The 6 Days Desert Tour from Marrakech is the complete southern circuit. Six days is enough to stop where the road deserves it rather than driving past: an afternoon in Ouarzazate, the kasbahs of Skoura, the Valley of Roses, the Dades and Todra gorges, the dunes of Erg Chebbi, and the long Draa oasis on the way back.
The desert gets two nights and a full free day, so you see Erg Chebbi at dusk, at dawn, and from the far side by 4×4, with a nomad family, the black volcanic desert and the Gnaoua musicians of Khamlia in between.
The return is by the southern road along the Jbel Saghro and down into the Draa, a route that keeps the whole trip a loop with no repeated stages.
A gentler first day than the shorter tours. You leave Marrakech in the morning and cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n Tichka pass, with time to stop at the viewpoints and in a Berber village along the way.
At Ait Ben Haddou you walk up through the ksar to the granary at the top, then take lunch in the village below.
The afternoon is spent in Ouarzazate: the Taourirt Kasbah in the old quarter, and the Atlas film studios on the edge of town if you want to see the sets. Overnight in Ouarzazate.
Accommodation: Hotel in Ouarzazate
A short day with plenty of stops. First the Skoura oasis, a thick palm grove holding several old kasbahs, including Amerhidil, which is open to visitors and one of the largest in the south.
From there the road turns north into the Valley of Roses. El Kelaa des Mgouna processes most of Morocco damask rose crop, and the distilleries sell rose water and oil year round; if you come in early May the whole valley is in flower and the rose festival is on.
You reach the Dades Valley in the afternoon, in time to drive up the winding road above the gorge for the view over the switchbacks and the eroded rock towers.
Accommodation: Hotel or guesthouse in the Dades Valley
Morning at Todra Gorge, walking the flat valley floor between limestone walls that rise around 300 metres. Climbers are often working the routes on the near face.
Continue through Tinghir and Erfoud, with a stop to see fossils being cut and polished, then out across the hamada until the dunes of Erg Chebbi appear.
Arrive at Merzouga in the late afternoon and ride into the erg by camel, reaching camp at sunset. Dinner, drums by the fire, and a night in a private tent on the sand.
Accommodation: Berber desert camp, Erg Chebbi
Sunrise over the dunes, camel ride back, breakfast and a shower at the hotel.
The day is a 4×4 circuit of the erg and the country around it: tea with a nomad family, the seasonal lake at Dayet Srji, the black desert of dark volcanic stone, and the abandoned mines at Mfis where kohl was dug by hand.
Late afternoon at Khamlia for Gnaoua music, then back to the dunes for a second sunset. Dinner and night at your hotel.
Accommodation: Hotel or kasbah in Merzouga
West out of the dunes by the southern road. Rissani first, for the covered souk and the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, then Alnif, a small town at the foot of the Jbel Saghro known for its trilobite fossils.
The road skirts the Saghro massif, bare volcanic country with almost nothing on it, before dropping into Nkob, a village of more than forty kasbahs looking out over a large palm grove.
You continue down into the Draa Valley and follow the river through oases and mud-brick ksour to your overnight stop near Agdz.
Accommodation: Kasbah or guesthouse in the Draa Valley
Time in the morning to walk into a palm grove or visit one of the fortified villages along the Draa before the drive north.
The road crosses the Tizi n Tinififft pass and returns to Ouarzazate, where you stop for lunch, then climbs back over the High Atlas by the Tizi n Tichka.
Arrival in Marrakech in the late afternoon or early evening, with drop-off at your accommodation.
A night in Ouarzazate and a short second day, which frees up the Skoura kasbahs, the Valley of Roses and the Dades gorge road. On the five-day version those are drive-past stops rather than proper visits.
Less than on any shorter version. Most days are three to five hours on the road, and day four has almost no transfer at all.
Late April to mid-May, when El Kelaa des Mgouna holds its rose festival. Rose products are sold all year regardless.
Yes. Two nights on the sand is a common change and costs no more at standard camps.
Yes. The pace is the easiest of the desert itineraries, and the camel ride can be replaced with a 4×4 transfer to the camp.
Yes. The loop can be reshaped to begin or end elsewhere. Send us your flights and we will adjust the first and last stages.
Six days is where the southern circuit stops feeling like a transfer with stops and starts feeling like a journey. Nothing is rushed, nothing is driven twice, and the desert gets the time it needs.
Private vehicle and driver throughout, with the itinerary open to changes before you leave and while you travel.
