Atlas and the Sahara, Marrakech to Merzouga, Morocco
Marrakech, the Atlas and the Dunes
Seven days from the souks to Erg Chebbi and back over the pass.
- 7 days · 6 nights
- 2–12 travellers
- Easy
- Trekking
- Culture
Two nights in the medina, a Berber village in the High Atlas, the kasbah road through Dades, and a night in the dunes at Erg Chebbi.
The drive is the trip. Morocco changes completely every two hours — orange groves, then bare rock, then palmeries, then sand — and the road over the Tizi n'Tichka is one of the great ones. The desert night is a permanent camp with beds and proper bathrooms rather than a bivouac, reached by camel or by 4x4 depending on how you feel about camels. Dinner is outside, and there is nothing above you but the sky.
Day by day
Meet at the riad, then the Jemaa el-Fnaa food stalls in the evening with somebody who knows which ones to walk past.
Riad, Marrakech medina
What is included
Included
- Six nights: riad, guesthouses, mountain lodge and one desert camp
- Private vehicle and driver-guide throughout
- Camel ride into the dunes, or the 4x4 alternative
- Breakfast daily, plus dinner at the camp and the lodge
- Local guide for the medina and the Imlil walk
Not included
- Flights
- Most lunches and dinners
- Monument entry in Marrakech, roughly $30 in total
- Travel insurance
On the ground
Meeting point
Marrakech, riad in the medina, or the airport on request.