Agadir to Merzouga

Morning departure at 8am from your hotel in Agadir to Ouarzazate passing by Taroudant, known as “the little Marrakesh”, Taliouine and Taznakht. From here the road continues to the kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou. This is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which we visit after lunch. In the afternoon, a visit to the Atlas Film Studios (where scores of these films were shot and the sets are still intact: Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Asterix and Obelix, Game of Thrones….) is scheduled, before continuing to Ouarzazate where you spend the night in a hotel.

The morning departure takes us from Ouarzazate to the Todra gorges via the oasis of Skoura where we  stop to visit the kasbah of Amridil. The main road passes through the valley of the roses and the Dades valley to the Todra gorges where we stop for lunch. In the afternoon, our trip continues to the dunes of Merzouga for a an hour camel ride to reach the dunes of Erg Chebbi (250m). From the top of the dunes the sunset is spectacular. Here, at Erg Chebbi, we will have dinner and spend the night in luxury desert camp.

If you wake up early enough, you can watch the spectacle of the sunrise, when the colour of the dunes and the play of shadows are an awesome sight. After breakfast, the itinerary continues from Erg Chebbi to the valley of Draa via the villages of Rissani, Alnif, Tazzarine and N’Qob where we stop for lunch. In the afternoon, the journey takes us to Tanasikht from where we drive along the ancient caravan route in the Draa valley, with its huge palm trees and ancient villages. At the end of the afternoon, Agdez offers dinner and a night’s rest.

After breakfast, we visit the kasbah of Tamnougalt which is one of the oldest kasbahs in Draa valley. Later, we drive north from Agdez to Taznakht, famous for its Berber gelims and carpets. We continue to Agadir crossing the Tizi-n-Ikhsane and Tizi-n-Tighatine passes. We stop to have lunch in Taliouine (the heart of the saffron growing area of Morocco). In the afternoon, the road takes us on to Taroudant and then to Agadir which we reach by the end of the afternoon.