Morocco: Marrakech, the High Atlas and a Sahara night

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Marrakech

   Marrakech Menara Airport to the medina

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Marrakech
   Détail du jour 1

   We meet you at Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK), about 6 km from the old city, and drive you to a central riad or hotel in or beside the medina, whatever time you land. If you can, arrive by mid-afternoon so there is time to rest before the group meets at about 6 pm. Your See Sight Tours guide introduces the plan for the week, with every drive time, then walks the group to Djemaa el-Fna as the light goes. Dusk is the hour for the square: the food stalls are lit, smoke rises from the grills, and storytellers, musicians and henna artists gather in the square UNESCO proclaimed a Masterpiece of oral heritage in 2001 (inscribed on its Representative List in 2008). Across the square the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque glows against the evening sky. Before we sit down, your guide gives a short briefing on the souks: fair prices, how haggling works and how to say no politely. We finish with a welcome dinner together a short walk from the hotel.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK) at any hour
   • Welcome meeting and souk briefing
   • Dusk walk to Djemaa el-Fna with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Afternoon free before the group meets

   Activité : An easy walk of about 30 minutes on flat, busy lanes.

2. Jour 2 : Bahia Palace, then over the High Atlas

   Marrakech to Ait Ben Haddou over the Tizi n'Tichka pass

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Ait Ben Haddou
   Détail du jour 2

   Breakfast, then we are at the Bahia Palace when it opens, usually about 9 am (hours vary by day and season, and we confirm them locally), before the courtyards fill. Built in the late 19th century for the grand viziers of the day, it is a run of painted cedar ceilings, zellij tilework and planted courtyards, and a licensed Marrakech guide explains how the rooms were used. We leave the city by about 10:30 and the van climbs into the High Atlas on the N9, a road of long hairpins, walnut terraces and Amazigh villages built of the hillside's own red earth. We stop for coffee on the way up, then at the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres for the view south, and stop for lunch together in a roadside village on the far side, paid by you (not one of the included meals). Ait Ben Haddou comes into view in the middle of the afternoon. The evening is yours: watch the ksar turn gold at sunset from the riverbank, then dinner at your own pace.

   Compris

   • Bahia Palace entry with a licensed Marrakech guide
   • Coffee stop on the climb
   • Photo stop at the Tizi n'Tichka pass
   • Sunset view of the ksar from the riverbank

   Temps libre : Evening free in Ait Ben Haddou

   Activité : About 4 hours of driving with three stops; the road over the pass has many hairpins, so take a travel sickness tablet if you need one.

   

3. Jour 3 : Ait Ben Haddou early, then the Dades gorge

   Ait Ben Haddou to the Dades gorge via Ouarzazate, Skoura and Kelaat M'Gouna

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Dades Gorge
   Détail du jour 3

   We walk into Ait Ben Haddou at about 8 am, before the day coaches from Marrakech arrive at about 11, with a local guide from the village. The ksar is a fortified village of earthen houses on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987; we climb the lanes to the ruined granary at the top for the view over the Ounila valley in the morning light. After breakfast we drive east through Ouarzazate and past the Skoura palm grove, where we stay on the way back, to Kelaat M'Gouna in the Valley of Roses. Lunch is in the Dades valley, a sit-down meal of tagine and bread. In the afternoon we turn up the Dades gorge, where the road winds past kasbahs and terraced fields, and walk among the eroded red rock formations people call the Monkey Fingers. Dinner is at the hotel in the gorge.

   Compris

   • Early guided walk in the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou with a local guide
   • Skoura palm grove and Kelaat M'Gouna on the way
   • Lunch in the Dades valley
   • Guided walk among the Monkey Fingers rocks in the Dades gorge
   • Dinner at the hotel

   Option plus facile : Stay on the lower lanes of the ksar and skip the climb to the granary; in the Dades, walk the first 30 minutes and wait in the shade.

   Option plus active : Take the longer loop through the Monkey Fingers, about 3 hours, with a steeper climb out of the canyon.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free in the gorge

   Activité : The ksar climb is about 20 minutes on uneven steps. The Dades walk is about 2 hours on rocky paths with a few short climbs.

