Marrakech - Agdez - Chegaga

Marrakech-Agdez-Chegaga-Foum Zguid-Marrakech

3 Days 2 Nights

Itinerary

1st day: Marrakesh – Agdez

Morning departure at 8 o’clock from your hotel or riad in Marrakesh to cross the spectacular High Atlas Mountains. After the Tichka pass, you leave the main road and take a side road to the Telouet Kasbah, which belonged to the Lords of the Atlas, the Glaoui family, and which now stands in ruins after the last Pasha fled the country following the departure of the French.

From there you continue for lunch at Ait Benhaddou along the newly asphalted connecting road. This is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which we visit after lunch.  This is the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which you can visit after lunch.  This Kasbah, the most famous in Morocco, has been used as a backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters and was one of the most important fortress strongholds on the old Salt Road caravan routes, where traders brought slaves, gold, ivory and salt from sub-Saharan Africa to Marrakech and beyond.  After lunch we continue south to Agdez, where the Dra’a Valley starts.  Here we spend the night in a traditional Kasbah.

2nd day: Agdez – Chegaga Dunes

After breakfast there is time to visit the rest of the Kasbah before taking the ancient caravan road between the river and the mountains. On the way, we pass many villages and gardens so that you can gain a better idea of the way of life along the oases. We drive to M’hamid, the gate to the desert, to Erg Lihoudi, where we stop for lunch. We then continue to the Erg Chegaga dunes (300m) with 60km of off-road driving. This route passes different features of the desert; ‘erg’, ‘reg’, ‘hammada’, oases. These dunes are far away from civilization, in the desert proper ……. and the silence and the expanse of the sand are overwhelming. Once there you can take a camel ride of about an hour and a half. Dinner and a night’s sleep are in a bivouac of nomad tents.

3rd day: Chegaga – Marrakesh

After a beautiful sunrise and breakfast, the road takes us through another 90km of desert with varying scenery: Lake Iriqui, the mountains and fossils. Lunch will be in Foum Zguid, the first village after the desert, where it is also possible to freshen up with a shower. From here the drive back to Marrakesh is along paved roads via the village of Taznakht, famous for its Berber carpets and rugs. From there we cross the High Atlas again to reach Marrakesh at the end of the afternoon.

Please Note: Prices for all of our tours include accommodation and access to historical sites.  Unless otherwise stated in the details of the specific tour, breakfast and dinner are included, however lunch and alcohol are not