5-Day Desert Tour From Marrakech to Merzouga

You'll take the road to Ouarzazate, crossing the Tizi-n-Tichka pass with panoramic views of the High Atlas Mountains, fertile valleys, blue and red pisé villages, and striking mineral landscapes. We stop for lunch and visit an Argan cooperative run entirely by women, where Argan oil, butter, and cosmetics are made mostly by hand — with a complimentary tasting. Afterwards, you'll visit the famous Kasbah Telouet, one of Morocco's hidden jewels, tied to the influential Pasha Glaoui family; though partially in ruins outside, its interior is one of true splendor. Continuing toward Ouarzazate, you'll visit Ait Benhaddou Kasbah, a former stop on the Southern Caravan Route and a filming location for Lawrence of Arabia, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Game of Thrones, on a private guided tour through the towered, walled kasbah. You'll then continue to Skoura, the Valley of One Thousand Kasbahs, for an overnight stay at a riad.

You'll visit the Skoura palm groves and the Valley of One Thousand Kasbahs, a fertile oasis laid out in the 12th century by the Almohad Sultan Yacoub el-Mansour, home to some of southern Morocco's most beautiful — and still partially inhabited — kasbahs. From there you head to the perfumed Valley of Roses, north of El Kelaa of Mgouna, stopping at small distillation factories that produce the region's rose water. In spring, this is also when the annual Rose Festival is held. Your journey continues through the Dades Valley toward Boumalne Dades, past limestone cliffs with uniquely shaped erosions, flower-filled fields, riverbanks, and fortified kasbahs, before an overnight stay at a riad in the Dades Valley.

On the road to Merzouga, you'll visit Erfoud, the "capital of fossils," and the town of Rissani, cradle of the Sheriffian Alaoui dynasty, including the old Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Sharif and the old Ksar of Rissani. You'll arrive at Merzouga's Erg Chebbi dunes before sunset, then ride by dromedary at sunset into the dunes on a camel trek to a bivouac camp, with plenty of chances to photograph the endless rolling dunes along the way. A Berber dinner and the night are spent at the desert camp in the Sahara.

Early morning, wake up to enjoy sunrise over the dunes of Erg Chebbi, followed by breakfast at the camp and a camel trek back. We drive to Erfoud, with an optional stop at a fossil workshop, before continuing to Agdez and the Draa Valley junction, heading north to Ouarzazate after crossing the small volcanic Atlas Mountains. Dinner and overnight in Ouarzazate.

We visit the Atlas Film Studios, flanked by Hollywood-style Egyptian figures and covering 30,000 square meters of desert, where David Lean filmed Lawrence of Arabia in the early 1960s and where later blockbusters — including Gladiator, Kundun, Kingdom of Heaven, and Game of Thrones — were also shot. Finally, we take the road back to Marrakech over the Tizi n'Tichka pass.