8 Days in the Sahara Desert & Marrakech

Your driver-guide meets you at Marrakech Menara Airport for a private transfer straight to your riad in the medina. Once you've checked in, the rest of the day is yours — a good moment for a first, unhurried wander through the nearby streets before the guided city tour later in the trip. The evening is free, with dinner recommendations from your riad's team if you'd like them.

The road south begins with the climb over the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at just over 2,260 metres — the highest paved road crossing in the range, and a scenic one, with switchbacks looking back over the peaks behind you.

On the far side, the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou comes into view: a fortified hilltop village of red earth walls, UNESCO-listed, and still recognisable to anyone who's seen it stand in for a handful of film and television productions over the years. Its narrow alleys and towers are worth an hour or more on foot before continuing on.

From there the route drops into the Dades Valley, ending the day in Boumalne Dades, a small town wedged between rose-coloured cliffs, where a locally run guesthouse hosts dinner and the night.

The morning follows the Dades Valley toward Tinghir, a town backed by rock cliffs and shaded by a long palm grove. A short detour from here leads to the Todra Gorge, where the road narrows into a limestone canyon with walls rising sharply on either side — one of the more dramatic short stops on the whole route, and an easy flat walk along the riverbed.

Back on the main road, the landscape opens up again through Erfoud, known for its fossil workshops, before arriving in Merzouga at the edge of the dunes. Camels are waiting here — one per traveller — for the ride out to the luxury tented camp set among the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Dinner is served under canvas after a welcome tea, with nothing but sand and stars for company.

Anyone willing to get up before sunrise is rewarded with one of the trip's best moments: first light over the dunes, different every morning. After breakfast at the camp and the return camel ride to Merzouga, the day shifts into 4x4 vehicles for a route into quieter corners of the desert.

A stop in the village of Khamlia brings a short live performance of Gnawa music, a tradition with roots in West Africa that's now recognised by UNESCO as part of Morocco's intangible heritage. From there, the tracks turn rougher — the same terrain once used by the Paris-Dakar rally — leading past old mining settlements to a visit with a nomadic family, who share a little of daily life in one of the more remote parts of the Sahara. The day ends back in Merzouga, at a hotel built in traditional Berber style.

The road back toward Marrakech is long, so the day is broken up with stops worth making. Rissani is first: a former caravan town with an atmospheric old medina, a lively market, and a donkey park that says as much about daily life here as any monument would.

Further on, the route runs through the Draa Valley, Morocco's longest, marked by an enormous palm grove that stretches for roughly 150 kilometres — one of the largest oases on the continent. The day ends in Ouarzazate, nicknamed the "Hollywood of Morocco" for the film studios on its outskirts, where a riad hosts dinner and the night.

Before heading back over the Atlas, there's time for the Kasbah of Taourirt, once the seat of the powerful El Glaoui family — plain and fortress-like on the outside, more finely decorated within, with carved plaster, wood and ceramic work typical of the region.

From there, the road climbs back over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, descending on the northern side through greener valleys toward Marrakech. Arrival is early enough to leave the afternoon free — for the souks, for resting, or simply for getting your bearings before the guided city tour the next day.

The main cultural day of the trip is spent in Marrakech's medina, with a licensed local guide who can put its landmarks into context: the exterior of the Koutoubia Mosque, the constant motion of Jemaa el-Fna square, the Saadian Tombs and the Bahia Palace among them, depending on pace and interest.

The afternoon is left open again — for more of the souks, a museum or garden of your choosing (the Majorelle Gardens and the Ben Youssef Madrasa are popular additions), or simply time to sit somewhere and watch the city go by before the last night in the riad.

The last day is shaped around your flight home. There's time for a relaxed final breakfast at the riad before your driver arrives for the transfer to Marrakech Menara Airport, where the tour comes to a close.