Mud-brick houses in front of the Draa Valley palm grove, with mountains behind

Private tour · 4 days

4-day desert tour from Marrakech to Merzouga via Ouarzazate

A private 4-day desert tour from Marrakech to Merzouga via Ouarzazate, round trip from Marrakech. Along the way: Ait Ben Haddou, the Erg Chebbi dunes, the Todra Gorge and the Dades Valley, and a night in the desert. These days give you time for the road and for the desert.

Tour highlights

  • The Telouet kasbah and the Ounila Valley, off the usual route
  • The Draa Valley and the kasbahs of N’kob
  • The Rissani souk and the Todra Gorge
  • Ait Ben Haddou and the High Atlas to finish

Day-by-day itinerary

  1. Day 1 · Marrakech · Telouet · Ounila Valley · Ait Ben Haddou · Ouarzazate

    A quieter way across the Atlas. After Tizi n’Tichka we leave the main road for Telouet, the kasbah of the Glaoui family, with tiled reception rooms and carved cedar ceilings. We drop down the Ounila Valley, with its earthen villages and terraced fields, to Ait Ben Haddou, which you explore on foot. The night is in Ouarzazate, the town of the film studios.

    Night: Ouarzazate

  2. Day 2 · Ouarzazate · Agdz · Draa Valley · N’kob · Merzouga

    The southern route, where fewer people travel. We cross the Anti-Atlas to Agdz and follow the Draa Valley, the longest palm grove in Morocco, with the Tamnougalt kasbah overlooking the river. We continue through N’kob, the village of forty kasbahs at the foot of the Saghro massif, and Alnif, known for its trilobites. We reach Merzouga in time for sunset on the dunes.

    Night: Desert camp

  3. Day 3 · Merzouga · Rissani · Erfoud · Todra Gorge · Dades Valley

    After sunrise in the desert, we head west. In Rissani you can wander its souk, one of the largest in the south, and see the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif. We pass Erfoud and follow the kasbah road to Tinghir and the Todra Gorge, explored on foot. The night is in the Dades Valley.

    Night: Dades Valley

  4. Day 4 · Dades · Valley of Roses · Skoura · Ouarzazate · Ait Ben Haddou · Marrakech

    Last day on the road of a thousand kasbahs. We pass the Valley of Roses and the Skoura palm grove, go through Ouarzazate and stop at Ait Ben Haddou to explore the ksar. In the afternoon we climb the High Atlas over Tizi n’Tichka and descend to Marrakech, where the trip ends.

Winding road climbing to the Tizi n'Tichka pass through the High Atlas mountains
The ksar of Aït Ben Haddou on its hillside, with palm trees and the riverbed in the foreground
Crest of an Erg Chebbi dune lit by the orange evening light
The monumental entrance gate of Rissani, with palm trees and Moroccan flags

What’s included

Included

  • Pick-up from your accommodation in Marrakech and return
  • Private air-conditioned vehicle
  • Multilingual driver for the whole trip
  • Accommodation: 3 nights, including the night in the desert
  • Breakfasts
  • Dinner at the desert camp

Not included

  • Lunches
  • Other dinners (on request: ask when you book)
  • Monument entry fees and local guides
  • Tips

Places along the route

Telouet Kasbah

Telouet was the stronghold of the Glaoui family, who dominated southern Morocco in the first half of the 20th century. Their partly ruined kasbah still holds reception rooms with carved stucco, cedar ceilings and zellige tilework. From here, the Ounila valley runs down past earthen villages and colourful ravines towards Aït Ben Haddou.

Aït Ben Haddou

This earthen ksar, built on a hillside above the Ounila river, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Its mud-brick houses and towers, linked by lanes climbing to an old granary, have appeared in many films. Crossing the river and walking to the top rewards you with one of the south’s most photogenic views.

Draa Valley

The Draa is Morocco’s longest river, and its valley forms a long ribbon of date palms between Agdz and Zagora. Along the road you pass mud-brick ksour and kasbahs, gardens watered by irrigation channels and bare mountains behind, a contrast that sums up life in the south better than almost anywhere.

