Top-Rated On Tripadvisor
Trips for All Budgets
Experience the real Morocco with expert guides
Essaouira to Merzouga desert tour – overview:
Even the best beach holiday can benefit from a change and a bit of adventure. So how about this thrilling six-day Essaouira to Merzouga desert tour?
You drive along more of the rugged, wild Atlantic coast through the popular surfing village of Taghazout. Inland the landscape is dominated first by citrus fruit and banana plantations, then by argane trees on the slopes.
Places of interest along the route are Taroudant’s famous and fully intact ramparts, Talouine’s saffron museum, and Tazenakht’s women’s carpet and rug-making cooperatives. In the Dra’a Valley’s date palm oases and adobe kasbahs are all highly typical of southern Morocco.
The desert brings a camel ride, an amazing sunset, Berber drumming around a campfire and the night in a comfortable luxury camp, and a day’s trekking with camels and a guide. Alternatively, you can choose to visit Khamlia village to listen to Berber nomads performing the Sub-Saharan Gnawa music whilst you sip a glass of mint tea.
Berber life can also be witnessed on walks in the Toudgha Gorges and Skoura oasis, and in addition at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kasbah Aït ben Haddou, the villages of the Ounila Valley, and Telouet at the top of the valley.
If desired, you can end this tour in Essaouira, and Desert Majesty will adjust your itinerary accordingly.
Essaouira Sahara desert tour – highlights:
- Travelling along the Atlantic Coast and through the village of Taghazout
- Visiting Taroudant’s spectacular walls, Talouine’s saffron museum, Taznakht’s rug cooperatives
- Experiencing a camel ride to the luxury camp and watching the spectacular desert sunset
- Staying in your private and very comfortable luxury desert camp in the Erg Chebbi dunes
- Going on a full-day desert trekking with lunch freshly prepared out in the dunes by the camelman
- Or listening to Sub-Saharan Gnawa music and sipping a glass of tea with a nomad family
- Walking along the riverbank in the Toudgha Gorges with a local guide or walking in Skoura
- Visiting Kasbah Amredhil, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kasbah Aït ben Haddou, and Kasbah Telouet
What is included in this desert tour from Essaouira:
- Transport in a private air-conditioned vehicle; 4×4 Toyota Prado TX or deluxe van and fuel
- Pick-up from your hotel in Essaouira and drop-off at your riad in Marrakech
- Experienced local English/French/Spanish/Italian-speaking Berber and nomad driver-guide
- Accommodation in air-conditioned rooms/suites with private bathroom
- Two nights in a luxury desert camp in Erg Chebbi dunes with a private toilet and shower, lamps, traditional Moroccan handmade furnishings and plenty of space
- All meals; breakfast, lunch, dinner – with vegetarian and vegan options available
- A camel ride with a guide. And if you wish to do some sandboarding, just speak to the camp staff!
- A full day camel trekking in the Merzouga desert
- An option to go to and return from the camp by 4×4
- Luggage service to the camp and all accommodation
- Berber drumming and music
- Free time to explore the sites such as Ait Ben Haddou, the Ounila Valley, for walks, photos, and tea/coffee breaks
- The opportunity to ask the driver to stop when and where you wish
- Entrance fees and local guide
- Tea, coffee, and mineral water in the desert
What is not included:
- Drinks
- Tips
- Extras
What to know about your Essaouira to Merzouga tour:
- This Essaouira to Merzouga desert tour can be customised to accommodate your personal points of interest
- According to weather conditions from May to the end of September, it may be necessary to take the second option in the programme
- Here is a downloadable packing list to help plan for your Moroccan desert tour
- We require a 30% deposit of the total price to confirm the booking while the balance is paid to us in the office in Ouarzazate
- We offer a 25% discount for all children under 12, while, in any one family, one child below 3 can travel free of charge
- The balance is payable through PayPal, bank transfers in Europe, by credit card, or cash (USD, euro, GBP, or MAD)
- Our prices can be subject to an increase over the busy season, and, in particular, the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period
Prices per person
| No Days | Meals |
|---|---|
| All-inclusive | |
| Total price | |
| 2 Persons |
|---|
| 755 € * |
| 1510 € * |
| 3 Persons |
|---|
| 695 € * |
| 2085 € * |
| 4 Persons |
|---|
| 655 € * |
| 2620 € * |
| 5 Persons |
|---|
| 615 € * |
| 3075 € * |
| 6 Persons |
|---|
| 615 € * |
| 3690 € * |
Essaouira to Merzouga desert tour – itinerary:
1st day: Essaouira – Taroudant
Kick-off your Essaouira to Merzouga desert tour with the departure at 8.30 from your riad in an air-conditioned 4×4 car. We head south toward Agadir, passing the Atlantic Ocean to the right and the Anti-Atlas to the left. At panoramic viewpoints, there will, of course, be plenty of stops to take pictures; just let the driver know when you wish to do so.
After about two and a half hours, you arrive in Agadir, a large port and beach resort, where you turn inland. You will now witness very different landscapes as you continue towards Taroudant, travelling along the Souss River Valley with all its fruit plantations and innumerable argan trees on the slopes beside the road.
Upon your arrival in Taroudant, known as the “The Little Marrakech”, you will be able to tour its beautiful walled medina, where the ramparts are even more impressive in their entirety than those of Essaouira. At night, an authentic riad offers a delicious dinner and night rest.
2nd day: Taroudant – Agdz
After breakfast, the journey east to the desert continues via Taliouine. This is the most famous saffron growing area in Morocco. Here, you will have an opportunity to visit the local government-run museum featuring saffron cultivation. If you are a foodie, it is well worth purchasing some high-quality saffron here. Elsewhere it can be inferior and the distinctive flavour of the “golden” plant is so very special – including in green tea, something even many Moroccans are unaware of.
