This loop trades kasbahs for dunes: three days from Ouarzazate through the Dadès and Todra Gorges to Merzouga, Morocco's most iconic stretch of Sahara sand. Watch the sun set over the Erg Chebbi dunes from the back of a camel, then spend the night at a luxury desert bivouac beneath a sky full of stars, complete with Berber drumming around the fire.
The return leg passes through Rissani — the historic artisan capital of the south, home to blacksmiths, silversmiths and potters — before following the ‘route du désert’ back through the Drâa Valley's palm-fringed kasbahs to Ouarzazate.
Depart Ouarzazate for the Rose Valley via Skoura and its palm grove, with an optional stop at the Kasbah Amridil. Visit the rose water cooperative at Kalaat M'Gouna, then stop at the Dadès Gorges to see the ‘Monkey Fingers’ rock formations on a short walk.
A short drive to the Todra Gorges for a one-hour walk between 300-metre cliffs. Continue to Rissani, the artisan capital of the south, known for its forges, silversmiths and potters, before arriving in Merzouga by late afternoon for a 90-minute sunset camel trek into the Erg Chebbi dunes.
An optional sunrise over the dunes, then depart after breakfast. Return via Rissani, Alnif and Tazzarine on the N12 ‘desert road’, with a stop in the Drâa Valley — Morocco's largest palm oasis — at Agdz, the Kasbah of Tamnougalt and its mudbrick villages, before descending to Ouarzazate.