5-Day, 4-Night Grand Desert Tour: Marrakech, Merzouga & the South in Depth

Beyond the extra desert time, this route takes in the High Atlas, Ait Benhaddou, the Dades and Todra Gorges, and the Draa Valley down to Zagora, covering more of southern Morocco's geography in one trip than any of our shorter tours.

If you have the days to spare, this is the version we'd choose ourselves: it lets each place breathe, gives you a genuine rest day in the dunes, and turns what could be a checklist of stops into an actual journey through the south.

Trip Highlights

• Two full nights camping in the Erg Chebbi dunes, not just one
• A dedicated rest-and-explore day in the desert itself
• Full route through the Dades Valley, Todra Gorge, and the Draa Valley
• Overnight stops in Ouarzazate, the desert camp (twice), and Zagora
• Sunset and sunrise camel treks across two consecutive mornings
• Deepest coverage of southern Morocco of any of our tour lengths
• Traditional campfire evenings with local drum music in the dunes
• The most relaxed daily pace of our four Marrakech desert itineraries

Day-by-Day Itinerary

1. D1

   Day 1: Marrakech – Ait Benhaddou – Ouarzazate

   We start with the drive up and over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, the High Atlas unfolding around the road in a way photographs never quite capture. A guided stop at Ait Benhaddou lets you walk the kasbah's lanes properly, learning how a handful of families still live inside its mud-brick walls. We continue only as far as Ouarzazate today, Morocco's desert gateway and a hub for the country's film industry, and overnight there — a shorter first day that sets a deliberately gentle pace for the days ahead.

2. D2

   Day 2: Ouarzazate – Dades Gorges – Todra Gorge – Merzouga

   From Ouarzazate we head into the Dades Valley, stopping among its rose fields and the folded rock formations known locally as the monkey fingers, before continuing to Todra Gorge for a walk beneath its sheer 300-meter walls. Passing through Tinghir and Erfoud, with its fossil workshops built on ancient seabed rock, we reach Merzouga by late afternoon. As the sun lowers, camels carry you into Erg Chebbi for the first of two nights in the dunes, with dinner and Gnawa-style drumming around the campfire once you reach camp.

3. D3

   Day 3: A full day in the Erg Chebbi dunes

   Where our shorter tours turn around the morning after arriving, this is the day that sets the five-day trip apart: no long drive, just time in the desert itself. Watch the sunrise, rest through the heat of the day at camp, and set out again by camel or on foot as the light softens in the afternoon to explore a different stretch of the dune field before a second night around the campfire. It's built for travelers who want to actually experience the Sahara's stillness, not just pass through it.

4. D4

   Day 4: Merzouga – Rissani – the Draa Valley – Zagora

   After a second sunrise over the dunes, we leave Merzouga in a new direction, stopping in Rissani, a historic trading and market town, before following the Draa Valley — Morocco's longest river valley — down toward Zagora. The change in scenery is immediate: palm groves, kasbahs, and cultivated riverbanks replace bare sand, and we overnight in the Zagora area, giving you a real look at a region most Marrakech desert tours never reach.

5. D5

   Day 5: Zagora – Ouarzazate – Marrakech

   The final leg retraces the road north through Ouarzazate and back over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with time for a last stop if there's anything from earlier in the trip you'd like to see again. We aim to have you back at your Marrakech accommodation by early evening, five days after we picked you up, having covered the mountains, kasbahs, gorges, dunes, and a river valley most visitors never learn exists.

What's Included

Where You'll Stay

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