4 days Morocco Desert Tour from Agadir to Merzouga

Your driver collects you from Agadir or Taghazout at 8:00 AM and heads inland across the fertile Souss plain. In Taroudant, stroll the saffron-coloured ramparts and barter for argan oil or silver jewellery in the easy-to-navigate souk—perfect practice before the bigger medinas ahead. Continue through argan forests and ascend the dramatic Tizi n’Test Pass (2,100 m); coffee stops reveal sweeping views of the High Atlas peaks. After a scenic picnic or café lunch, descend the hidden Ounila Valley to the UNESCO-listed Kasbah Aït Ben Haddou. A local guide explains how this clay-brick ksar starred in Gladiator and Game of Thrones. By late afternoon you reach Ouarzazate; if time allows, pop into Atlas Film Studios before dinner at your kasbah-style riad.

After breakfast, follow the famous Route of a Thousand Kasbahs. First stop: lush Skoura Palm Oasis and photogenic Kasbah Amridil. Next, wind through the Valley of Roses toward the surreal “Monkey Fingers” rock spires of the Dades Gorge; a cliff-top café makes an epic tea break. Continue to the date-laden Tinghir Oasis—a short canyon walk in the 300-m-high Todra Gorge cools you before desert heat. Crossing the Hamada (black-rock desert) you’ll spot fossil stalls in Erfoud, then roll onto the apricot sands of Merzouga. Swap wheels for a 1-hour camel trek into Erg Chebbi, arriving at your luxury camp just as the sun ignites the dunes. Try sand-boarding, share a Berber tagine, and watch the Milky Way pour across the sky.

Rise early to climb a dune for sunrise photos, then enjoy breakfast back at camp. A quick detour to Khamlia lets you hear soulful Gnawa rhythms before skirting the sandstone mountains of Jbel Saghro to fossil-rich Alnif. Lunch is usually a fragrant berber pizza or fresh salad in Tazarine, a small Berber town fringed by acacia. The road then meets Morocco’s longest palm belt—the legendary Draa Valley. Date palms, ancient kasbahs, and ksour villages line the river until you arrive in Agdz, a onetime caravan crossroads. Sunset paints Kasbah Tamnougalt crimson; dinner and overnight in a tranquil kasbah lodge.

After breakfast, roll south-west across the rugged Anti-Atlas. A mid-morning stop in Taliouine—Morocco’s saffron capital—lets you meet co-op farmers and sample saffron-infused honey (harvest: late Oct – mid Nov). Guests returning to the coast continue across the fertile Souss Plain, pausing for lunch amid citrus orchards before reaching Agadir (or nearby Taghazout) by late afternoon.

If you’ve opted for the free Marrakech drop-off, your driver swings north instead, re-joining the film hub of Ouarzazate and then climbing the legendary Tizi n’Tichka Pass (2,260 m). Expect jaw-dropping switchbacks, Berber villages clinging to terraced slopes, and panoramic High Atlas vistas at every turn. Descend through olive groves and argan forests to arrive at your Marrakech riad early evening—an epic finale that swaps desert silence for the Red City’s vibrant pulse.