The Deep South and the Erg Chebbi desert

Marrakech · Aït Ben Haddou · Agdz · Merzouga · Gorges du Todra · Gorges du Dadès · Skoura · Taroudant · Ouirgane

The great southern loop from Marrakech: the Tichka pass, the kasbahs, the Draa valley, a night under canvas in the Erg Chebbi dunes, the Todra and Dades gorges, then back through saffron country and over the Tizi n’Test.

Duration12 days
Distance1,600 km
DifficultyModerate
VehiclesCar, 4x4

Start from this trip

Notebook from €790

Une caravane de dromadaires dans les dunes de l’Erg Chebbi

Highlights

The Tichka pass and the Telouet kasbah
The Aït Ben Haddou ksar at sunrise
A night in a desert camp in the Erg Chebbi
The Todra and Dades gorges
Taliouine saffron and the Taroudant ramparts
The Tizi n’Test road

Day by day

The stages as Agnès drew them. Everything can change: one more night here, a detour there.

Day 1
Arrival in Marrakech
Marrakech10 km · 20 min
The rental company hands over the car in the arrivals hall. Leave it at the guarded car park nearest the riad until tomorrow. In the evening, a first stroll on Jemaa el-Fna square.
Day 2
The Tichka pass and the Telouet kasbah
Marrakech → Aït Ben Haddou210 km · 4 h 30
The road zigzags up to the Tizi n’Tichka pass at 2,260 metres. Just after it, turn off to Telouet and the Glaoui kasbah, whose tiled and painted-cedar salons have survived intact. Then follow the Ounila valley, between earthen villages and terraced fields, down to Aït Ben Haddou.
Day 3
Aït Ben Haddou and the Draa valley
Aït Ben Haddou → Agdz100 km · 2 h
Cross the river at sunrise and climb to the granary above the ksar before the visitors arrive. A short drive follows through Ouarzazate and the Taourirt kasbah, then over the Tizi n’Tinififft pass, where the Draa palm grove opens up all the way to the horizon.
Day 4
The oasis road to the dunes
Agdz → Merzouga320 km · 5 h
A long day on an almost empty road, through the oases of N’Kob, Tazzarine and Alnif at the foot of Jebel Saghro. Fill up whenever you can and keep water in the car. After Rissani, the first orange dunes of the Erg Chebbi come into view: tonight you sleep at the edge of the sand.
Day 5
A night in the dunes
Merzouga20 km · 30 min
A slow morning: the village of Khamlia, where Gnawa families play their music, then the inn’s pool through the hottest hours. Late in the afternoon, set off by camel to the desert camp in the heart of the high dunes. Dinner under the stars, and an early start for sunrise.
Day 6
From the dunes to the Todra gorge
Merzouga → Gorges du Todra205 km · 3 h 15
Sunrise over the dunes, back to the inn for a shower and breakfast, then west through Erfoud and Tinejdad. Stop at the khettaras, hand-dug underground irrigation channels. You reach the Todra gorge in the late afternoon, as the cliffs turn red.
Day 7
The valley of a thousand kasbahs
Gorges du Todra → Gorges du Dadès110 km · 2 h 15
A morning walk in the Tinghir palm grove, then on to Boumalne and the Dades valley, lined with crumbling kasbahs. The famous Tamellalt hairpins are best photographed from the café at the top of the climb. In the afternoon, a short hike to the “Monkey Fingers” rock formations.
Day 8
The Valley of Roses and the Skoura palm grove
Gorges du Dadès → Skoura100 km · 2 h
Kelaat M’Gouna is the capital of the rose: its cooperatives distil rosewater and, in May, the valley celebrates the harvest. Carry on to Skoura, a palm grove dotted with kasbahs, including the superb Amridil kasbah. A quiet afternoon in the shade of the pomegranate trees.
Day 9
Saffron country
Skoura → Taroudant300 km · 4 h 45
Back towards Ouarzazate, then the Taliouine road between Mount Siroua and the Anti-Atlas. In Taliouine, a cooperative explains the saffron harvest, picked flower by flower at dawn in November. The road then drops into the Souss plain to Taroudant and its ochre ramparts.
Day 10
The Tizi n’Test road
Taroudant → Ouirgane150 km · 4 h
A drive around the Taroudant ramparts in the morning, then one of Morocco’s finest roads: the Tizi n’Test, climbing in hairpins to 2,092 metres with the Souss plain at your feet. Come down past the Almohad mosque of Tin Mal to Ouirgane. The road is narrow: take your time.
Day 11
Back to Marrakech via Asni
Ouirgane → Marrakech65 km · 1 h 15
A short drive through the N’Fis valley and Asni, whose Saturday souk draws people from all the surrounding villages. Arrive in Marrakech for lunch, then spend the afternoon at the Jardin Secret, an island of calm in the heart of the medina.
Day 12
Departure
Marrakech10 km · 20 min
A last morning in Marrakech depending on your flight. The rental company collects the car at the departures car park: fill up the day before, as the station nearest the airport is often busy.

In practice

Duration: 12 days
Distance: 1,600 km
Longest drive: 320 km
Difficulty: Moderate
Vehicles: Car, 4x4
Regions: Marrakech and surroundings · High Atlas · Valleys, gorges and oases · Desert (Merzouga, Erg Chebbi, M’Hamid) · Anti-Atlas and Souss
Notebook from: €790

Agnès designs the itinerary and your notebook. You book and pay for accommodation and transport yourself, with her trusted addresses.

Price of the design of your itinerary and of your notebook. Accommodation, transport and activities are booked and paid for by you, directly with the providers.