Meknes Casablanca Desert Tour

Five days from Meknes to Casablanca by way of the Sahara and Marrakech. You spend two nights at Merzouga – one in a hotel and one in a luxury desert camp – meet nomads, hear Gnawa music, see the Todra and Dades gorges and Aït Ben Haddou, and finish with a visit to the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca.

Day 1: Meknes – Azrou – Midelt – Merzouga

After breakfast we leave Meknes and drive through the cedar forests near Azrou, home to wild Barbary macaques – a great place for photos. Lunch is in the small Berber village of Zaida. We continue through the Atlas Mountains via Midelt and Rich to Erfoud, where the Tafilalet oasis and the Sahara begin, and on to Merzouga. Dinner and overnight at Hotel Dar Morocco or similar.

Day 2: Gnawa Music – Nomads – Night in a Luxury Camp

After breakfast we drive to Khamlia, a village famous for Gnawa music, a spiritual tradition its families brought from West Africa. After listening (and maybe dancing), we follow part of the old Paris–Dakar rally route across the stony desert towards the old Mifis mines.

At midday we stop with a nomad family for tea and a Berber pizza lunch, and learn how people live in the desert through sandstorms and summer heat. In the afternoon you return to the hotel to relax, then ride a camel for about an hour into the dunes, with sandboarding and sunset on the way. Dinner, Berber music and overnight in a luxury camp in a tent with its own bathroom.

Day 3: Merzouga – Todra Gorge – Dades Gorge

After sunrise, breakfast and a shower in your tent, we drive west through Berber villages, Tinjdad and the palm grove of Tinghir to the Todra Gorge, then on to Boumalne Dades. Dinner and overnight at Ksar Sultan Dades or similar.

Day 4: Dades Gorge – Ouarzazate – Aït Ben Haddou – Marrakech

After breakfast we drive to Ouarzazate, where you can visit the film studios, and on to the UNESCO-listed kasbah of Aït Ben Haddou. We then cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260 m), with wide views of valleys and Berber villages, and arrive in Marrakech in the evening. Overnight in a traditional riad.

Day 5: Marrakech – Casablanca

After breakfast we drive to Casablanca to visit the Hassan II Mosque, then drop you at the airport or your hotel or riad.