9-Day South Morocco — Anti-Atlas, Sahara & Berber Crafts

Experience Itinerary

1. 1

   Day 1 — Agadir/Marrakech to Taroudant

   • ›Morning pickup from your hotel or the airport in Agadir (about 1.5 hours) or Marrakech (about 3.5 hours).
   • ›On arrival in Taroudant, a guided visit of the medina shows you its history, the Arab and Berber souks and the small tanneries.
   • ›The afternoon is free in this quiet walled town on the Souss River, a market town for local farmers more than for tourists.
   • ›As an option, you can take a horse-drawn carriage at sunset for a ride around the impressive city walls.
   • ›Dinner and overnight in a traditional riad in the medina or a small boutique guesthouse in the countryside.
2. 2

   Day 2 — Atlas Mountains hiking from Taroudant

   • ›A full-day 4x4 trip into the mountains around Taroudant with a local guide.
   • ›After about one hour of driving we begin an easy to moderate walk to a Berber village, where a local family will welcome us with a true Moroccan meal at home.
   • ›You will see the mountain scenery, the fertile flood plains and the simple daily life of the Berber villages.
   • ›The day involves about 3 hours of driving and 3 hours of walking.
   • ›If you missed the medina visit on Day 1, it can be done this morning, with a free afternoon.
3. 3

   Day 3 — Taroudant to Tissint via Taliouine

   • ›We leave Taroudant and drive 1.5 hours into the foothills of the Anti-Atlas to Taliouine, a small market town famous for its saffron.
   • ›We visit a women's saffron cooperative, taste saffron tea and learn how to tell real saffron from cheaper imitations.
   • ›On Mondays you also see the busy weekly market.
   • ›Early lunch in a street café.
   • ›Then a 3-hour drive on an unpaved 4x4 track takes us through wonderful Anti-Atlas country, with peaks up to 2,000 m, deep valleys with palms, streams and waterfalls.
   • ›The night is spent in a comfortable bivouac tucked away in a rocky canyon near Tissint, with a campfire and dinner.
   • ›Traditional village music can be added on request.
4. 4

   Day 4 — Tissint to Foum Zguid

   • ›After breakfast we take a 4-hour guided walk with a local guide through the palm groves and gardens, with a picnic by the river (donkeys for small children, return to camp if weather is bad).
   • ›Around 3 pm we drive on the tarmac road, following the river for 1.5 hours, to Foum Zguid, the gateway to the desert in the Jbel Bani ridge.
   • ›The boutique guesthouse has a pool and a restaurant where you can swim, relax and watch the sun set over the edge of the Sahara.
   • ›Breakfast, picnic lunch and dinner included.
5. 5

   Day 5 — Foum Zguid to Erg Chigaga

   • ›Free morning by the pool before lunch or a packed picnic for the desert.
   • ›We then go off-road for 3 hours along the old Paris-Dakar rally track to the high dunes of Erg Chigaga.
   • ›The trip crosses the Iriqui National Park with its dry river beds, rocky desert and the dried lake of Iriqui, where you can hunt for fossils.
   • ›In the evening you enjoy folk music around the fire with the Sahrawi Blue Men nomads, a camel ride and sandboarding on the dunes at sunset.
   • ›The camp has proper beds, toilets, showers, solar lights and a campfire; a luxury camp option is also possible. (Guests who prefer not to sleep in the desert can drive directly to Ait Ben Haddou and shorten the trip by two days.)
6. 6

   Day 6 — Erg Chigaga to Agdz via the Draa Valley

   • ›Breakfast in the desert, then 2 to 3 hours off-road across the stony hamada that stretches toward the Algerian border, with a stop at the Sacred Oasis of Oum Lâalag, on the way to M'Hamid el Ghizlane, the gateway to the Sahara and famous for its desert music festivals in March and November.
   • ›We then drive north up the palm-lined Draa Valley.
   • ›In Tamegroute we visit the Berber pottery workshops and the old Koranic library, and in Zagora we have lunch in a riad garden.
   • ›Optional visit of the Tissergate museum and the silversmiths of Amezrou (with old Jewish casting methods).
   • ›We also pass the famous '52 days to Timbuktu' sign in the palm grove.
   • ›Overnight in Agdz or nearby Tamnougalt, in a green oasis.
7. 7

   Day 7 — Agdz to Ait Ben Haddou via Tazenakht

   • ›We leave Agdz and drive 1.5 hours into the Anti-Atlas to the village of Tazenakht to visit a women's carpet weaving cooperative.
   • ›We stay 3 hours, with lunch, and you can learn how to make a typical Atlas carpet, see the different Berber tribal patterns and discover the meaning of colours and shapes.
   • ›Around 3 pm we drive east along the Jbel Siroua mountain for about 2 hours to the UNESCO kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou.
   • ›This famous hilltop fortress was used as a film set for Lawrence of Arabia, Jewel in the Nile and Gladiator, with mud-brick houses, Berber motifs and crenelated walls. (Alternative: skip the carpet weaving and visit instead the kasbah Taourirt and the Atlas Film Studios in Ouarzazate.) Overnight near Ait Ben Haddou.
8. 8

   Day 8 — Ait Ben Haddou to Marrakech

   • ›Relaxed morning before a guided walk in the kasbah, a UNESCO site where about 8 families still live in houses dating back to the 17th century.
   • ›We walk the narrow alleys to the agadir (granary) on top of the hill, with wide views over the desert (about 2 hours).
   • ›Lunch in a local restaurant.
   • ›Then north over the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 m, the highest major mountain pass in North Africa, with many switchbacks and great views over Berber villages and terraced fields.
   • ›Arrival in Marrakech in the early evening, time to freshen up before a welcome dinner.
   • ›Overnight in a traditional riad or hotel in Marrakech.
9. 9

   Day 9 — Marrakech departure

   • ›Last morning in Marrakech.
   • ›Check-out is at midday, with breakfast at the riad.
   • ›The tour normally ends here.
   • ›On request, we can add an extra night, an extra guided visit of the medina, or a transfer to the airport.
   • ›You can also extend your stay with another tour to the imperial cities, the desert or the Atlantic coast.

Know Before You Go