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Signature tour

The Sahara Road

Over the High Atlas, through the gorges, and out to where the road gives up and the dunes begin.

Duration
6 days · 5 nights
Distance
≈ 1,250 km
Fare
Quote on request
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The Sahara Road — The routeMarrakechOuarzazateBoumalne DadèsMerzougaAgdzTizi n'TichkaAït BenhaddouGorges du TodghaAltitude: Marrakech → Tizi n'Tichka (2 260 m) → Merzouga → MarrakechMarrakech · 470 mTizi n'Tichka · 2 260 mMerzouga · 720 mTizi n'Tichka · 2 260 m
The Koutoubia minaret against a clear blue sky in Marrakech

Pickup at your door. The Koutoubia in the mirror.

The Tizi n'Tichka road snaking through bare mountains

The pass. Two thousand metres of switchbacks.

The earthen ksar of Aït Benhaddou rising above palms

Earth towers on the desert side of the mountains.

The towers of Kasbah Amridil among olive trees and palms in Skoura

Kasbah Amridil, deep in the Skoura palm grove.

The Valley of Roses. In spring you smell it before you see it.

The Dadès Gorge road folding into tight switchbacks between red cliffs

The Dadès switchbacks, from above.

The road running between the sheer red walls of the Todra Gorge

Three hundred metres of rock on either side.

A camel caravan crossing the crest of a dune in Erg Chebbi at sunset

Where the road gives up.

A candlelit table for two in the dunes under a starry sky

Night in the dunes.

An old earthen kasbah among palms in the Draa Valley

The Draa Valley, a river of palms.

Back at your door, 1,250 km later.

Day by day

  1. Day1

    MarrakechTizi n'TichkaAït BenhaddouOuarzazate≈ 200 km

    Over the Atlas

    We leave Marrakech early and climb into the High Atlas. The road switchbacks up to Tizi n'Tichka — 2,260 m, one of the highest road passes in North Africa — then drops toward the desert side of the mountains. Afternoon at Aït Benhaddou, the fortified ksar of earthen towers, before a short run to Ouarzazate for the night.

    Overnight Ouarzazate · hotel

    A car rounding a curve on the Tizi n'Tichka mountain road
    Clay tagines lined up on a wall facing the ksar of Aït Benhaddou
    A craft stall on a terrace below the red towers of Aït Benhaddou
    A small roadside shop dug into a rocky slope on the Tichka road
  2. Day2

    OuarzazateSkouraKelâat M'GounaBoumalne Dadès≈ 160 km

    A thousand kasbahs

    East along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. Skoura's palm grove and the Kasbah Amridil, then the Valley of Roses around Kelâat M'Gouna, where the harvest fills the air each spring. We end the day deep in the Dadès Gorges, below the famous switchbacks.

    Overnight Dadès Gorges · hotel

    The towers of Kasbah Amridil among olive trees and palms in Skoura
    A family of travellers below the earthen walls of an old kasbah
    The Dadès Gorge road folding into tight switchbacks between red cliffs
  3. Day3

    Boumalne DadèsGorges du TodghaTinghirErfoudMerzouga≈ 290 km

    Into the gorge, out to the sand

    A morning walk between the 300-metre walls of the Todra Gorge, then the long, flat run east past Tinghir and Erfoud. The dunes of Erg Chebbi appear on the horizon long before you reach them. Night in a kasbah hotel at the edge of the sand.

    Overnight Merzouga · kasbah hotel

    Towering rock walls of the Todra Gorge with a minibus parked below
    The road running between the sheer red walls of the Todra Gorge
    Guests and their driver in Berber robes and turbans outside a roadside shop, the van parked beside them
  4. Day4

    MerzougaRissani

    Erg Chebbi

    A slow day. Gnawa music in Khamlia, the market at Rissani, an afternoon to rest. Late in the day the camels come, and we ride into Erg Chebbi as the dunes turn copper. Dinner and drums at camp, then more stars than you thought there were.

    Overnight Erg Chebbi · desert camp

    A Gnawa ensemble in white robes playing against a blue wall in Khamlia
    A long line of camels passing ruined ksar walls near Rissani
    Cones of spices piled high at a stall in the Rissani market
    A guide in white leading a camel train across the sand near Merzouga
  5. Day5

    MerzougaAlnifN'KobAgdz≈ 330 km

    Sunrise, then the Draa

    Up before dawn for sunrise from the crest of a dune, then breakfast back at camp. We take the southern road home — Alnif, the kasbahs of N'Kob — and drop into the Draa Valley, a ribbon of palms running all the way to Agdz for the night.

    Overnight Agdz · Draa Valley

    Soft dunes rolling away under a pale dawn sky
    Three handprints pressed into rippled orange sand
    Ruined earthen walls of a ksar glowing in low sun, Draa Valley
  6. Day6

    AgdzOuarzazateTizi n'TichkaMarrakech≈ 270 km

    Home over the mountains

    Through the palm groves one last time, back over the Atlas, and down into Marrakech by late afternoon. We drop you at your door.

    Overnight Tour ends · Marrakech

    The Tizi n'Tichka road snaking through bare mountains
    Our driver arm in arm with three travellers at a lookout in the High Atlas

Where you sleep

We book hand-picked hotels, riads and desert camps along the way. You'll see exactly where you're staying with your quote.

A hotel pool with arches and loungers dusted with snow, mountains behind
Partner hotel · a winter morning in the mountains
A hotel pool and loungers looking across to an earthen ksar
Partner hotel · a pool with a view of the ksar
White tents of a desert camp set among the dunes of Erg Chebbi
Desert camp · Erg Chebbi
Inside a camp tent: a red Berber rug and stools facing the dunes
Your tent, door open to the dunes
Lanterns and a red carpet leading through a desert camp at night, seen from a tent
The camp after dark

Make it yours

Every tour is private. Move the dates, add a night, change a hotel, skip a stop — tell us what you want and we'll build the quote around it.

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