Atlas and Sahara Combined

Day-by-day itinerary

1. 01

   Day 1

   Marrakech – Demnate (1 h 35, 100 km)

   Your guide collects you from the airport or your riad in Marrakech, then we head into the High Atlas along mountain roads dotted with many earthen villages. We pass through Demnate, a town in the province of Azilal, and see the Imi n’Ifri natural bridge before heading on to the Ouzoud waterfalls.

   These falls, about 110 m high over three tiers, lie in a picturesque geological setting on the Ouzoud river, at an altitude of 1,060 m, between the Middle Atlas and the High Atlas. Picnic on site and a chance to cool off, weather permitting. We then take the road back to Demnate, the gateway to the valleys of the High Atlas. Dinner and overnight stay in a guesthouse (auberge).

2. 02

   Day 2

   Demnate – Ouarzazate (4 h 03, 162 km)

   After breakfast, we set off for Ouarzazate, the gateway to the desert, along an extraordinary track. Visit of the Imi n’Ifri natural bridge, then a journey through mountain scenery and the Tassaout valley, the ‘red valley’, famous for its landscapes and red earth.

   Arrival in Ouarzazate to visit the Taourirt kasbah, a magnificent, recently restored Berber kasbah and the symbol of Ouarzazate’s old medina. Dinner and overnight stay in a guesthouse.

3. 03

   Day 3

   Ouarzazate – Agdz – Zagora (2 h 33, 162 km)

   We take the road again by 4x4 towards the Drâa palm grove, described as the largest in the world, at 200 km long and 18 km wide with 1,500,000 palm trees. Lunch in Agdz on a superb shaded terrace overlooking the palm grove.

   In the early afternoon, a short walk in the shade of this famous palm grove, then on to Zagora, the last town before the desert. Dinner and overnight stay in a guesthouse.

4. 04

   Day 4

   Zagora – M’Hamid – Erg Chegaga (1 h 26, 96 km + 1 h of track)

   We set off for the desert, stopping at M’Hamid, once a stop on the trans-Saharan trade route. You can spend some time at the nomad souk and, with a little luck, catch the nomad festival held every year in April.

   A lovely desert track then crosses the dry lake Iriki, a nature reserve, to the starting point for the camp. You cross a few dunes by camel or on foot to reach your camp. Sunset over the dunes of Chegaga, Morocco’s wildest desert, where some dunes rise as high as 40 metres. Dinner with traditional music and a night under the stars in a comfortable desert camp.

5. 05

   Day 5

   Erg Chegaga – Aït Benhaddou (4 h 23, 286 km)

   We leave the camp in the morning and begin the return towards Marrakech, with a final stop at the majestic ksar of Aït Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has served as the backdrop for many films.

   You explore the peaceful lanes of this fortified village with a guide who tells you all about the construction and history of the ksar, and you will have time for a little shopping if you wish. Check-in at the guesthouse, dinner and overnight stay.

6. 06

   Day 6

   Aït Benhaddou – Télouet – Tizi n’Tichka – Marrakech (3 h 35, 183 km)

   We leave at 9 am for the final stage of the tour, from Aït Benhaddou to Marrakech. Your driver stops at the kasbah of Télouet for a guided visit, then you continue to Marrakech via the Tizi n’Tichka pass. Back in Marrakech in the late afternoon, with a transfer to your hotel or riad.

Places on this trip

• Marrakech
• Ouarzazate
• Aït Benhaddou
• High Atlas
• Drâa valley
• Erg Chegaga
• Ouzoud waterfalls