Morocco Splendid Tours

You will take the road to Ouarzazate, and during this journey you will cross the Tizi-N-Tichka Pass. Along the route, you will see panoramic views of the High Atlas Mountains as well as sights of fertile valleys, blue and red colored pisé villages and other striking mineral environments. En route, we will stop for lunch and visit the Argan Cooperative, run entirely by women, where Argan oil; butter and cosmetics are made. The production process is mainly by hand, as Berber women crack the Argan nuts and grind them one by one. There, you will have a complimentary tasting. Afterwards, you will go to visit the famous Kasbah Telouet, one of Morocco’s hidden jewels; the Kasbah gained more importance and influence thanks to the Pacha Glaoui Family, whose origins go back to it. Kasbah Telouet is hidden at the end of a tiny road in a small village, 20 minutes far from Tichka. While the kasbah appears to be partially in ruins on the exterior, its interior is one of true splendor. We will continue on the road to Ouarzazate and make a visit to Aït Benhaddou Kasbah. The Kasbah of Ait Benhaddou is situated on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. It has been a hot destination for numerous well-known Hollywood directors, who made it appear in various successful works such as, Lawrence of Arabia, Sodome and Gomorrah and Game of thrones. In recent years, more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan Route, moving through the Sahara. Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber towered and walled Kasbah.
 Then you will continue to Skoura, the Valley of One Thousand Kasbahs. You will stay overnight at a riad in Skoura.

You will visit the Skoura palm groves and the Valley of One Thousand Kasbahs. Skoura has a fertile oasis with immense palm groves that provide great views of the Atlas Mountains alongside deserted landscapes. The palm groves were laid out in the 12th century by the Almohad Sultan Yacoub el-Mansour and named after its original inhabitants. The most beautiful kasbahs in southern Morocco can be found there. Many of them are still partially inhabited. After that, you will head towards the perfumed Valley of Roses, just north of El Kelaa of Mgouna. On the way to the Valley of Roses, your driver will stop for you to see the distillation factories laid out in the small Kasbah town that manufactures the entire nation’s products of rose water. Rose water is also used in making other products like hand and body soaps, perfume... In the Valley of Roses you notice miles of pink, small Persian roses cultivated as hedgerows dividing the plots of land. In spring, if you are traveling in May, your guide will recommend that you attend the annual Rose Festival held in the village to celebrate the year’s crops. Your journey will then take you through the Dades Valley, which covers 125 km between Ouarzazate and Boumalne Dades. Once you reach Boumalne, at first sight you notice the limestone cliffs with uniquely shaped erosions and superb scenery and the valley’s windy roads. Driving along you will pass flower filled fields, fertile fields, riverbanks and several fortified kasbahs. You will spend overnight at a riad in the Dades Valley.

Taking the road to Merzouga, you will visit Erfoud, the capital of fossils, and the town of Rissani. Rissani is a Sahara desert town known as the cradle of the Sheriffian Alaoui dynasty. You will visit the old Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Sharif, the founder of the Alaoui dynasty in Morocco, and then the old Ksar of Rissani. You will arrive to Merzouga’s Erg Chebbi Dunes before sunset, and then go by dromedary at sunset into the Erg Chebbi Dunes to a bivouac camp. Your guide will share some of the Sahara Desert’s secrets. As you glide across humpback on these silent, mystical dunes there will be countless opportunities to photograph the endless rolling dunes. Berber dinner and overnight will be at the desert camp in the Sahara Desert.

Early morning, you will wake up to enjoy the sunrise over the dunes of Erg Chebbi, followed by breakfast at the camp. Then, you will get back on a camel trek. We drive to Erfoud, the aforementioned fossil’s capital, and there we can stop to visit a fossil workshop before we continue to Agdez and Draa valley junction, where we head north to Ouarzazate after crossing the small volcanic Atlas Mountains. Dinner and overnight will be in Ouarzazate.

We will make a trip to the Atlas Film Studios. The studios are flanked by Holly-wood style Egyptian figures and cover 30,000 sq. m of desert. David Lean filmed Lawrence of Arabia at The Atlas Film Studios in the early 1960’s. Since then many famous directors have followed in his footsteps to exploit the magnificent scenery. International blockbusters shot here in recent years include: the French version of Cleopatra, Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, Scorsese’s Kundun, Gillies MacKannon’s Hideous Kinky, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Black Hawke Down, Oliver Stone’s Alexander The Great, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, Penelope Cruz’s Sahara, gladiator and game of thrones. Finally, we will take the road back to Marrakech.