8 Days
From Casablanca
8-Day Casablanca Grand Loop: Imperial Cities & the Sahara
A full circuit from Casablanca through Fez, the desert and Marrakech.
from€699 /person
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Both great ergs — Zagora and Erg Chebbi — on a round trip from Marrakech.
Both great ergs — Zagora and Erg Chebbi — on a round trip from Marrakech. This 8-day private journey begins in Marrakech and is designed to give you the best of the route without the rush — with hand-picked accommodation, an English-speaking driver-guide and plenty of freedom to stop wherever catches your eye.
Highlights include zagora & erg chebbi dunes, draa valley palm groves, todra & dades gorges. Like every Edita itinerary it is fully flexible: we can lengthen or shorten it, upgrade your riads and desert camp, or change the start and finish cities to fit your flights.
Keep exploring: Morocco Tours from Marrakech · all 39 Morocco tours · Marrakech to Merzouga: The Complete Route
Our route to the desert climbs first over the High Atlas by the dramatic Tizi n'Tichka pass, with its hairpins and mountain panoramas, before dropping to the famous UNESCO ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, where we stop to explore the earthen towers and lanes seen in so many films. Passing through Ouarzazate we turn south and cross the Anti-Atlas at the Tizi n'Tinififft, then descend into the magnificent Draa Valley — Morocco's longest river, lined by a near-continuous ribbon of date palms and old kasbahs stretching for a hundred kilometres. We reach Zagora, famous for its weathered sign reading 'Timbuktu, 52 days' by camel. As the sun sets, camels carry you into the nearby Tinfou dunes for a night at a desert camp, with dinner and music beneath the stars.
A day to slow down and soak up the Draa Valley, the great palm-fringed oasis that made Zagora a crossroads of the caravan trade. We explore at an easy pace, visiting old mud-brick kasbahs and ksour, walking among the date palms, and calling in at Zagora's lively market where goods from across the south change hands. There may be time to see the restored Tamegroute, with its ancient library of illuminated manuscripts and its distinctive green pottery, or simply to rest through the heat of the afternoon. As the day cools, we mount camels and ride out into the dunes, the animals padding silently over the sand as the light softens to amber. At camp we gather for a tagine dinner and an evening of Berber drumming beneath a brilliant canopy of stars.
Today we make the cross-desert link between Morocco's two great seas of dunes, a quieter route through wide, empty country few travellers see. Leaving Zagora we follow tracks and back roads east through Tazzarine and Alnif, crossing stony plateaus, dry riverbeds and small oasis villages framed by the dark ridges of the Anti-Atlas — classic big-sky desert driving. We reach Rissani, the historic caravan town built on the ruins of Sijilmassa, and pause in its busy souk, one of the most authentic in the south. From there it is a short run to Merzouga and the towering dunes of Erg Chebbi. As the sun drops we exchange the vehicle for camels and ride out over the sand to a desert camp, arriving for dinner, music and a night beneath the stars.
We wake early, while the air is still cool, to climb a dune and watch the sun rise over the Erg Chebbi — a slow, silent spectacle as the sand ignites from grey to rose to burning gold and long blue shadows stretch across the ridges. After breakfast at camp we explore the desert more deeply by 4x4, discovering the corners most visitors never see: hidden wells and oasis pockets, black volcanic outcrops and beds of marine fossils that prove this was once an ocean floor, and the little village of Khamlia with its Gnawa musicians. We meet nomad families at their tents over mint tea and learn how life is lived out here. There is time for sandboarding down the slopes before we return to camp or continue on toward the kasbahs.
Leaving the great dunes behind, we set off west along the fabled Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. First we pause in Rissani, the market town built on the ruins of Sijilmassa, once a wealthy caravan capital at the gateway to the Sahara, and pass through Erfoud, centre of the date and fossil trade. The route then climbs into the Atlas foothills to the magnificent Todra Gorge, where sheer rose-coloured limestone walls soar 300 metres and close to just a few metres apart above a clear river — we walk a stretch on foot, dwarfed by the cliffs. Continuing through Tinghir's palm oasis and a string of earthen ksour, we reach the Dades Valley in the late afternoon, checking in near the dramatic gorge with its famous switchback road for the night.
A grand finale of a driving day, linking the desert to Marrakech across some of Morocco's most cinematic scenery. We follow the valley through the Skoura palm oasis, with its old mud-brick kasbahs, to Ouarzazate, the 'door of the desert' and the country's film capital, where epics from Lawrence of Arabia to Gladiator were shot. Nearby stands the jewel of the route: Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage ksar of fortified earthen towers rising above the river, its lanes and rooftops instantly familiar from countless films. We take time to climb through the old village to the granary at the top for sweeping views. Then we cross the High Atlas by the spectacular Tizi n'Tichka pass, winding past Berber villages, and descend to Marrakech by evening.
A full day exploring the Red City with your guide, uncovering the monuments and hidden corners behind the bustle. We visit the iconic Koutoubia minaret, the 12th-century tower that is Marrakech's symbol, then the sumptuous Bahia Palace with its painted ceilings and tranquil courtyards, and the Saadian Tombs, a royal necropolis of exquisite tilework rediscovered only a century ago. We step into the Ben Youssef Madrasa, once North Africa's largest Quranic school and a masterpiece of carved cedar and zellige, and wander the souks quarter by quarter — dyers, metalworkers, leather and spices. As evening falls we arrive at Jemaa el-Fnaa, the great square that transforms into open-air theatre: storytellers, snake charmers, musicians, henna artists and a hundred smoking food stalls. Few places on earth feel so vividly alive after dark.
Your Moroccan journey comes to an end today. After a relaxed breakfast and, if time allows, a final wander through the souks for any last souvenirs — a lantern, a rug, a bag of spices — your driver-guide collects you from your riad and transfers you to Marrakech Menara airport in good time for your flight. If your departure is later in the day, we are happy to suggest how to spend the remaining hours, whether that is a last mint tea on a rooftop overlooking the medina, a visit to a garden or museum, or simply resting before you travel. We say goodbye with a warm farewell — b'slama — and our hope that the dunes, mountains and medinas of the past days have given you memories and friendships to carry home.
“Impeccably organised and completely private. We changed the plan twice and Edita made it effortless. The Sahara sunrise was unforgettable.”
“From Fez to Marrakech we saw a side of Morocco most tourists miss. Comfortable 4x4, wonderful riads and a driver who knew every hidden spot.”
8 Days
A full circuit from Casablanca through Fez, the desert and Marrakech.
8 Days
The blue city, the imperial medina and the Sahara to Marrakech.
8 Days
A north-to-south journey through the blue city, Fez and the dunes.