15 DAY ROUTE FROM MARRAKECH TO SAHARA

DAY 1: AIRPORT – MARRAKECH

Pick up at the airport and transfer to the hotel or riad. Free day in Marrakech (optional guided tour), a city famous for its Jemaa el Fna square, which will take up much of our time: an amalgam of aromas, sounds and sensations that cannot be repeated. The city also has countless places to wander around and enjoy: the Majorelle Gardens, the Menara, the Saadian Tombs, walks through the medina or the mellah (the old Jewish quarter), the tour of the walls, the modern city (Gueliz) with its Western ways of life. Accommodation according to the selected hotel category.

DAY 2: MARRAKECH – ESSAOUIRA

After breakfast, the route begins in 4×4 or minibus from Marrakech to the city of Essaouira. During the trip to Essaouira we will be able to see the vast expanses of the Argan tree, the only place in the world where it is found and whose fruit is so appreciated both for food and for cosmetics. We will make a brief stop along the way at an Argan cooperative to learn about the process of obtaining Argan oil and the diversity of products they produce from the fruit of the Argan tree. Arrival in Essouira (formerly Mogador, city of the wind) and transfer to the hotel in the medina. Free afternoon to explore the medina of this fortified city full of poetry and art. It will be enough to walk through its medina, protected by its walls, which are called Scala and contemplate the charming port full of light and fluttering seagulls, enjoying the arrival of the fishing boats and tasting the fish in any of its restaurants. In June, the famous Gnawa music festival is also held. Accommodation in the medina.

DAY 3: ESSAOUIRA – ESSAOUIRA

Visit to the small village of Diabat, from where you can take a horseback ride along the beach (optional). Essaouira offers many possibilities for outdoor activities such as kitesurfing, horseback riding through the dunes and on the beach or quad biking. In the afternoon, visit by boat to the Island of Mogador, actually made up of two islands and several islets. These islands were known as the “Purple Islands” because they were used for dye production by the Phoenicians and Romans. Today they are abandoned and a huge fortification, a mosque and a prison are a reminder of what they were like centuries ago. They now constitute a natural reserve for falcons and can be visited as long as it is not during the breeding season. Accommodation in the medina.

DAY 4: ESSAOUIRA – AGADIR

After breakfast we will continue our journey south along the Atlantic coast, until we reach one of the newest and most important coastal cities on the Atlantic, Agadir, with a modern tourist centre full of vitality. It was founded by the Portuguese around 1500 and in 1960 an earthquake destroyed the city, which had to be completely rebuilt. In Agadir, one of the Berber languages ​​called Tachelhit (Tassousite) is spoken and it contributes significantly to the recovery of the Amazigh or Berber culture. Agadir enjoys the Timitar Festival at the beginning of July with performances by Amazigh cultural groups. Free day to discover the city and enjoy its beaches, the largest in Morocco. Night in accommodation according to the selected category.

DAY 5: AGADIR – SOUS MASSA NATIONAL PARK – TIZNIT

After breakfast, we will continue the journey discovering the coast and the Souss-Massa National Park, made up of cliffs, dunes, farmland, coastal steppes and forests, until we reach Aglou Beach, 14 km from Tiznit, where we can rest. This coastal area has grown in tourist services in recent years due to its proximity to the provincial capital. We will spend the night in Tiznit, which has the appearance of a traditional walled village with 56 towers and five historic gates, divided into neighborhoods whose names correspond to the families of origin: Id Ougfa, Ait Mohamed, Zkri Id and Id Dalha. Visit to the old medina of great cultural interest, the great mosque in the architectural style of Mali, the Lalla Tiznit fountain, the Mellah and the Mechour square. Night in accommodation according to the selected category.
After visiting Tiznit we headed towards Sidi Some tourist guides even warn of the possibility of finding the odd crab walking along the road.

DAY 6: TIZNIT – SIDI IFNI

We will continue our long journey towards Sidi Ifni, along the road that runs along the coast, completely unspoilt, without failing to discover these new landscapes and its small towns such as Mirleft. It is a perfect place to make a stop along the way, thanks to its six wonderful beaches. After a break we will resume the route until we reach the mysterious city of Sidi Ifni, capital of the former Spanish territory of Ifni, a vestige of the Spanish imperial ambitions that ended in 1969. Curiously, in Sidi Ifni’s Plaza de España there are vestiges of the Spanish army’s stay there, such as a commemorative stone on which the names of the Moroccan soldiers now appear, who replaced the names of the Spanish soldiers, and plaques on the streets that still bear the name of some general. Being in Sidi Ifni, sharing with the locals, eating fish fresh from the port, strolling through the old Plaza de España and its adjacent streets, recovering a Spain of the 1950s that appears without hesitation in its cafes and bars, is one of the greatest pleasures of the trip.

