Errachidia → Meski Blue Spring → Ziz Valley → Erfoud → Rissani → Merzouga
We meet you at Errachidia airport, the bus station or your hotel. Errachidia is a quiet modern town, but just south of it starts one of the most beautiful valleys in Morocco: the Ziz. Our first stop is the Blue Spring of Meski, a natural pool of clear water under palm trees, where the old Foreign Legion once made a camp. Then the road runs along the edge of the valley, and below you there is a long green river of date palms, with mud villages on both sides. Stop at the viewpoint and take your time — it is one of the best photos of the trip.
We continue to Erfoud, the town of dates and fossils, where you can visit a workshop that cuts black marble full of 350-million-year-old sea creatures. Then Rissani, the heart of the Tafilalet and the old land of Sijilmassa, the great caravan city of the Middle Ages. In the late afternoon you reach Merzouga, and the dunes of Erg Chebbi stand in front of you like orange mountains. Your camels are waiting. Ride into the sand for sunset, arrive at the camp for mint tea, and enjoy dinner and Berber drums under the stars.
Key stops
Meski Blue Spring · Ziz Valley viewpoint · Erfoud fossils · Rissani
Stay
Desert camp in Erg Chebbi
Merzouga → Rissani → Tinejdad → Tinghir → Todra Gorge → Dades
Wake up for sunrise on the dunes, ride back for breakfast, and start the road west. We pass Rissani and cross the hamada to Tinejdad, a quiet oasis with old khettaras — underground water canals dug by hand hundreds of years ago. Then comes Tinghir, a long green valley full of palm trees and mud villages.
Walk into Todra Gorge, where the cliffs rise straight up on both sides and the river runs clear and cold. After lunch we drive on to Boumalne and turn into the Dades Gorges. The rocks here are soft, round and red, like giant fingers. Your guesthouse waits by the river.
Key stops
Tinejdad khettaras · Tinghir palm grove · Todra Gorge · Dades Gorges
Stay
Guesthouse in the Dades Valley
Dades → Kelaat M'Gouna → Skoura → Ouarzazate → Aït Ben Haddou → Marrakech
We leave early. Pass Kelaat M'Gouna, the rose town, and stop in Skoura to see Kasbah Amridil, which you may know from the old 50-dirham banknote. In Ouarzazate, take a short coffee break, and then visit Aït Ben Haddou. Walk up through the old houses to the top, where the wind is strong and the view is wide.
After lunch, we climb the High Atlas on the Tizi n'Tichka road, the highest major pass in Morocco. The road turns and turns, and small villages of red earth hang on the mountainsides. In the evening you come down into the warm air of Marrakech. We drop you at your riad or hotel.
Key stops
Kelaat M'Gouna · Kasbah Amridil · Aït Ben Haddou · Tizi n'Tichka
Stay
Tour ends in Marrakech
