Route of the Thousand Kasbahs

On the first day, very early in the morning, we will leave Marrakech behind and head towards Ouarzazate. Along the way, we will cross the stunning Atlas landscapes through the incredible Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 meters high.

Halfway there, we will arrive at the Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, a filming location for movies like Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven. Here you will have two and a half hours of free time to eat and get to know the most surprising fortified city in Morocco.

Continuing the route, we will arrive in Ouarzazate, where we will stop for half an hour to take photos of the impressive Kasbah of Taourirt.

We will resume the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs towards Skoura, a village located in the heart of the palm valley, an extensive and labyrinthine oasis, whose lush vegetation shelters beautiful secret kasbahs. From here we will cross the Valley of Roses (famous for their cultivation) until we reach the impressive gorges of the Dades Valley, where we will stay.

After breakfast, we will set off towards the Dades Valley and cross the incredible Todra Gorges to walk and enjoy the landscape.

We will continue our journey towards Merzouga and cross the Jorf Palm Grove, popular for being the cradle of the best dates in the country, and we will eat before reaching Erfoud, a small town known for fossil fragments.

Once in Merzouga, we will approach the Berber Riad or Kasbah where we will stay, facing the high dunes of the Erg Chebbi desert. We will enjoy the free afternoon to climb the dunes and take advantage of a beautiful sunset. After dinner at the hotel in front of the dunes, we will enjoy a Berber show with drums.

We will have breakfast and begin the day by visiting Khamlia, whose inhabitants are known for being excellent musicians and have made this art their way of life. With them, we will enjoy a small Gnawa music concert.

We will return to the 4x4 to enter the dunes and travel one of the tracks used in the "Paris-Dakar Rally", visiting the Khol mines and the remains of a French and Berber settlement. We will make a panoramic stop to contemplate the sand desert that comprises the Erg Chebbi as a whole. Next, we will visit desert nomads in the process of settling down, with whom we can have tea and learn more about their way of life.

After passing through the Hassi Labiad garden, we will head to Rissani, the first imperial city, where we can walk through the great African market where nomads and locals from nearby villages come to sell their goods and buy the supplies they need. If you like, we can taste the tasty Berber pizza, made with natural ingredients from the market (only found here). After eating, we will return to the hotel to rest and prepare to enter the desert.

We will leave what we don't need and mount the dromedaries that will take us into the desert while the beautiful sunset offers spectacular colors on the sand. This night will be special, as we will sleep in a tent camp. Here we will enjoy a great dinner, music, and a beautiful starry sky.

If there is something unforgettable in the Erg Chebbi desert, it is the sunrise. After contemplating this moment, we will have breakfast at the camp and begin the last day.

We will leave early for Alnif and visit the city considered the cradle of the Alaouite dynasty, where its market stands out, considered the most important in the south. We will leave the desert behind and cross the arid and at the same time interesting pre-desert landscapes until we reach the Draa Valley, where we will make several stops to enjoy the valley along the river that bears its name and is the longest in Morocco, as it crosses the entire country to Mauritania.

We will continue our journey to Ouarzazate, currently the administrative center of the area and from where caravans to Timbuktu (Mali) used to depart on a long journey that lasted 52 days. From here, the entire Draâ Valley and the Oasis are dominated, considered the most extensive in Morocco as well as the richest in date production.

We will continue the route to Marrakech and stop for lunch at a restaurant in the mountains. Then we will visit the Argan oil cooperative, where we will discover the production process and they will explain the countless benefits this product has for the human body.

We will be back in Marrakech around 7:30 PM.

After a good breakfast, and enjoying Marrakech, in the afternoon you will enjoy a guided tour of the city, where you will enter the Medina, through the maze of alleys that make up the famous Marrakech souk. After finishing the tour, you will have more free time to see more closely what local life is like. To finish, later, we will pick you up for the return to the airport if necessary.