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Experience the real Morocco with expert guides
Top-Rated On Tripadvisor Trips for All Budgets Experience the real Morocco with expert guides
Spending time with local people is an ideal way to learn about their lives and culture. On this 8-day trekking tour in Morocco from Marrakech, you have an opportunity to participate in local life in order to appreciate and understand it more completely. You will combine three days trekking near the famous Dades gorges with trekking in the Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga.
Your first encounter with Berber life will be on passing beautiful Berber villages, at the former palatial residence, Kasbah Telouet, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou.
In the Dades Valley, you trek for three days and nights in the mountains, sleeping either in local Berber homes or with Berber nomads in their caves. The pace of trekking is dictated by the hikers themselves, guided by a local Berber muleteer. Mules carry all your luggage.
On the second day in Erg Chebbi near Merzouga, a full-day camel trek around the dunes of Erg Chebbi takes you further into the desert, giving you a sense of life there. You will walk for three hours morning and afternoon, walking or riding the camels as you wish.
You end your mountain and desert trekking trip in Marrakech with a very clear impression of Berber life in the south of the country, and full of the memories of wonderful experiences.
| No Days | Meals |
|---|---|
| All-inclusive | |
| Total price | |
| 2 Persons |
|---|
| 1045 € * |
| 2090 € * |
| 3 Persons |
|---|
| 955 € * |
| 2865 € * |
| 4 Persons |
|---|
| 895 € * |
| 3580 € * |
| 5 Persons |
|---|
| 845 € * |
| 4225 € * |
| 6 Persons |
|---|
| 845 € * |
| 5070 € * |
Morning departure at 8.30 from your hotel or riad in Marrakech. You cross the High Atlas Mountains, including the famous Tizi-n-Tichka pass, the highest pass in North Africa at 2260 metres. From these mountains, there are wide views over the green valleys and burbling streams. The little Berber villages perched on the mountainsides, sometimes barely distinguishable from the mountains themselves, are spectacular and breathtaking.
You steadily descend from the pass reach Ouarzazate. The town is sometimes called ‘the gateway to the desert’ and is technically part of the massive Sahara. Here you stop for lunch.
Later the road continues to the Skoura Oasis, where numerous ancient kasbahs, some sadly in ruins, stand amongst the palm trees. Kasbah Amredhil has been beautifully restored and is well worth visiting. It is constructed entirely of adobe, an excellent building material. It is both warm in winter and cool in summer, due to the thickness of the walls.
From here, the route takes us through Kela’a M’gouna, the Valley of Roses, with a stop to see cosmetic articles, well-known and much valued throughout Morocco. They are locally-made from the valley’s abundant Damascene roses. You stop in the Dades Valley for the night.
After breakfast, a trek of three days and two nights in the area surrounding the Dades Gorge begins. During the trek, mules carry the equipment (blankets, mattresses, kitchen equipment as well as personal luggage). The pace and length of each portion of the trek are set by the hikers, allowing time to stop as and when desirable or necessary. You will probably spend one night with a Berber family and the other higher up the mountains in caves with Berber nomads tending their goats up there.
In the morning, we walk back to the hostel to freshen up with a shower, before driving to the Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga, stopping along the way to visit the Toudgha Gorge and stopping again later at Rissani for lunch. Alternatively, you will have lunch in the camp on arrival, where you will spend the night.
You have dinner and spend the night at a luxury camp with a private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings, and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
After breakfast, you take the camels, either riding or walking behind, as they carry everything needed to cook your lunch, which will be prepared out in the dunes by your camel man. You’ll walk about three hours in the morning, followed by another three in the afternoon returning to the bivouac for dinner and the night.
If you wake up early enough, you can watch the spectacle of the sunrise, when the colour of the dunes and the play of shadows are an awesome sight. The itinerary continues to the Dra’a Valley via the village of Tazzarine (featured in the film ‘Babel’), and on to N’Qob for lunch. In the afternoon the journey takes us to Tanasikht, to drive along the ancient caravan route to discover the real Dra’a Valley, with its huge palm trees and ancient villages. You return to Ouarzazate by the end of the afternoon.
After breakfast, you will visit Kasbah Taourirt in the town, which belonged to the Glaoui family, the Pashas of Marrakech. Driving north, you leave the main road and take a side road to Ait ben Haddou, which also belonged to the Lords of the Atlas, the same Glaoui family. This is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and one of Morocco’s nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is perhaps better known as the backdrop to many Hollywood blockbusters.
From here, you drive along the beautiful and awe-inspiring Ounila Valley. The road is full of bends, surprises at the hues of the rock and soil, Berber villages and gardens, as well as smaller Kasbahs. Finally, you reach Telouet, the main seat of the Glaoui family. Each addition to the building now stands in ruins, exposed to the wind and the rain.
Regrettably, the entire Kasbah is now closed because of the damage caused by the earthquake in Morocco in September 2023. However, it’s well worthwhile looking at the outside with a local guide to learn about its interesting history.
Once back on the main road, we reach Marrakech at the end of the afternoon. Your driver will transfer you to your hotel, which will mark the end of your Atlas Mountain trekking adventure.
