6-day Atlas Mountains to Sahara desert tour from Marrakech

Marrakech to Imlil: Berber villages of the High Atlas

This Atlas Mountains to Sahara desert tour starts with a short drive out of Marrakech to Imlil, the trailhead village at the foot of Jebel Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak.

A guided walk through the surrounding Berber villages ends with lunch at a local family’s home, included as part of the day: a genuine look at how mountain life here really works.

Overnight in a guesthouse in Imlil, with dinner and breakfast

Imlil to Ouarzazate, via the Tizi n’Tichka and Aït Ben Haddou

From Imlil the road drops back towards the outskirts of Marrakech before climbing the Tizi n’Tichka pass and descending the far side to Aït Ben Haddou, the fortified ksar whose clay towers have appeared in more film productions than almost anywhere else in Morocco.

There’s time to walk its narrow lanes before the final stretch into Ouarzazate, a town that has built much of its economy around the same film industry that made Aït Ben Haddou famous.

Overnight in a hotel in Ouarzazate, with dinner and breakfast

Ouarzazate to Tafraoute Sidi Ali, off-road via Agdz and Zagora

South of Ouarzazate, the road follows the Draa Valley through Agdz to Zagora, tracing one palm grove after another along the river.

Beyond Zagora the asphalt ends and the route turns onto a genuine off-road piste towards Tafraoute Sidi Ali, an outpost with little around it but open desert in every direction. It’s a slower, rougher stretch of driving than anything earlier in the trip, and exactly the part most standard circuits never attempt.

Overnight in a guesthouse in Tafraoute Sidi Ali, with dinner and breakfast

Tafraoute Sidi Ali to Merzouga, via the Dakar piste and Ramlia

The off-road stretch continues along a track that once formed part of the Paris-Dakar Rally’s Moroccan route, to Ramlia, the small oasis village we call home, which appears almost without warning amid the emptiness. Lunch is at a local restaurant in the village.

The piste then rejoins more established tracks on the approach to Merzouga, where the dunes of Erg Chebbi come into view by late afternoon, with enough daylight left for a camel ride up into the dunes before sunset.

Overnight in a desert camp in Erg Chebbi, Merzouga, with dinner and breakfast

Merzouga to the Dades Valley, via Rissani and the Todra Gorge

After a sunrise walk on the dunes, the route heads back through Rissani, once the trading capital of the Tafilalt region, and on towards Tinghir, where the road narrows into the Todra Gorge beneath limestone walls close to 300 metres high.

A short final stretch brings you to the Dades Valley for the night, with its own run of kasbahs and wind-carved rock formations along the river.

Overnight in a kasbah hotel in the Dades Valley, with dinner and breakfast

Dades Valley to Marrakech, via the Valley of the Roses

The final day runs back through El Kelaa M’Gouna and the Valley of the Roses, fragrant even outside the spring harvest season, then over the High Atlas one last time.

We reach Marrakech by early evening, closing out your 6-day Atlas Mountains to Sahara desert tour.