Agadir is the main holiday destination in southern Morocco to enjoy the sun and the beach. But it is also a magnificent place from which to discover the deep Moroccan desert. And you can do both in this 5-day tour: Agadir and the desert in the same program, to which are added other corners and monuments of enormous interest in the mythical Atlas Mountains. Take note of everything that awaits you if you choose this tour with Tenere Tours.
The desert is synonymous with extreme aridity, but not with a lack of life. Although water is scarce here, local humans, flora, and fauna have managed to take advantage of every last drop to make a place for themselves. Therefore, you will see environments where sand dunes (ergs) bare and stony ground (hammadas) oases sand dunes (ergs) and barren, stony ground (hammadas), but also oases with agricultural crops and groups of palm trees, which make the view green again. Both are spaces of enormous natural beauty, shaped by agents as different as wind, water, or human beings. And in all of them, time seems to pass at a different pace, as if the stress of modern life were part of another world.
On this 5-day tour from Agadir, the desert will share the spotlight with another natural environment: the mountain. In fact, Morocco is a country of very irregular orography, with the beauty that this entails, in the form of large snow-capped peaks for large periods of the year, valleys and boxed canyons and a traditional architecture associated with these spaces. On the one hand, small towns where the markets of yesteryear are still being set up. And on the other, spectacular kasbahs or Berber fortresses, built from adobe, which were home and residence to powerful families, as well as watch posts in strategic places.
Starting in Agadir and ending in Marrakech, this 5-day, 4-night tour is carried out entirely by road, with the exception of the stretches of sand in the desert, which can be done in a 4×4 or on a dromedary. This is the summary of each stage:
The first day of the tour is an introduction to the city where this trip begins: Agadir. We will meet at the agreed place, which may be the airport terminal after your flight lands, or at the station, depending on whether you arrive in Agadir by air or by land.
Next, we will carry out the transfer to take you to the hotel where you will spend this first night. The program of the day will be conditioned by the time of your arrival, so if there is enough free time, you can take a brief exploration of this city and its beaches, which are its great tourist attraction.
After the first day dedicated to landing and acclimatization to Morocco, on this second day we will begin the route itself. To do this, we will take the road towards the High Atlas, where the highest mountains in the country and North Africa are located, making stops to take photos of the picturesque Berber villages that line the route.
On the slopes of this mountain range, on its south side, is located Ait Ben Haddou, the main destination to visit on this day. It is a ksar or fortified village around a kasbah, already ruined but recognizable. Both the crowded hamlet and the high walls of the town are made of reddish adobe, as is typical in traditional Berber architecture. And both the panoramic views of the place and the small nooks of its intricate urban fabric exude a special charm. So it is no coincidence that Ait Ben Haddou has been chosen World Heritage by Unesco, and set for filming important international films and series, such as Game of Thrones.
Precisely because of its film studios (Atlas Studios) is also famous the city in which the route of this day concludes: Ouarzazate. Here you will find the hotel for dinner and overnight rest of this day.
Ouarzazate is known as the ‘door to the desert’, but it is also the starting point of one of the most famous routes in Morocco: the Route of the Thousand Kasbahs, named for the numerous Berber castles that are in this territory. So after breakfast, we will travel its first section, in this case through the Draa Valley, which we will reach after crossing landscapes typical of the Anti Atlas, the lowest sector of this mountain range, where renowned films have also been shot, such as Babel, with Brad Pitt.
The Draa Valley is known for being a huge oasis, whose green tongue of vegetation runs for more than 100 km. In our case, we will only travel its first part, to reach other charming towns on the route, such as Tazarine or Alnif. At this point, the landscape becomes increasingly desert-like, until we reach Rissani, considered one of the most picturesque historical towns in southern Morocco.
Soon after we will arrive at Merzouga, a strategic place for those who venture into the Sahara, because here we will leave the asphalt to step on fine sand, in Erg Chebbi. It will be on an unforgettable dromedary route, which will take us to the heart of the dunes. There, in the Haima camp, they will give us a traditional welcome, with tea and Berber dinner. And the bright stars of the sky will give us the best “good night”, until the next day.
The attraction of sleeping in a Haima camp in the middle of the desert is not only in its peaceful atmosphere and starry sky, but also in the breathtaking sunrise that occurs in the first hours of the day. Therefore, it is worth getting up early and anticipating that moment, contemplating it and recording it forever in the memory.
Breakfast will be taken after sunrise and, at its conclusion, our dromedaries will take us back to Merzouga. Before resuming the road route, there will be time for a shower in a arranged hotel. Thus, with renewed energy and freshness, we will return to the asphalt, this time heading to other charming corners on the circuit: the Todra Gorges. Here, the rocky walls have been formed thanks to the erosive work of the small river of the same name, and today they are an idyllic place to walk and admire the force of nature.
After visiting this space, we will enter the Dades Valley, the other great valley of the Route of the Thousand Kasbahs. In one of the most genuine villages in the region, we will spend the night and have dinner, inside a charming riad, both for its traditional architecture and for its typically Berber atmosphere.
On this fifth day of the route, we explore other interesting corners of the Route of the Thousand Kasbahs, coinciding with the Dades Valley and with another no less beautiful section: the Valley of the Roses, dotted with colors in spring thanks to this flower, cultivated here to be exploited industrially and commercially.
Arriving in Ouarzazate, we will visit a great monument that was pending on our first visit to the city: the kasbah of Taourirt. It was one of the main residences and fortresses of Thami El Glaoui, leader of a family clan that dominated this territory at the beginning of the 20th century. The contrast between the simple exterior style in adobe and the refinement of the interior rooms, with ceramic decoration, in plaster and wood, is a clear example of this.
With the visit of Taourirt, our luggage will already be well loaded with memories, so we will head up the ramps of the High Atlas to cross to the north side through the port of Tizi n’Tichka. Following the wake of the fertile valley, with numerous towns at the foot of the road, we will arrive at the plain on which Marrakech extends.
In this city the tour concludes and, therefore, our services. The place chosen for this may be Menara Airport, the hotel or any other point in the city, And we will say goodbye with the hope of having satisfied your travel expectations through these characteristic corners of southern Morocco.
The services included in this 5-day tour from Agadir, through the desert and the Atlas Mountains, provide the essential services for the route to take place in the best conditions, through comfortable top-of-the-range vehicles:
The following services, on the other hand, are not included and are at the discretion of each traveler.
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