9 Days in Southern Morocco

This 9-day, 8-night South of Morocco tour moves through a part of the country that is completely different from the imperial cities of the north. You start in Marrakech and travel south through the High Atlas Mountains, past Ait Ben Haddou and into the Skoura palm groves. You go deeper into the Sahara to Merzouga, ride camels into the Erg Chebbi dunes, take a 4×4 through the largest dunes in the Sahara, hunt for fossils, visit a camel milk cooperative, and experience an ATV ride across open desert. You travel through the Draa Valley, the longest valley in Morocco, before returning via Ouarzazate and the film studios that have stood in for some of the most iconic landscapes in cinema history. Marrakech brings a full city tour, a traditional hammam, and dinner at one of the city’s best-loved restaurants. Then Essaouira, a windswept Atlantic coastal city that feels like a completely different world after everything that came before it. A private English-speaking driver, air-conditioned vehicle, luxury desert camp, daily breakfast, select dinners, ATV experience, camel rides, 4×4 desert transfers and all taxes are included throughout.

South of Morocco Experiences Itinerary

DAY 1: Arrival Day

Arrival can be at either Marrakech or Casablanca airport. Our driver will meet the guests at the airport holding a card with their names, then escort them via the highway to Marrakech (a two-hour drive), or directly from Marrakech Airport if they arrive there (a 10-minute drive) to their riad. Upon arrival, guests can check in at the riad or take a walk on their own around the area, where the old medina is located. Overnight at the riad.

We left early in the morning from your hotel or riad in Marrakech on the way to Skoura Valley, we cross the high atlas with 2260 meters of height always with an incredible nature landscape until the Kasbah of Aït-Ben-Haddou one of the oldest and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will visit this site with a local guide and we will have lunch nearby.

The Kasbah is a group of several small fortresses, or (kasbahs), arriving to have ten meters of height each one. Most of the city’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village on the other side of the river; however, eight families still live in the old Kasbah and making this visit is like stepping into the back of a movie as it has been filmed there several famous films including Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, Gladiator, Alexander and Prince of Persia.

After lunch we take the road to Skoura Valley, we will drive through the oasis to visit the Amridil Kasbah (17 century) with a local guide.

Amridil Kasbah has changed little since its foundation over 300 years ago. The family who built the Kasbah is still the proprietor and are responsible for its upkeep and renovations. Here, you will be able to take a look at some tools that were used in the area generations ago, and some that are still used today in southern Morocco.

Life in the kasbah is still very much the same. After you’ve taken in the traditional ways of the kasbah, make your way up the stairs to the top of the fortification to get a stunning view of the surrounding Skoura palm groves.

We will end our day in a very quiet Riad with a wonderful balcony where you can take your welcome mint tea watching the sun set.

After breakfast, we will continue our journey to Merzouga and this will be a day with many different landscapes of our way.

The highlight place in the morning would be the Grand canyon area of todgha gorge one of the most famous nature landscapes in Morocco, we will do a small walk of 30 minutes in that place and have lunch near.

After lunch we continue driving to Merzouga and we will stop to see some old tunnels made in the desert that served to capture water from the underground rivers around the 14 centuries then continue to Erfoud the last city before Merzouga.

We arrive to Merzouga before nightfall and will have your camels waiting to take you on a 1-hour trip through the desert dunes to the camp. Dining in a tent under the stars, after you can joint around a big bonfire with local music.

After breakfast a 4×4 car will be waiting for you to continue your journey in the dunes of erg chebbi, perhaps largest dunes in the Sahara desert, on the way we will visit berbere village to get a close interaction with this amazing culture. We will visit a camel milk cooperative and continue where we will be able to look for fossils by yourself in the middle of sahara and see as well the big factory of fossils in this small town named erfoud then visit one of the best traditional markets in Sahara, a place where they sell just donkeys and other commodities for sheep, goat and cows, stop in the village el khamlia for lunch (included). Continue to the African village or gnawa village. Then continue to our destination, erg chebbi where you will enjoy an ATV experience for 1 h. Then transferred for sand sliding (snowboarding, but on. The deserts slope instead of in the alps). A rewarding dinner under the tent or outside is waiting for you.

Admiration of the sunrise, Rid of 1h on camel’s back to Merzouga ,after breakfast we start the way back to Marrakech through Rissani, the origin of the Alaouit dynasty reigning Morocco. Then we cross a kind of desert (is like rocky desert) and the Berber villages of Alnif , through the Draa valley (the largest one in Morocco) to Agdez where the biggest palm tree in Morocco. You will have chance to have 1 hour and half walk on the heart of the palmerie seeing local farmers and see the Village of Taliwin or Tamnougalt. (overnight in Agdez).

