Treasures of the South – 8 Days

Your driver will be waiting for you at the airport and will take you to your riad in the Medina. Depending on your arrival time, you may be able to do some initial sightseeing.

After breakfast, you will drive towards Ouarzazate on one of the most scenic routes in Morocco. You will drive over one of the two large Atlas passes – Tizin-Tichka (2260 m). The journey continues via Ouarzazate, the “gateway to the desert”. The city is the “Hollywood” of Morocco, as numerous international films such as “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Gladiator” and many more were filmed here. The Kasbah Timnit just before Skoura with its overgrown garden can only be admired from the outside; very rarely and with a lot of luck, its guard will stop for a chat and invite visitors in. The Kasbah Amridil is open to the public and enchants with its finely crafted facades, the imposing towers and the view of the palm grove.

Distance approx. 240 km, travel time approx. 4.5 hours

After breakfast, you leave Skoura and cross the Valley of Roses. On this route, you have the opportunity to visit a rose cooperative. Here, you will learn about the cultivation of roses and the processing of the noble flowers, which are used in cosmetics, cooking and medicine. You will then reach Bou Tharar, where you will be warmly invited to lunch with a Berber family. Full and happy, you will continue on an insider path (track) for about 12 km into the Dadès Gorge, whose rock formations are known as “monkey feet”. It is time for a walk, where you can admire the nature and the beauty of the landscape. Then you will drive to Tineghir, where you will find the Medersa, i.e. the Koran school in the Ikelane Mosque in the Ksar of Afanour. This small mosque is also open to non-Muslims and you can visit the ablution hall and the prayer hall.

Distance approx. 180 km, travel time approx. 4 hours

After breakfast, you will take a detour to the impressive Todra Gorge, then you will drive to Tinjdad to visit the El-Khorbat Museum. This lovingly designed museum brings together extraordinary exhibits that convey the everyday life and culture of the Berbers, but also cleverly illustrates the architectural features of the kasbahs. Here you will take a short break and have a leisurely lunch. Then the journey continues to Zagora, where you will make a symbolic stop in front of the famous plaque “Timbuktu, 52 days”. This is the last evidence of a time when Zagora was an important transit station for caravans.
At that time, the caravans left here loaded with salt, spices and leather goods for sub-Saharan Africa, and returned from there with gold, ivory and slaves.

Distance approx. 310 km, travel time approx. 4.5 hours

You will drive in an off-road vehicle along the old route that led the caravans from Draa to Timbuktu. On the way into the desert, you have the opportunity to visit an old library with antique books and a pottery in Tamegroute. Take your time on the drive through the “Hammada du Draa” to take in this new landscape. In M’Hamid, you can have a picnic in the great outdoors. You will cross the stone desert and dunes to Erg Chegaga, the largest and less visited sand desert in Morocco. Afterwards, you will ride on a dromedary to enjoy the magical sunset on a high dune.

Distance approx. 160 km, travel time approx. 3 hours

In the morning you will drive on to the Fint oasis via the route between the Erg Chegaga and the Wadi Draa, then through the dried-up lake “Iriki”. This once huge lake has now become a completely dried-up salt plain, but is known for its fantastic mirages. Your very own mirage awaits you! From Foum Zguid you continue on the country road, accompanied by the vast stone desert with its bizarrely shaped mountain ranges, until you reach the city of the carpet cooperatives Taznakht. You will then drive to today’s final stop. The village of Ait Ben Haddou awaits you. In reddish-brown tones, it is a beautiful example of traditional Berber mud-brick architecture. Here you will see one of the most magnificent kasbahs in North Africa. These buildings have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and have served as a backdrop in many Hollywood films.

Distance approx. 250 km, travel time approx. 5 hours

After breakfast, you return to Marrakesh. Before you cross the pass, you visit the last Kasbah on this trip. Its inconspicuous exterior belies its true inner beauty. Wonderfully colorful tiles and mosaics, elaborate carvings and stucco work, decorative wrought iron window grilles and a magnificent view of the peaks on the horizon are the crowning glory of this stage. All of the Kasbahs on your trip were built by the former foundling and later Pasha of Marrakesh. As a proud Berber, he wanted to protect his homeland and tradition from the influence of the sultans and sympathized with the French protectorate. Because of this betrayal, his buildings were neglected after Morocco’s independence. After so much culture and history, your trip ends in Marrakesh, where you can end the day.

Distance approx. 175 km, travel time approx. 3.5 hours

If you do not want to extend your trip, your driver will take you to the airport. Your Morocco team wishes you “Bslama”, a safe journey home.