8 days · 7 nightsAgadir → Merzouga → Fez → MarrakechEasyPrivate
From Agadir to the dunes of Merzouga with two nights in our camp, then north to Fez, Meknes, Rabat and Casablanca, ending in Marrakech.
The perfect tour to combine the south and the imperial cities when your holiday starts in Agadir. The first half crosses the Anti-Atlas and the kasbahs to the Sahara, with a free day in the dunes.
The second half climbs through the Ziz valley and the Middle Atlas to Fez, where a guide shows you the medina, and returns south along the Atlantic through Rabat and Casablanca to Marrakech.
Highlights
Anti-Atlas and the road of the kasbahs
Two nights in our desert camp
Guided day in Fez
Meknes, Volubilis and Rabat
Hassan II mosque and Marrakech
Day by day
Day 1
Agadir – Taroudant – Taliouine – Ouarzazate
We pick you up at your hotel in Agadir in the morning and drive east through the fertile valley of the Souss, a sea of orange groves and argan trees. Our first stop is Taroudant, often called 'the little Marrakech', surrounded by seven kilometres of red earth walls; you can walk in its two souks, quieter and more authentic than those of the big cities. The road then climbs into the Anti-Atlas between the Jebel Siroua and the Jebel Toubkal to Taliouine, the capital of saffron: at a cooperative you learn how the precious red threads are picked by hand from the crocus flowers, and you can taste saffron tea. We cross the high plateaus, with their villages of stone, and arrive in Ouarzazate in the late afternoon. Dinner and night in a kasbah hotel.
Day 2
Ouarzazate – Skoura – Valley of Roses – Dades gorge
In the morning you visit the kasbah of Taourirt in Ouarzazate, the former palace of the Glaoui family, with its maze of rooms, courtyards and decorated ceilings, or the film studios where films like Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven were shot. Then we take the road of the kasbahs to Skoura, a large palm grove where earth castles rise among the palm trees, olive trees and pomegranates. We continue to Kalaat M'Gouna, in the Valley of Roses, where in spring the whole valley smells of roses and the women gather the petals to make rose water. In the afternoon we enter the Dades gorge: we stop at the rock formations called 'monkey fingers' and drive up the famous zigzag road for the view. Dinner and night in a guesthouse in the gorge.
Day 3
Dades – Todra gorge – Erfoud – Merzouga, camel ride and night in our camp
After breakfast we drive to Tinghir and its immense palm grove, and walk into the Todra gorge, where the canyon narrows between orange walls 300 metres high and the river runs clear over the stones. We continue east across the desert plateaus, where the landscape becomes flat, wide and silent, to Erfoud, the town of dates and fossils, and finally to Merzouga. In the late afternoon your cameleer meets you at the edge of the dunes of Erg Chebbi. The caravan walks slowly into the sea of sand as the light turns gold, and stops on a high dune for the sunset before arriving at our camp. Dinner of soup, salads and tajine, Berber drums around the fire and a sky with thousands of stars. Night in a private tent with bed and bathroom.
Day 4
A second day in the Sahara: free day in the dunes and second night in our camp
Today there is no car waiting for you: the whole day belongs to the desert. After the sunrise and a slow breakfast in the camp, you can climb the highest dune nearby, the Big Dune, for a view over the whole sea of sand and, on clear days, the Algerian border. Many guests choose a sandboarding session on the soft slopes, a visit to a nomad family who live with their goats and camels in the hamada, or a quad or buggy ride with our guides. Others simply rest in the shade of the lounge tent with a book and endless mint tea, listening to the silence. In the late afternoon a short camel ride takes you to a crest for another sunset, and the evening brings a new dinner cooked in the camp, drums around the fire and, if the moon allows it, a short stargazing session with your guide. Second night in your private tent with bathroom.
