8 days/7 nights: ‘The royal city of Marrakech, kasbahs, oases and the desert’

Overnight stay in a riad in the medina with breakfast.

After breakfast, we begin our city tour. Due to its numerous unique historical buildings, Marrakech, one of Morocco’s four royal cities, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old town in particular has many unique sights and buildings to offer. Famous is the Square of the Hanged, the Djema al Fnaa, the city’s medieval market square, where even today you can still observe the colourful hustle and bustle of the traders, the typical oriental storytellers and the mysterious snake charmers. The souk, with its smells, colours and sounds, is a first immersion into 1001 Nights. No less famous are the gardens, such as the Jardin Majorelle. This beautiful botanical garden was created by Yves Saint Laurent and is home to many plants and flowers from all five continents of the world. Overnight stay in a riad.

After breakfast at your riad, we will start our desert tour. The journey takes us over the High Atlas and the 2,260-metre-high Tizi-n-Tichka Pass with its breathtaking views. The steep road, lined with oak forests and nut trees, leads past the mud and stone houses of the Berber villages and rushing mountain streams.  Once we have crossed the pass, the steep road descends into the almost moon-like landscape of the Anti-Atlas and we reach our first destination, the Kasbah of Telouet;  along the former caravan route, this was the seat of power of the El Glaoui family, hence sometimes also called the Palace of the Glaoui (you can visit the Kasbah if you wish). We continue to Ait Benhaddou, a kasbah built of mud bricks. Protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is considered the most beautiful and famous kasbah in Morocco and has served as the backdrop for films such as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ and ‘Gladiator’. After the tour and lunch break, the journey continues through date palm oases and past beautiful old kasbahs that have given this region its name – to the Valley of 1000 Kasbahs, where you can visit the Kasbah Amridil. Via Skoura and Kelaa M’Gouna, we then head to the impressive Dades Gorge. Dinner and overnight stay at the Riad.

After breakfast at our riad, we take a walk in the Dadès Gorge and continue via Boumalne to the enchanting natural landscape of Jebel Saghro and the Tizi-n Tazazert Pass. The route offers the most beautiful panoramic views of the Jebel Saghro. After about 70 km, we reach the Tazazert Pass at 2,283 metres above sea level with a fantastic view; first the Tagourt plateau, then the mountain peak of Tazlout, which resembles a pyramid, then the gorges of Acca n’Akhbache and finally the two rock towers of Bab n’Ali. It is a mineral-rich landscape with many conglomerates, which give the landscape a mystical quality. We reach Nkob and then the oasis of the Draa Valley, which stretches from Ouarzazate to Mhamid. The most beautiful part of the oasis, with millions of date palms, stretches from Agdz to Zagora; the dates of the Draa Valley are very famous and sought-after, and during the harvest season (September-December) they are sold everywhere along the roadside. Don’t miss the opportunity to try this extraordinary fruit, which is said to have aphrodisiac properties. Dinner and overnight stay in a riad typical of the region in Zagora.

After breakfast, we continue south towards the Mhamid Desert. The journey takes us past Tamegroute (where you can visit a pottery workshop and watch the potters at work) and the dunes of Tinfou to Mhamid, once a lonely oasis and an important stop on the old caravan routes. Before Mhamid, we leave the paved road and drive into the desert; if you are lucky, you may see ostriches, antelopes and gazelles; you are sure to encounter free-roaming dromedaries and herds of goats. In an adventurous drive in a Land Cruiser on the desert tracks, you will reach the sacred oasis of Iriki after about 50 km and then continue to the dunes of Erg Chigaga, which stretch over an area of about 40 km. The golden dunes reach a height of 300 m and our desert camp is located in the middle of the dunes. Enjoy the hospitality of the nomads, with the famous mint tea, the ‘Whiskey berbère’, as a welcome drink. Lunch at the camp; dinner and overnight stay in a private tent in the comfortable desert camp, as well as nomadic romance under the fantastic starry sky of the desert.

If you are spending the night in the desert, you should get up early to see the sun rise behind the dunes. After breakfast, set off on a hike through the dunes of Erg Chigaga on our dromedaries and after about 2 hours you will reach your resting place, a large tamarind tree, in whose shade your lunch will be prepared for you. Mint tea, bread baked in hot sand, meat skewers (brochette) and, of course, Moroccan salad taste simply fantastic in the middle of the dunes. Dinner and overnight stay in the desert bivouac; music and campfire.

After breakfast, you will continue your journey on the old Paris-Dakar track and reach Lac Iriki, a salt lake that is usually dry for many years, only coming to life during periods of increased rainfall. Continuing on, you will reach Fossil Mountain, where you can collect a few small fossils as souvenirs. You will leave the desert and travel via Foum Zguid to Tazenakht; lunch break and return via the High Atlas to Marrakech, where you will arrive in the evening. Overnight stay in a riad in the medina.