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Ouarzazate to Agadir desert tour 4 days – overview:
An ideal desert tour from Ouarzazate could end in Agadir in a beach resort hotel, where you can laze by the pool and relax after your desert adventures. What magnificent contrasts occur on this four-day trip: the Sahara desert and the Atlantic Ocean!
Many different aspects of Berber life in the region are revealed; the Skoura oasis and the beautifully restored Kasbah Amredhil. In the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs, you can sample the wonderfully scented Damascene rose products at the local cooperatives. Following an extraordinary route off-road through the barren landscape, you enter the fertile Dades Valley. Later you will visit the gorges here and in Toudgha.
The treats in the desert are the patient camels, a gorgeous sunset, and a traditional dinner in the majesty of Erg Chebbi dunes. Later you can dance to the unusual rhythms of Berber music around a campfire. Your private, comfortable tent near the high dunes offers a relaxing and refreshing night’s repose.
You will be spending nights in authentic guest houses. You stop at panoramic viewpoints to take photos and stretch your legs. Such places are Taznakht, the town of Berber rug and carpet co-operatives, Talouine, the centre of saffron growing, and Taroudant, “the little Marrakech” with its immense ramparts.
4-day desert tour from Ouarzazate to Agadir – highlights:
- Touring the beautiful Kasbah Amridil in Skoura Oasis, exploring the stunning Dades and Toudgha Gorges
- Experiencing the exquisite flavours of Morocco’s most delicious dishes while staying in luxurious rural guesthouses
- Enjoying a sunset camel ride, thrilling sandboarding, memorable photos, and an evening of traditional nomad music
- Dinner under a sky full of stars and an overnight in your private tent in a luxury camp nestled among the dunes
- Discovering the Dra’a Valley’s unlimited palm trees with its kasbahs and cross the Anti-Atlas Mountains
- Driving through Taznakht, known for its rugs, Talouine, famous for saffron, and Taroudant, celebrated for its ramparts
What is included in this tour to Agadir via the Erg Chebbi dunes:
- Transport in a private air-conditioned vehicle; 4×4 Toyota Prado TX or deluxe van and fuel
- Experienced local English/French/Spanish/Italian-speaking Berber and nomad driver/guide
- Accommodation in air-conditioned rooms/suites with private bathroom
- Overnight in a luxury camp in Erg Chebbi with private toilet and shower, lamps, carpets and traditional furnishings
- All meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner – with vegetarian and vegan options available
- A camel ride with a guide. And if you wish to do some sandboarding, just speak to the camp staff!
- Option to go to and return from the camp by 4×4
- Luggage service to the camp and all accommodation
- Berber drumming and music
- Free time to explore the sites such as Dra’a Valley, Kasbah Tamnougalte, for walks, photos, and tea/coffee breaks
- The opportunity to ask the driver to stop when and where you wish
- Entrance fees and local guide
- Tea, coffee and mineral water in the desert
What is not included:
- Drinks
- Tips
- Extras
Good to know about this Ouarzazate to Agadir tour 4 days:
- This Ouarzazate desert tour to Agadir can be customised to be more personal and special
- Activities such as day trips, a full day’s trekking, or an extra day in the Erg Chebbi dunes can be added to this tour
- You can choose to go to the camp either on camelback or by 4×4 (then you go for a camel ride from there)
- Here is a downloadable packing list to help plan for your Moroccan desert tour
- We require a 30% deposit of the total price to book the car, while the balance is payable to us in the office in Ouarzazate
- We accept payment through PayPal, bank transfers in Europe, by credit card, or cash (USD, Euro, GBP or MAD)
- We offer a 25% discount for all children under 12, while, in any one family, one child below 3 can travel free of charge
- These prices are liable to fluctuation according to the current exchange rate
- Our prices can be subject to an increase over the busy season, and, in particular, the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period
Ouarzazate to Agadir desert tour 4 days – itinerary:
1st day: Ouarzazate – Dades Gorges
Your desert tour from Ouarzazate to Agadir begins after breakfast at 8.30, as you set out towards the Dades Gorges. At Skoura Oasis, Kasbah Amredhil has been beautifully restored and is a showcase for this ancient adobe architecture. Most others of similar style have been abandoned and stand in ruins. Adobe is an ideal building material for the locality; warm in winter and cool in summer, due to the thickness of the walls.