Day 5
Merzouga – Ziz valley – Midelt – Ifrane – Fez
After the sunrise over the dunes and breakfast in the camp, you return to Merzouga by camel and we set off north. We follow the Ziz valley, a deep canyon filled with thousands of palm trees and dotted with old ksour, and stop at a viewpoint over its blue lake near Errachidia. The road climbs through the Ziz gorges and the tunnel of the Legionnaire to Midelt, the 'apple city', at the foot of the Jebel Ayachi, where we stop for lunch. In the afternoon we cross the Middle Atlas, with its cedar forests where Barbary macaques come close to the road, and pass through Ifrane, a mountain town with sloping roofs nicknamed 'the Switzerland of Morocco'. We arrive in Fez in the early evening and your driver accompanies you to your riad in the medina.
Day 6
Fez: a full day in the medina with a local guide
Fez el Bali is the largest medieval medina in the world still alive, a maze of more than 9,000 alleys where cars cannot enter and donkeys still carry the goods. With a licensed local guide you discover its treasures: the Bou Inania and Al Attarine medersas, decorated with zellige tiles, carved cedar and stucco as fine as lace; the Qarawiyyin, founded in the year 859 and considered the oldest university in the world; the fountain of Nejjarine; and the souks of the coppersmiths, weavers and spice sellers. From a terrace you watch the famous Chouara tannery, where leather is still dyed in stone vats as it was centuries ago. In the afternoon your driver takes you to the Royal Palace with its golden doors, the Jewish quarter of the Mellah and the panorama from the Merinid tombs at sunset. Dinner and night in your riad.
Day 7
Fez – Meknes – Volubilis – Rabat
We leave Fez in the morning and drive west through the rolling hills of the Saïss plain, covered with olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. The first stop is Volubilis, the Roman city on the edge of the empire, where you walk among the triumphal arch of Caracalla, the columns of the basilica and the houses whose floors are still covered with mosaics of gods, athletes and animals. Then we continue to Meknes, the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail, who wanted it to rival Versailles: the great gate of Bab Mansour, the square of El Hedim, the mausoleum of the sultan and the gigantic granaries and stables of Heri es-Souani. In the afternoon the motorway takes us to Rabat, the capital of the kingdom, on the Atlantic coast. Dinner and night in a riad in the medina of Rabat.
Day 8
Rabat – Casablanca, Hassan II mosque – Marrakech
In the morning you discover Rabat, the most elegant of the imperial cities: the unfinished Hassan tower, the minaret of a mosque that was meant to be the largest in the world in the 12th century, the marble mausoleum of Mohammed V, guarded by horsemen in red uniforms, and the kasbah of the Oudayas, a small village of white and blue houses above the mouth of the river, with its Andalusian garden and a café facing the ocean. We then follow the coast to Casablanca to visit the Hassan II mosque, built on the Atlantic, with a minaret of 210 metres and a prayer hall where the floor is heated and the roof opens to the sky. After a walk along the Corniche, we take the motorway south across the plains to Marrakech, where we arrive in the evening. Dinner and night in a riad in the medina.
Included
Private air-conditioned vehicle
Local driver-guide
Pick-up and drop-off at your riad, hotel or airport
Nights in riads, kasbahs and guesthouses
Dinners and breakfasts
Camel ride with cameleer
Night in our desert camp in Erg Chebbi
Visit to a nomad family
Not included
Lunches
Local guides in the cities (on request)
Entrance fees to monuments
Tips
Good to know
Pick-up between 7:00 and 8:00 at your riad, hotel, airport or port. Bring a small bag for the desert night: big luggage stays in the vehicle. Hotels can be upgraded on request.
No payment is needed to book: you pay on arrival in cash (dirhams or euros). Free changes if the weather is not good.
Questions
Are the tours private?
Yes. Only your group travels in the vehicle, with your own driver, and the program can be adapted.
Where do the tours start?
Wherever you are: your riad or hotel in Marrakech, Fez, Tangier, Casablanca, Agadir, Ouarzazate, Errachidia or Essaouira, or the airport or port when you land.
Which camp do we sleep in?
In our own camp in Erg Chebbi, with private tents, bathrooms with hot shower, dinner and breakfast, and Berber music by the fire.
Can I change the itinerary?
Yes, every tour is private and flexible: add nights in the desert, a quad or buggy ride, a different finishing city or better hotels. Just tell us when you write.