After crossing the Tizi-n-Tighatine and Tizi-n-Ikhsane passes, you arrive in Taznakht, another special place on this southern desert tour. Local cooperatives selling rugs and carpets, made in faraway villages by Berber women, are on display and the looms and processes of production can be explained to anyone interested in local handicrafts. There is no obligation to buy, but the workshops are worth visiting for admiring the skills involved!
Tonight’s riad is in Agdez which we reach by heading south a little and then east, past the gold, silver, copper and cobalt mines of Bouazzer. This road eventually passes through a wide, empty valley of little traffic and you are filled with the feeling of being in a remote land, cherishing it to yourselves.
You will have dinner and spend the night in a beautiful riad at the edge of the valley.
3rd day: Agdz – Merzouga
After breakfast, you have time to visit Kasbah Tamnougalt with a local guide to learn about adobe-housing in southern Morocco. This is the oldest kasbah in the Dra’a Valley and is still inhabited by a few families.
You now find yourselves in the Dra’a Valley, the longest valley in Morocco, although much of the Dra’a River is now dry. Here again, the landscape and life-styles are different in this country of amazing contrasts. Following your visit to the Kasbah, you drive off-track through the extensive oases of the valley. This is an opportunity to learn more about the locality and to photograph the many fortified kasbahs, ideally positioned among the oases of date palms.
You next travel east through many Berber villages, such as N’Qob and Tazzarine, featured in the movie of Babel, and then Alnif, which will be the venue for lunch. Yet again the landscapes have altered and the chain of mountains to your right are quite different from those previously seen as they march with you eastwards.
At the campsite in Erg Chebbi you will be welcomed by a glass of traditional tea and Moroccan biscuits. Now the most exciting part of the whole trip is about to begin – namely your camel ride to the top of the dunes to await the sunset as the sun goes down in the direction you have come from. At night, dinner is served under the starlit sky of the Sahara, followed by Berber music and drumming around a campfire. Your private luxury desert camp tent offers a wonderfully peaceful night’s rest as, in your head, you sort out all the experiences and vistas of the day’s journey.
4th day: Merzouga
After breakfast, the full majesty of the Sahara is laid open to exploration with a day’s desert trekking in the dunes of Erg Chebbi with a lunch picnic out in the open. You are accompanied by camels, and can walk behind them or ride, just as you wish. They carry everything needed to cook lunch, which will be prepared out in the dunes by your camel man.
For many active people, this is a golden opportunity to stretch your legs longer. You will walk about three hours in the morning until lunch. This is freshly prepared, giving you plenty of time to relax. Many claim this is the best meal of the whole trip as the fresh air increases their appetite. The afternoon sees another three hours before returning to the luxury desert camp for dinner.
Alternatively, you can choose to go on a half a day 4×4 tour around the dunes of Erg Chebbi to visit Khamlia village. Here in the village, you can listen to local Berbers performing sub-Saharan Gnawa music and share a glass of mint tea with them.
Back at the camp, you can enjoy moments of peace and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the magnificent Sahara Desert. At night, dinner is served and followed by an evening of music around a campfire, before, once again, you settle for the calm and beauty of the night in your own private tent in a desert camp near the big dunes.
Weather conditions and temperatures in South Morocco are rarely stable. Should it become too hot from May through to the end of September, we may have to advise you not to attempt the trekking in the dunes but to take this alternative instead.
5th day: Merzouga – Ouarzazate
By getting up early and ascending the dunes, you will be rewarded with a spectacular sunrise with colours on the sand very different from those at any other time of day. The itinerary continues to the Dades Valley, where you will have lunch as well as time for a walk through the gorges at the top of the valley. It has innumerable villages whilst the river right down below is bordered by fields and gardens particularly fig trees and olives.
From here, you continue through the Valley of the Roses as far as Kel’aa M’gouna, where you could visit the local cooperatives producing cosmetic products. These are made from the local rose blossoms and famous throughout Morocco. Once again, food enthusiasts will be delighted by the quality of the rose water for ice creams and baked delights.
Shortly afterwards you can have a greater insight into local life in the interior of the beautifully restored Kasbah Amredhil.
From here, a 45-minute drive leads to Ouarzazate, where you spend the night in a guest house.
6th day: Ouarzazate – Marrakech – Essaouira
After breakfast, the itinerary takes you to Kasbah Aït ben Haddou. This a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has been used as a set for many Hollywood blockbusters. It is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and some of the buildings date back to the 17th century. Visiting the kasbah with a local guide allows you to discover its history and significance locally.
From here, you travel along the beautiful Ounila Valley, full of bends in the roads and surprises at the hues of the rock and soil as well as smaller Kasbahs.
You continue to Kasbah Telouet set right in the midst of the mountains and once the seat of the last Pasha of Marrakech, El Glaoui. After lunch, pay a worthwhile visit to the Kasbah. Each addition to the building now stands in ruins exposed to the wind and the rain, having been abandoned and plundered. But wait to be pleasantly surprised by the traditional interior decoration as you reach the farthest end of the Kasbah.
Unfortunately, the whole Kasbah is now closed due to the damage caused by the earthquake that struck Morocco in September 2023. Nevertheless, it is still worth visiting the exterior with a local guide to discover its rich history.
At the end of the afternoon, the final jaw-dropping experiences on this desert trip await you with marvellous panoramas from the High Atlas Mountains before taking the motorway from Marrakech back to Essaouira.
Your Essaouira to Merzouga desert tour comes to an end when your driver escorts you to your hotel.