   

4. Jour 4 : The Todra Gorge, then a night in the dunes

   Dades gorge to the Todra Gorge, then Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi camp

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Merzouga
   Détail du jour 4

   This is one of three days that run over our 4-hour driving cap, at about 4 and a half hours, because Merzouga lies beyond the Todra; we break it in the middle with the gorge walk. We leave at about 8:30 and drive through Boumalne Dades and Tinghir, with its long green oasis, to the Todra Gorge. With a local guide we walk the narrowest stretch, where sheer limestone walls stand in places only about 10 metres apart above a shallow stream, then lunch together in Tinghir. The afternoon drive runs east across stony desert through Tinejdad and Erfoud to Merzouga, on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. We leave the big bags in the van and take an overnight bag. Camels carry you out across the sand for about an hour as the sun sets, or ride in by 4x4 if you prefer, to the camp. Dinner is under the stars, with music around the fire if the camp offers it.

   Compris

   • Guided walk in the Todra Gorge with a local guide
   • Lunch in Tinghir
   • Sunset camel ride into Erg Chebbi, or a 4x4 if you prefer
   • Dinner and the night at a desert camp

   Option plus facile : Ride to camp by 4x4 instead of camel, and walk only the flat floor of the Todra Gorge.

   Option plus active : Walk the dune ridge above camp to watch the last light.

   Activité : About 4 and a half hours of driving with the Todra walk and lunch in the middle. The camel ride is about an hour; camels kneel to let you on and off. In winter sunset is at about 5:30 pm, so ops time the start to reach the dunes before dark.

   

5. Jour 5 : Sahara sunrise, then back to Skoura

   Merzouga to Skoura via Erfoud, Tinghir and Kelaat M'Gouna

   • Environ 5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Skoura
   Détail du jour 5

   Your guide wakes you before dawn to climb a dune near camp for sunrise, when the ridges turn from grey to orange and there are no footprints ahead. Breakfast at the camp, then camels or a 4x4 back to the van. We do not drive the 9 or so hours back to Marrakech in one go, as many short trips do; we split it here with a night in Skoura. Today's drive is about 5 hours, over our 4-hour cap and the longest of the trip, because the desert is far from everything; the Skoura split keeps it from being 9. We break it every hour and a half: a stop at the old khettara underground irrigation channels between Erfoud and Tinejdad, coffee in Tinghir and lunch in Kelaat M'Gouna or Boumalne, paid by you. We reach Skoura in the middle of the afternoon. Its palm grove is one of the largest in the south, scattered with earthen kasbahs, and before sunset your guide walks you to Kasbah Amridil, a 17th-century family kasbah now open to visitors. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Sunrise dune walk with your guide
   • Breakfast at the camp
   • Khettara irrigation channels stop
   • Walk in the Skoura palm grove
   • Kasbah Amridil entry

   Option plus facile : Watch sunrise from the camp instead of climbing the dune.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Skoura

   Activité : About 5 hours of driving, 7 hours door to door with three stops. The dune climb at sunrise is about 20 minutes on soft sand.

   

6. Jour 6 : Over the Tichka to Marrakech

   Skoura to Marrakech via Ouarzazate and the Tizi n'Tichka pass

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 6

   Breakfast in Skoura, then an 8:30 start so you are back in Marrakech early in the afternoon. We drive through Ouarzazate, a desert town known for its film studios, and turn north into the High Atlas. The road climbs through red and green valleys to the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, with stops for coffee and the view, and drops down the long hairpins to the Haouz plain. We stop for a quick lunch on the way down, at your own expense. The drive is about 4 and a half hours, over our 4-hour cap because the only road back crosses the High Atlas, so we break it into three stretches. We reach Marrakech at about 2 pm and drop you at Marrakech Menara Airport or at a hotel in the city if you are staying on. Book flights leaving after about 5 pm, or add a night in Marrakech so you have time for the Majorelle Garden and the souks; we can book it for you.

   Compris

   • Coffee stop and the view at the Tizi n'Tichka pass
   • Drop-off at Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK) or a Marrakech hotel

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in Marrakech if you stay on

   Activité : About 4 and a half hours of driving with three stops. Book flights after about 5 pm.

   

Faune et météo : October, November, March and April are warm by day and cool at night. December to February brings cold desert nights and, now and then, snow on the Tizi n'Tichka, which can close the pass for a few hours; your guide will wait or reroute. Sandstorms in the dunes are short; bring a cover for your camera.

• Marrakech1 nuit
• Ait Ben Haddou1 nuit
• Dades Gorge1 nuit
• Merzouga1 nuit
• Skoura1 nuit