This city enjoys a special microclimate, much milder than in the hot inland territory. From Sidi Ifni we will take a 10 km excursion north to Legzira Bay, known for its spectacular natural stone arches. Overnight in Sidi Ifni in accommodation according to the selected category.

DAY 7: SIDI IFNI – TAN TAN

The next day we will enter the lands of Western Sahara…a desert road, until we find the town of Tan Tan and its beach. to finally discover the extensive white beach, but to reach our destination we must take the Guelmim road, visiting the Berber village of Mesti and Abainou and then travel 125 km of road through the flat, stony and empty desert between Guelmim and Tan Tan (a city that was part of the Moroccan territories occupied by Spain and handed over in 1958) and where we will spend the night. On Tan Tan beach you can enjoy a beautiful sunset, see the arrival of the fishing boats and even have the possibility of seeing the Canary Islands in the distance if the weather permits.

DAY 8: TAN TAN – TARFAYA

Heading towards the Saharan lands: long, desert road, with loose dunes, large cliffs, waves that break with great force and fishermen’s huts until reaching Sidi Akhfennir and a mandatory stop at the Naila lagoon, from the hostel known as the Italian (“La courbine de Argent”). Natural reserve, where the sea enters the land, the desert, the dunes, with spectacular flora and fauna and where you can ride in small boats driven by Saharans and go fishing. Among the waters we can see what remains of a small fort built by the English and which can be reached on foot at low tide, Tarfaya. Saint-Exupéry defined himself in Tarfaya as “aviator, ambassador and explorer”. Here he wrote his first novel, “Correo sur”, and it is said that his moments of solitude and reflection in the desert served him to write his best-known work, although the one that is most distant from his profession as a pilot, “El Principito”. Visit the monument that was erected in his memory and the museum that bears his name and tells the story of his life and that of the air mail.

DAY 9: TARFAYA – EL AAIUN

We continue our way to El Aaiun, where we will visit the Mechouar square, the old Spanish houses known as “Alonso’s eggs” for their characteristic egg shape, visit the old Spanish inn, Mauritania quarter, Spanish cathedral, Colline des Oiseaux gardens with cages for exotic birds, lagoons with numerous birds and detour towards the beach where numerous dunes extend and there is the possibility of spending the night in tents under a spectacular sky of stars or in one of the bungalows near the sea, detour towards the Haguniya road bordering an authentic Saharan coastal road.

DAY 10: EL AAIUN – SMARA

After breakfast we will leave for Smara, a holy city 250 km from El Aaiun, a spectacular lunar road, a long journey where the warm sand of the desert, with its softness and crudeness that prevents any form of life, meets, even if only illusorily, the water that encourages and provokes the birth of some living beings and the settlement of people who by will or origin feel nomadic. It is the authentic harshness of the desert, far from everything, the discovery of the difficulty of living, different from everything.

DAY 11: SMARA – TAN TAN

We will return to Tan Tan, although we will then follow a different route to Marrakech, through the Anti Atlas, a beautiful and interesting road, especially for the landscape and the Berber villages that are found along it. Night in Tan Tan.

DAY 12: TAN TAN – TAFRAOUTE

We say goodbye to the enigmatic Atlantic coast to enter the interior of the territory, passing again through the city of Goulmime, the ancient gateway to the Sahara. We will continue the route towards the interior, until we reach the small town of Tafraoute surrounded by gigantic rocks and cloistered in the charming valley of Ameln. The scenic beauty and the diversity of landscapes amazes us with the olive and almond plantations, the dry land and the pink granite mountains.
Tafraoute offers its visitors a picturesque landscape of extravagant beauty. This city is even more beautiful and fascinating in the month of February when the almond trees bloom, a magical spectacle of natural beauty created by the play of light and flowers.

DAY 13: TAFRAUT – TAROUDANT

We will leave the city of Tafraut behind in the direction of the small and charming city of Taroudant, called the little Marrakech, full of grace and an hour from Agadir. Taroudant with its beautiful golden, high pink walls that make it look like a mix of an oasis and a fortress, is perfectly located under the watchful gaze of the snowy peaks of the Atlas to the north and south. The immense views towards this mountain range is one of the attractions that people come to enjoy. The city is very picturesque, with its old houses, surrounded by colorful vegetation and fantastic views. The souk of this city is not very large but offers a wide range of traditional crafts typical of the area.

DAY 14: TAROUDANT – TIZI N´TAST – MARRAKECH

Early departure to Marrakech crossing the High Atlas via the Tizi n´Taste pass (2,200 m.), the Ourirgane valley and the Berber village of Asni. Overnight in Marrakech in a hotel or riad according to the selected accommodation category.

DAY 15: MARRAKECH – AIRPORT.

Breakfast and free time to continue visiting the city of Marrakech, transfer to the airport according to your flight departure time and end of our services.

Embark on a 15 Day route from Marrakech to Sahara. Explore the vast desert landscapes, dunes, and culture in this unforgettable Moroccan adventure.