After breakfast, we return on the road towards the city of Ouarzazate, this city known as “the gate of the desert”, Ouarzazate and the surrounding region is one of the most used places in Morocco as a setting by filmmakers from around the world. In addition to the landscapes, another of the area’s great attractions is the quality of light, with a bright sun for at least 300 days a year.

Films like Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Asterix and Obelix – (2004), Kundun (1997), Legionnaire (1998), Hanna (2011), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), and war of Thrones.

After visiting the film studios (optional) we continued our journey through the high Atlas Mountains to Marrakech by taking a break for lunch in a pleasant restaurant in the mountains then back to Marrakech through the tizin tichka valley, this stretch of road is considered one of the most picturesque of Morocco, by the breathtaking views of the highest mountains of the High Atlas.

Along the road or near it there are several traditional villages with houses of stone or of beaten earth, surrounded by terraces and walnut trees, in which the inhabitants dedicate themselves to the agriculture overnight in your riad in Marrakech.

An exciting day awaits in Marrakech, where heady sights and sounds will dazzle and enchant. First, our morning city tour includes Bahia Palace and Dar Si Said, both known for intricate tile work and floral-painted wood ceilings. Next, discover Berber culture at the Tiskiwin Museum, founded by anthropologist Bert Flint, with displays ranging from authentic tents and carpets to ancient jewellery. Afterward, visit Dar El Bacha, a stunning palace with colourful mosaics and Berber architecture. Then, enjoy lunch at Dar Bellarj (own expense) before unwinding with a traditional hammam. Following the 45-minute scrub with black soap, rejuvenate with a tonic massage. Finally, enjoy dinner at El Fassia and witness the evening spectacle at Jamaa L’Fna Square. Overnight at the hotel.

Departure time at 8 am. Our driver will pick you from your hotel in Marrakesh to enjoy your sea breeze day. On our way from Marrakesh to Essaouira we can visit a woman’s argan oil cooperative, this area is famous because of the argan trees and we will do some stops to make some photos of the trees and the goat shepherds.

We will arrive in Essaouira at lunch time and you have the rest of the day to enjoy yourself, you can have a delicious fresh fish lunch at the port, after you can walk inside the old (18 century) medina and you can also discover one of the most beautiful beaches in Africa.

The Portuguese were responsible for the construction of the massive stone walls that still surround the old medina of Essaouira. This, among other reasons, is why it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

With its long beach, calm harbor and friendly locals, Essaouira has developed into one of the more tranquil spots in Morocco. Windsurfers glide over the waves, the call of seagull’s echo, and fishing boats pull into harbor. The salt air here is a crisp respite after a few days in marrakech or the heat of the sahara.

At 5 in the afternoon, we returned to Marrakesh with the certainty that this day was the highlight on your trip.

Arrival can be at either Marrakech or Casablanca airport. Our driver will meet the guests at the airport holding a card with their names, then escort them via the highway to Marrakech (a two- hour drive), or directly from Marrakech Airport if they arrive there (a 10-minute drive) to their riad. Upon arrival, guests can check in at the riad or take a walk on their own around the area where the old medina is located. Overnight at the riad.

Package Inclusions

  • English-speaking driver
  • Comfortable car with A/C
  • 2 hours of camel riding
  • 8 nights of hotel or riad accommodation
  • ATV experience
  • 4×4 round-trip transfers in the desert
  • Luxury camp
  • Daily breakfast
  • Dinners in Merzouga, Skoura, and Agdez Valley
  • Bottled water available in the car
  • All taxes

Package Exclusions

  • Tips for driver and guide
  • Lunches and dinners unless specifically mentioned in the description

The South of Morocco Is Where the Country Shows You Who It Really Is

The Morocco most people see is Marrakech souks and Instagram blue doors in Chefchaouen. The Morocco on this itinerary is something else entirely. It is a 17th-century kasbah still run by the family that built it, a Gnawa village in the middle of the Sahara, a Berber market where donkeys are the main commodity, fossils embedded in desert rock that are hundreds of millions of years old, and the Draa Valley stretching out wider and longer than you expected a valley to be. You cover it all in a private vehicle with an English-speaking driver, so you stop when you want to stop and move when you are ready to move. This is not a tour designed to get through the checklist. It is designed to give you the kind of experiences that change what you think Morocco is.

Is this the year you finally see the Morocco that does not make it onto everyone else’s holiday reel?

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