Ali Baba

Morning departure from Ouarzazate to the Dades gorge and Todra gorge, passing the oasis of Skoura where we stop to visit the kasbah of Amridil. From here, our route takes us through Kela’a M’gouna, the valley of the roses, where we stop for a coffee. Later, we drive off-road along the road of a thousand kasbahs to reach the Dades gorge for lunch. In the afternoon, there is time for a walk alongside the Boumalne dades river before continuing to the Todra gorge for the night in a guest house.

After breakfast there is time for a leisurely walk in the Todra gorges and in the Tinghir palm grove, before driving to the dunes of Merzouga via the Ziz valley and the Tafilalet valley, stopping in Erfoud on the way for lunch. Having arrived in Merzouga, in the course of the afternoon there is time to take a camel ride for an hour and ascend Erg Chebbi dunes to watch the sunset from the summit (250m). After sunset, the night will be spent in a luxury desert camp, which is also the venue for dinner.

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 drive continues from Merzouga to Zagora via the villages of Rissani, Alnif, Tazzarine and N’Qob where we stop for lunch. In the afternoon, the route continues to Zagora along the Dra’a valley with all its kasbahs (from time to time off-road driving allows a closer impression of life in the villages). The night is spent in a riad in Zagora.

After breakfast, we drive southwards to Tamegroute for a visit to the potteries. They are famous throughout Morocco for the green glaze. Tamegroute has a small medina of covered desert streets and an ancient Quranic library which exquisite hand-written Arabic texts. The return to Ouarzazate takes us off-road to gain a better impression and appreciation of the ancient caravan route, winding alongside the Dra’a river. In Tamenougalte, where the oldest Kasbah in the valley stands, we stop for lunch. In the afternoon, we return to Ouarzazate over the Anti-Atlas and the Tizi-n-Tinfifite pass (1660m).