Erg Chebbi Dunes

Erg Chebbi is the great sea of orange sand dunes rising beside Merzouga, on the edge of the Moroccan Sahara. At sunrise and sunset the light shifts colour across the ridges, making it the perfect place to walk barefoot on the sand, ride a camel or simply soak up the silence.

Todra Gorge

Near Tinghir, the Todra river has carved a narrow canyon between limestone walls that rise almost vertically. Walking along the floor of the gorge, beside the stream and beneath those cliffs, is genuinely awe-inspiring, and the valley leading up to it is dotted with palm groves and mud-brick villages.

Dades Valley and Gorges

The Dades Valley opens out between the High Atlas and Jebel Saghro, lined with earthen kasbahs, small fields and strikingly shaped rock formations. Further up, the road squeezes into a gorge and climbs in tight hairpin bends to a well-known viewpoint, an ideal spot to stop and take in the scale of the landscape.

Is this the tour for you?

It’s a well-balanced length: enough time to see the highlights of the route without spending the whole day in the car, and to enjoy sunset and sunrise on the dunes.

The night in the desert

You reach Merzouga in the late afternoon, in time for sunset over the dunes. The camel ride to the camp is optional: if you prefer, the transfer is done by 4x4 and you miss nothing.

At night, the desert sky with no lights around. In the morning it is worth getting up early: sunrise over Erg Chebbi is one of the best moments of the trip.

For a more comfortable night, we recommend Tassili Luxury Desert Camp, our sister camp in Erg Znaigui, with private-bathroom tents. Ask when you book and we will include it in the proposal.

Aerial view of a small camel caravan and its shadows on the dunes

Time on the road

Marrakech to Merzouga is about 560 kilometres across the High Atlas: with stops, 10 to 12 hours on the road.

It is a private tour: we stop for photos, meals or a stretch whenever you like, and you set the pace of each day.

Make it yours

As the tour is private, the itinerary can change: start on another day, add or drop a night, or finish in a different city. These are the most requested options:

How to book

Message us on WhatsApp or by email with your dates, how many you are and where you are starting from. We reply with a proposal, a fixed price and what it includes, with no obligation.

Frequently asked questions

Is the tour private?

Yes. The vehicle and driver are for your group only, with no other travellers, so stops and timings adapt to you.

Do I have to ride a camel?

No. The camel ride is optional: if you prefer, the transfer to the camp is done by 4x4.

Where do we sleep?

There are 3 nights: the first in Ouarzazate, the second at the desert camp and the third in the Dades Valley. The proposal tells you the exact accommodation for each night.

Which meals are included?

Breakfasts and dinner at the desert camp. Lunches are not, as we stop wherever you like along the way. Other dinners are on request: if you’d like them, tell us when you book and we’ll include them in the proposal.

What language does the driver speak?

Our drivers speak several languages, including English. If you need Italian, just ask when booking.

Can it be done in 3 days?

Yes: we have the 3 days from Marrakech to Merzouga tour. With fewer days there are more hours of driving in a row, which is why this itinerary spreads the journey better.

How much does the tour cost?

It depends on how many of you are travelling, the dates and the type of accommodation. The vehicle and driver are a fixed cost, so the more of you there are, the less it costs per person. Message us on WhatsApp and we’ll send you the price and availability the same day.

When is the best time to go?

Spring and autumn are the most pleasant; summer is very hot in the middle of the day, and winter nights in the desert are cold.

More tours from Marrakech

Tassili Luxury Desert Camp at dusk, with the tents lit up
The tents of Tassili Luxury Desert Camp among the dunes

Where to sleep in the desert

A night in a private tent

If you want to stay longer in the desert, Tassili Luxury Desert Camp has ten tents with private bathrooms in Erg Znaigui, away from the main camp area.

  • Ten private tents
  • A private bathroom in every tent
  • In Erg Znaigui, away from the main camp area
See the tents
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