Sea of sand

Morning departure at 8am from your hotel or riad in Marrakech to Ouarzazate, crossing the High-Atlas mountains and the pass of Tizi-n-Tichka (2260m). At panoramic viewpoints, there’ll be opportunities to stop to take pictures. Once in Ouarzazate, an unpaved track to the oasis of Fint nestling among the mountains, which once served as the crossroads of caravans, provides a hidden delight. Lunch will be served in the Fint oasis. In the afternoon, we drive south along the Anti-Atlas mountains until we reach Agdez, where the Draa valley starts. We spend the night in a riad in the Draa valley.

After breakfast, we drive from Agdez to M’hamid passing by the Draa valley and the ancient road of caravans. Lunch will be served in Zagora. In the afternoon, the trip takes us to M’hamid which marks the end of the paved road and the beginning of the sahara desert. An hour camel ride takes us to the bottom of the highest dune where the view of the sunset is magnificent. The night is spent in a comfortable desert camp close to the dunes of Erg Lihoudi.

After breakfast, the return to M´hamid is on camel back to have lunch. In the afternoon, the 4×4 takes us to the Erg Chegaga (300m) with 65km of off-road driving. This route passes different features of the desert; ‘erg’, ‘reg’, ‘hammada’, oases. The sunset from the top of Erg Chegaga dunes is spectacular and afterwards there is dinner and the night in a comfortable desert camp at the foot of the dunes.

After breakfast, the road crosses another 100km of the Moroccan sahara desert, passing the Iriqui Lake and the mountains as well as fossils, for enthusiasts. The first village beyond the desert, Foum Zguid, is the place for lunch. In the afternoon, we travel north to Ouarzazate past hills and oases of palm trees until we reach the town of Taznakht, a small Berber town famous for its rugs and gelims. We reach Ouarzazate by the end of the afternoon for the night in a riad.

After breakfast, a visit to the Atlas Film Studios is planned before driving north to the famous kasbah of Ait ben Haddou for a visit (Ait Ben Haddou is a Unesco World Heritage site, where films such as Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia were filmed). The road then continues along the valley of Ounila with beautiful and prosperous villages, stunning mountains and views to Telouet, you will stop to visit the kasbah of Telouet. Alternatively lunch will be in a little berber village in the High Atlas mountains! We reach Marrakech by the early evening.