capital of the Alaouite sultans. Lunch is in Alnif. In the afternoon you continue through Tazarine, Nkob and Tansikht into the quiet Draa Valley, lined with tall palms. Dinner and the night are in a hotel in Agdez.
After breakfast you follow the palm-lined Draa Valley and its oasis to Ouarzazate, then cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass and reach Marrakech as evening begins.
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