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
Exploring around Erg Chebbi
After sunrise and breakfast in the camp, your 4x4 takes you around the dunes. Visit a nomad family in their tent and share tea and bread. Drive to Khamlia, where Gnawa musicians welcome you with drums, iron castanets and songs that came across the Sahara many generations ago.
In the afternoon, see the lake of Dayet Srji, the old mining area of Mfis and the black volcanic hills on the edge of the hamada. Tonight you sleep again by the dunes — in your camp or in a hotel with a swimming pool, as you prefer.
Key stops
Nomad family · Khamlia · Dayet Srji · Mfis
Stay
Desert camp or hotel in Merzouga
Merzouga → Tinghir → Todra Gorge → Dades → Ouarzazate → Aït Ben Haddou
Leave the desert after breakfast. Cross the hamada to Tinghir and walk in Todra Gorge. Stop for lunch, then drive through Boumalne Dades and the Valley of Roses. If there is time, take a short detour into the Dades Gorges for the famous view of the road bends.
Continue to Ouarzazate and on to Aït Ben Haddou, where you arrive in the late afternoon. Walk across the river and climb to the top for sunset, when the clay walls glow red and orange. Dinner is at your guesthouse, with a view of the ksar lit up at night.
Key stops
Todra Gorge · Dades · Valley of Roses · Aït Ben Haddou sunset
Stay
Guesthouse in Aït Ben Haddou
Aït Ben Haddou → Ounila Valley → Telouet → Tizi n'Tichka → Marrakech
This morning we take the back road. It follows the Ounila River through small villages, green terraces and red hills. This was once the main caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech, long before the modern road existed.
In Telouet, visit the kasbah of the Glaoui, the family that ruled the south of Morocco in the early 20th century. From outside, the building looks like a ruin. Inside, there are rooms covered with carved cedar, painted ceilings and bright zellige tiles. Then we join the Tichka road, cross the High Atlas and arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon.
Key stops
Ounila Valley · Telouet Kasbah · Tizi n'Tichka
Stay
Tour ends in Marrakech
