5-Day Agadir to Merzouga Desert Loop

If you’re staying on the Atlantic coast and want to see the real Sahara, the great dunes of Erg Chebbi, this private five-day loop is the way to do it. It starts and ends at your hotel in Agadir, Taghazout or Tamraght, and never takes the same road twice. You go east through the saffron and carpet country of the Anti-Atlas to Ouarzazate, follow the kasbahs and gorges to Merzouga for a camel trek and a night at our luxury camp, return west through the quiet southern oases of N’Kob and the Draa Valley, and finally cross the High Atlas to Marrakech before taking the motorway back to the coast.

It’s a complete circuit of southern Morocco, and the only one of our Agadir tours that reaches the tallest dunes in the country.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Agadir → Taroudant → Taliouine → Tizi n’Bachkoum → Tazenakht → Ouarzazate (about 370 km)
• Day 2: Ouarzazate → Skoura → Amridil kasbah → Valley of Roses → Dades Gorge (about 145 km)
• Day 3: Dades Valley → Tinghir → Todra Gorge → Alnif → Merzouga, then by camel to camp (about 290 km)
• Day 4: Erg Chebbi → Alnif → N’Kob → Draa Valley → Agdz → Ouarzazate (about 370 km)
• Day 5: Ouarzazate → Ait Ben Haddou → Tizi n’Tichka → Marrakech → Agadir (about 480 km)

Day 1: over the Anti-Atlas

We collect you from your hotel in the morning and head inland through the Souss valley, the home of the argan tree. The first stop is Taroudant, an old market town enclosed by earthen ramparts several kilometres long. Walk a stretch of the walls or browse its relaxed souks.

The road then climbs into the Anti-Atlas to Taliouine. Here, at a women’s saffron cooperative, you learn how the crocus flowers are harvested by hand in the autumn and how their stigmas are dried to make the precious spice. Over the Tizi n’Bachkoum pass, you come to Tazenakht, where the women of the local tribes weave carpets by hand. You arrive in Ouarzazate in the late afternoon and check in to a riad for dinner and the night.

Day 2: an easy day among the kasbahs

This is the shortest day of the tour, with about three hours of driving. You follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs east to the Skoura oasis, where the Amridil kasbah, built in the 17th century and still owned by the same family, is one of the finest in Morocco. Inside, rooms and courtyards show how a wealthy family of the south lived, stored its harvest and defended itself.

In Kelaat M’Gouna, the centre of the Valley of Roses, the fields are bordered by rose hedges, which bloom from late April to mid-May. In the afternoon you drive up the Dades Gorge, past the rounded red “monkey fingers” rocks and the famous hairpin road, before settling in at your kasbah hotel.

Day 3: the Todra Gorge and Erg Chebbi

After breakfast, you continue to Tinghir and the Todra Gorge. Leave the car and walk along the gorge floor, where the limestone walls rise around 300 metres above a clear stream and the canyon narrows to only a few metres wide.

The afternoon drive crosses the plateau via Alnif to Merzouga. As you approach, the orange mass of Erg Chebbi grows on the horizon. Your camels are waiting at the edge of the sand. Ride into the dunes for the sunset and reach the luxury camp for dinner, drums and a campfire under the stars.

Day 4: the southern oases

Watch the sunrise from the dunes, then ride back for breakfast. The return journey west follows the southern route, far from the main tourist roads. Past Alnif, the road skirts the Jbel Saghro, a wild range of dark volcanic peaks, to N’Kob, a village of dozens of earthen kasbahs clustered at the foot of the mountains.

From there you reach the Draa Valley and follow its palm groves north via Agdz, where the table mountain of Jbel Kissane rises above the oasis. You arrive in Ouarzazate in the afternoon, with time to rest before dinner at your riad.

Day 5: Ait Ben Haddou, Marrakech and back to the coast

The final morning begins at Ait Ben Haddou, the fortified earthen village above the Ounila river. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has appeared in dozens of films. Walk up to the granary at the top for the view.

Then you climb into the High Atlas over the Tizi n’Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres, and descend to Marrakech for lunch. From Marrakech, the motorway takes you back to Agadir in about three hours, and you arrive at your hotel in the early evening.

Why this route?

Rather than driving to the desert and back on the same road, the loop shows you a different side of the south each day: the Anti-Atlas on the way out, the gorges on the way in, the remote southern oases on the way back, and the High Atlas at the end. The two nights in Ouarzazate break the journey into manageable stages, and the motorway from Marrakech makes the return to the coast quick and easy.

Where you’ll sleep

• Ouarzazate (2 nights): a riad in town.
• Dades Valley (1 night): a kasbah hotel.
• Erg Chebbi (1 night): our luxury desert camp, with a private tent for your booking, en-suite hot shower and flushing toilet, comfortable beds and electricity for charging. Heavy blankets are provided in winter, and family tents are available on request.

Dinner and breakfast are included every night.

Best time to go

October to May is the best period to travel from the coast into the desert. The saffron harvest in Taliouine is in late October and November, and the roses bloom in late April and May. Winter nights are cold in the desert and the mountains. In summer, Agadir stays pleasantly mild, but the desert can exceed 40°C, so the camel trek is planned for late afternoon.

Who this tour is for

Holidaymakers based in Agadir who want to see the real Sahara dunes, plus the gorges and kasbahs of the south, in one round trip. It suits couples, families and friends who want to see as much as possible in five days.

Good to know

• Driving: days one, four and five are 6–7 hours with stops; days two and three are shorter.
• Best months: October to May. In summer, Agadir stays mild but the desert can exceed 40°C, so we plan the camel trek for late afternoon.
• Entrance fees at Ait Ben Haddou and the Amridil kasbah are paid on the spot.
• Stop in Marrakech: you can add a night in Marrakech on the way back, with a guided city tour.
• Leaving Morocco from Marrakech instead? The 4-day Agadir to Marrakech tour ends there.