12 Days from the Mediterranean to the Merzouga Desert

Day 1: Tangier, Asilah and Rabat

On the 12 Days from the Mediterranean to the Merzouga Desert. We will leave in the early morning towards Asilah, coastal town delimited by walls and doors built by Portuguese settlers in the 15th century. There, you can take a walk around your medina and have lunch.

In the afternoon, we will go to Rabat, where we will stay for the night.

Day 2: Rabat – Casablanca

In the morning, we will visit Rabat, the administrative capital of Morocco and one of the four imperial capitals. You can see the Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V or, more quietly, the Kasbah of the Udayas.

In the afternoon, after lunch, we will go to Casablanca, where we will spend the night.

Day 3: Casablanca – Al Djadida – Essaouira

After breakfast, you can visit the Great Mosque of Hassan II. Although non-Muslims can not enter mosques, it can be visited every day except Friday.

Then we will go to Al Djadida. There you can walk through the old Portuguese citadel and visit the well, whose Gothic style is unique in Morocco.

After lunch we will go to Essaouira, where we will stay for the night.

Day 4: Essaouira – Marrakech

In the morning you will have free time to visit the beautiful Medina and the port of Essaouira and you can have an excellent fish at lunch time.

In the afternoon we will leave for Marrakech, where we will take you to the riad to spend the night.

Day 5: Marrakech

Marrakech is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco, and will be the first to visit.

In the morning, a local guide will accompany you to the most emblematic places of the Medina, the souks, the Jmaa el Fna square, the Koutoubia, and other monuments, such as the Saadian Tombs or the Ben Youssef Medersa.

After lunch, you will have the afternoon free to relax, enjoy a tea in one of the many terraces in front of the square, or have a relaxing hammam.

Accommodation in riad.

Day 6: Marrakech – High Atlas – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate

After breakfast, we will start our journey through the High Atlas Mountains, stopping at Tizi N’Tichka (2260 m altitude) and at an argan oil cooperative, where they will be taught the traditional way of oil production.

Then we will go to Ait Ben Haddou, where the best-known kasbah is located, for having been chosen for the filming of countless and well-known films, such as Gladiator, The Jewel of the Nile or Game of Thrones.

Although it is known as kasbah, in reality it is a kasar, or castle, which in the Maghreb is understood as overlapping houses, with collective barns and other common structures such as mosques, baths, ovens and shops. We will visit the fort and have lunch.

Then we will arrive at Ouarzazate, the gateway to the Sahara desert. As a passageway for merchandise caravans, it became the commercial center of Morocco. But what makes it more famous today are the extensive film studios of Atlas Studios, where renowned international producers work, and that have led to call Ouarzazate the “Hollywood of Africa“.

You can visit the Kasbah Taourirt and we will take you to the riad for dinner and overnight.

Day 7: Ouarzazate, Skoura, Valley of Roses and Dades Valley

In the morning we will return to the route and pass through the extensive palm grove of Skoura, dotted with adobe buildings, the kasbahs. There we will visit the Kasbah of Amridil, one of the most popular and best preserved in Morocco, which is also a good example of the uses and customs of its ancient inhabitants.

After lunch, we will continue our journey and, about 50 km further on, we will arrive at the Valley of Roses. This one is covered by hectares of rose bushes that bloom between the months of April and of greater. The cultivation of roses, the distillation of essences and the production of perfumes are the most important industries of this place, whose economic center is in the fortified town of Kelaa M’gouna, known for its “Festival of Roses”, which has place every year in the month of May.

Then we will go to Boumalne du Dades and drive into the Gorges of Dades, where we will enjoy its colossal landscapes until we reach our riad, where we will have dinner and spend the night.

Day 8: Dades – Todra Gorge – Tineghir – Merzouga

We will leave after breakfast and we will enter the Todra gorges, where we will take a walk on foot to observe the impressive canyons. The Todra river is actually a wadi, a seasonal river, like many others in the western area of Saharan Africa. The wadis are dry in summer and very large, with dangerous floods, during the short period of the rainy season in winter. Only this way it is explained that the water has deepened so much the throat.

We will resume the route to continue to Tineghir. Tineghir is a large oasis that extends about 30 km long, at the foot of the Atlas. With the bare mountains in the background, the adobe houses mark an urban and natural front in front of the orchard of orchards and palm trees that contrast strongly with the arid Todra Valley.

We will enjoy stunning panoramic views of the valley, full of palm trees and dotted with kasbahs.

After lunch, we will continue our way until we reach the captivating dunes of Erg Chebbi, in the desert of Merzouga. They will then start a camel trip to finally contemplate the wonderful sunset. In the camp, they will dine and spend the night in a traditional nomad tent in the middle of the dunes.

Day 9: Merzouga Desert

After breakfast, the camels will take us back to the car. Then we will start a journey in 4 × 4 through the old tracks of the Paris-Dakar rally, with climbs, descents, dunes and oases. It is also possible to visit one of the many nomadic villages of the desert of Merzouga, in which the Berbers live in small adobe houses and wood with nothing but their cattle. Children often approach the cars of tourists to ask for pens, candy or some crafts.

We will arrive in Khamlia, populated by descendants of Sudanese brought to Morocco for the slave trade. They have a very characteristic music, the spiritual gnaoua, in which they use instruments that recreate the noise made by the chains of their ancestors. There, we can enjoy this music while we have tea.

After lunch, we will go to our hotel located in front of the dunes, where you can relax in the pool or, if you prefer, rent quads for an excursion. We will have dinner and spend the night.

Day 10: Rissani, Erfoud, Ziz Valley and Midelt

After breakfast, we will leave for Rissani to visit the traditional market. During the fourteenth century, at its peak, Rissani was the commercial capital of the country and, even today, its market remains one of the most important. Although in the souk facilities there are shops open every day, the market days are Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. In those days, people from different Berber villages come to trade with their products, which can be animals, fruits, spices, or crafts.

Then we will go to Erfoud, with a visit to a local fossil art workshop. We will arrive at Errachidia, with its impressive views of the Ziz gorges. We will cross the Tizi N Talghamt pass until we reach Midelt, and there they will stay at the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 11: Midelt, Azrou, Ifrane and Fez

We will leave the hotel early to head to Fez. We will travel through the Cedar forests of Azrou and stop to give food to the Berber monkeys that inhabit it, the same as those of Gibraltar.

We will continue until Ifrane, population of the Middle Atlas, built in 1930 and known as the “Switzerland of Morocco” for its alpine style, arrives in the afternoon to Fez. 

Accommodation is in riad for the night.

Day 12: Fez airport

In the morning, after breakfast, we will begin the visit to Fez. We will take you around the Royal Palace and the Melláh and tour the labyrinthine Medina accompanied by a local guide.

After lunch, you can enjoy a good panoramic view of the city from the Merinid Tombs, and then we will take you back to the riad where you will spend the night.

And end our 12-day journey from the Mediterranean to the Merzouga Desert.