9 DAYS / 8 NIGHTS
from MARRAKECH
THE GREAT SOUTH AND ESSAOUIRA

Adventure Route designed to start and finish at Marrakech airport

Route THE GREAT SOUTH AND ESSAOUIRA
Duration 9 DAYS / 8 NIGHTS
Start Marrakech - AIRPORT
Ends Marrakech - AIRPORT
Type of trip Marrakech, Essaouira, landscapes, Berber culture and desert.

Program

Day 1 - Marrakech - Welcome at the airport and meeting with the accompanying guide - Transfer hotel or riad - Free time For a first contact with the city and its medina

Welcome at the Menara airport in Marrakech and meeting with the accompanying guide.

Get ready to be surprised and inspired!

Transfer to the Hotel or Riad.

Visit free and at your own pace the Djemma Square, the fna and the medina, the heart of the city. A unique experience, where all life and night activity is concentrated: dancers, storytellers, jugglers, artisans, merchants and snake charmers. From the terraces of some cafés you get a wide view of the city: mosques and minarets, palaces and gardens, souks and bazaars.

 

DJEMMA EL-FNA PLACE

This main square of the city and throughout the day attracts tourists and locals who may visit the stalls selling orange juice and water, as well as snake charmers, women painting with henna or the boys with monkeys.

At night the atmosphere changes and you can see dancers, musicians and jugglers, which fill it in its entirety, and that provide an atmosphere of drums and fun.

We recommend sitting in one of the surrounding cafes to enjoy the atmosphere or go to dinner at one of the more than 100 stalls that are placed at this time and with different types of Moroccan food.

Day 2 - Marrakech - High Atlas - Ticka Port (2260m) - Ouarzazate - Skoura Palm Grove - Valley of the Roses - Dades Valley

After the breakfast, at the time agreed with the guide, meeting with the guide at your hotel to start the tour.

We will cross the high atlas, passing the port of Tichka at 2260m high, making several stops to contemplate the landscape and take pictures, since it is one of the most impressive routes in Morocco. We will see the change in the vegetation of Marrakech along with the views of the palm groves and the north face of the mountains. Due to the aridity of the south, we will begin to observe the first Berber villages of adobe on the slopes of the mountains.

After passing the city of Ouarzazate, the so-called “desert gate”, we will continue through the palm grove of Skoura and the Valley of the Roses until we reach the Dades Valley, where we will spend the night surrounded by mountains.

 

Day 3 - Dades Valley - Todra Gorges - Erfoud - Merzouga - Erg Chebbi Dunes - Dromedary Excursion - Magic Night at Berber Camp (Haimas)

After breakfast, we will continue along the banks of Boumalne Dades, in a road surrounded by kasbahs and ksours (fortresses or castles), whose landscape is ocher, red and mauve. After a journey full of oasis and palm trees we will arrive at Tineghir, where the spectacular Todra Gorges are perched at 1,350 m altitude and surrounded by a palm grove.

We will continue to Erfoud (city of fossils) and after passing several tracks we will reach Merzouga, in front of the dunes of Erg Chebbi, where we will change from our vehicle to the dromedaries, who will lead us to the camp located near the bottom of the dunes to spend the night in haimas and enjoy the magic of the desert under a blanket of millions of stars.

Typical dinner at the rhythm of Berber drums.

This will undoubtedly be a magical night!

Day 4 - Merzouga - Tour of the dunes in 4x4 - Visit to nomadic Berber families - Fossil and mine area - Khamlia (including demonstration of traditional Gnaoua music) - Afternoon relax to enjoy a ride in the dunes, from the pool of the hotel or to do some optional activity (quads, buggies ...)

Today we will have all morning to explore and discover the way of life and the desert culture.

After breakfast departure with the 4 × 4 vehicle to surround the dunes, visit the Berber nomads that live in the area and have a tea with them, approach us to the mines and fossil area to discover the natural resources of the desert and to witness a demonstration of traditional Gnaoua music from the Bambaras group of Khamlia.

Free afternoon to take a relaxing walk in the dunes and enjoy the last sunset in the desert, for optional activities (like quads …) or simply for a relaxing swim in the hotel pool.

Day 5 - Merzouga - Alnif - Nkob- Agdz - Draa Valley – Ouarzazate

After breakfast, we will say goodbye to the dunes and take the route to go through the Draa Valley, one of the longest rivers in Morocco.

We will make several stops to contemplate the lovely adobe kasbahs and Berber villages along the route and the interesting geological formations of the Valley

We will arrive in Ouarzazate, located on a large plateau, and in the middle of the Thousand Kasbhas route.

Time for a well-deserved rest or to enjoy the hotel pool, if the weather is favorable.

Day 6 - Ouarzazate - Ait Ben Haddou – Marrakech

After breakfast, if you wish, you can make the optional visit of the Universal Cinema studios or the Kasbah of Taourirt. Then we will visit the famous Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco and famous for being one of the best and well-preserved ksours – fortified villages – in Morocco. Free time to walk through the kasbah and climb to its summit to contemplate the views.

We will cross the High Atlas Mountains again with its beautiful landscapes.

Arrival in Marrakech and transfer to the riad for a well-deserved rest or to enjoy the atmosphere of the magical city.

Day 7 - Marrakech – Essaouira

After breakfast we will go to Essaouira, known as the Pearl of the Atlantic. Free time to visit its medina and fishing port, and enjoy its beaches.

Day 8 - Essaouira – Marrakech

Free morning to continue enjoying the tranquility of this charming town. After lunch, departure to Marrakech and transfer to the hotel/riad.

Free time in Marrakech.

Day 9 - Marrakech - Free time or optional visit with local guide - At the agreed time, transfer airport

Depending on the expected flight departure time, free time for the last visits and purchases or, if the expected flight departure time permits, optional visit with local guide.

Shuttle to the airport at the agreed time.

END OF OUR SERVICES.

We wish you a happy return home, and we hope to see you again soon in Morocco, inchallahl

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CIRCUIT CONTACT US

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