Description
“Before Marrakech, everything was black. This city taught me colour, and I embraced its light, its insolent mixes, and ardent inventions.”“
Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent perfectly described Marrakech, one of the four imperial cities of Morocco. It’s impossible not to be fascinated by the blue of its sky, the pink of its city wall, the thousands of colors of its souks brimming with beautiful and unique handicrafts. Visiting its palaces, enjoying its museums, letting ourselves be overwhelmed by the daily evolution of Jemaa El Fna square (inserted in the UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage), getting lost in the medina’s narrow streets (UNESCO World Heritage Site)…it’s all something to do at least once in a lifetime.
Once the explosions of sounds and colors of this wonderful city are left behind, you can enjoy, even just for one night, the peace and tranquility of the desert: Merzouga awaits you.
From Marrakech to Merzouga Desert
From Marrakech, we’ll get to the High Atlas mountain range and after crossing the Tizi n’Tichka pass, we’ll go down towards Ouarzazate. Built by the French in the 1920s as a French Foreign Legion’s outpost toward the Sahara desert, on the crossroads of the Draa and Dadès valleys, Ouarzazate is a privileged entrance door to the Sahara desert and the Southern Oasis. It will be possible to visit the kasbah of Taourirt and the Atlas Studios; Ouarzazate and its surroundings are often used as film locations for movies set not only in Morocco but in other places as well.
After Ourzazate, we’ll stop nearby Agdz to visit the ksar of Tamnougalt, considered by many, one of the most beautiful in Morocco. It is a proper fortress with a defensive function located in a strategic point along the caravan route from Marrakech to Timbuktu. Tamnougalt is where Bernardo Bertolucci filmed most of the interior scenes of his film “The Sheltering Sky.”
The trip will continue South; we’ll reach Merzouga, a small town on the edge of Erg Chebbi, a stretch of high dunes where you’ll finally meet the sand of the Sahara desert, on the edge of which we’ll leave the car to reach by dromedary riding the campsite where you’ll spend the night, after relishing the sunset on the desert.
The following day will be dedicated to the exploration of the desert, its world and its inhabitants. You’ll be welcomed by a nomadic family and you’ll savor the Berber cuisine and enjoy life in the desert.
Once we leave the desert behind, we’ll start our trip back, visiting Rissani (with one of the most fascinating markets of the Country) and crossing the Dadès and Todgha Gorges. After a night at Boumalne Dadès, the last day of our journey begins with the visit of Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Once we leave the desert behind, we’ll start our trip back, visiting Rissani (with one of the most fascinating markets of the Country) and crossing the Dadès and Todgha Gorges.
The trip can also start from or end in Fez; the tour will have a night and an entire day in the desert, a visit of a few kasbahs and at the Todgha Gorges, and a passing through the Middle Atlas mountain range, where beautiful cedar forests alternate with areas of scarce vegetation, creating evocative landscapes. We’ll cross various villages and small towns, and we’ll stop to visit a few, according to your wishes and interests. The details will be always agreed together with you.
The Tour Includes
The Tour Does Not Include
Write and tell us what you have in mind, we will suggest the perfect itinerary for you based on the dates of your trip!