From here, our route takes us through Kela’a M’gouna, the Valley of Roses, famous for its Rose Festival in May. Rose oil, rose water, and creams and soaps of the highest quality are all produced here and the scent is quite overwhelming.
Off-road behind the mountain range, you will be amazed by the barrenness of the landscape away from the river. We will have a glass of tea with Berber nomads in their caves, where generations of the same family eke out a humble existence.
Millions of years ago, the area forming the Dades Valley and Gorges, used to lie on the sea-bed. Large amounts of sediment were deposited around giant coral reefs, which slowly became compacted into sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone. The movement of the earth’s crust rising above the sea slowly formed the Atlas Mountains and the surrounding landscape.
On arrival in this valley, you have half a day to walk or to spend time relaxing or simply strolling by the fields and gardens. The night is spent in a hotel or Kasbah, or if you wish, you could walk into the hills to spend the night with a Berber family.
2nd day: Dades Gorges – Merzouga
About an hour’s drive takes you to Tinghir and the very different Toudgha Gorges this morning. As you walk through the gorges, you can admire the sheerness of the rocks on either side and the narrow strip of sky peeking down.
Beyond Tinjdad, the Tafilalet Oasis near Erfoud, famous for its date festival, and Rissani, the seat of the Alaouite family of the present king of Morocco, lie the Erg Chebbi dunes.
Between Tinjdad and Erfoud, descend the fascinating underground water channels, “khattarat”, deep below the earth. They remain surprisingly cool even in the heat of summer, thereby preventing evaporation from this source of irrigation. In Erfoud itself, marvel at the intricate craftsmanship of thousands of fossils transformed into a diverse array of artefacts, available for admiration or purchase.
From here, you continue driving east to Merzouga, where the sand dunes mark the beginning of the mighty Sahara Desert. At the edge of the dunes, you will take the camels to reach the camp, where you will be received with biscuits and the ubiquitous glass of mint tea.
Back at the camp, dinner is served, followed by an evening of nomad music and drumming around a campfire and spend the night in a tent with a private bathroom and plenty of space to move about.
3rd day: Merzouga – Agdez
Early risers will profit from the magic of the sunrise as the sun slowly adds shadows of unique hues not seen at any other time of day.
You later travel westwards towards the Dra’a Valley south of the Saghro mountain range through the village of Tazzarine to N’Qob where you stop for lunch.
About another hour’s driving takes you to Tansikht to cross the Dra’a River, the longest river valley in Morocco. Ask the driver to show you the dinosaur footprints right on the edge of road after turning north.
For a short while, we go off-road through the Dra’a Valley, between the mountains and the river, passing through many villages to gain a better idea of the way of life along the oases.
You will stop to visit Kasbah Tamnougalte, the oldest Kasbah in the valley. Some parts of the Kasbah are still inhabited, while others, particularly the Jewish quarter, are now crumbling, having been abandoned.
At the end of the afternoon, we stop in Agdz for the night, having travelled through Berber villages and their fields.
4th day: Agdz – Agadir
After breakfast, we drive north-west from Agdz to Taznakht, famous for its Berber gelims and carpets. On the way, we follow beautiful landscapes and pass the Bouazzer cobalt mines. This is a secluded part of the country and more off the beaten track.
Later, we continue west to Agadir, crossing the Tizi-n-Ikhsane and Tizi-n-Tighatine passes. We will stop to have lunch in Taliouine, the heart of the saffron-growing area of Morocco, and where there is an excellent little museum about the art of growing saffron.
In the afternoon, the road takes us on to Taroudant again and follows the often dry Souss River and numerous argan trees on all the slopes of the hill-sides back to Agadir, which we reach by the end of the afternoon bringing your Ouarzazate to Agadir desert tour to an end!
Map of the itinerary:
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