Morocco's Deep South, Ouarzazate, the Draa Valley and Erg Chigaga, 9 days

To the end of the tarmac

This trip follows the old caravan route in reverse. Goods from West Africa came up the Draa Valley, crossed the High Atlas and reached Marrakech; you leave Marrakech, cross the Atlas and travel down the Draa to M'Hamid El Ghizlane, the last village, where the paved road ends. Beyond it, some fifty kilometres of track remain to Erg Chigaga.

Erg Chigaga is the most remote of Morocco's great dune fields. Its dunes rise to about sixty metres, lower than those of Erg Chebbi at Merzouga, but no road leads there: you arrive only by 4x4 (four-wheel-drive off-road vehicle), and the camps are scattered across the sand. That is what makes this trip worthwhile, and what makes it demanding: nine days, several of them long days on the road.

The pace alternates accordingly. Each long drive is followed by two nights in the same place: two in Skoura, two in M'Hamid, two in the dunes.

The drives

A driver covers the paved road, then the camp's 4x4 and driver take over on the track. The vehicle, the 4x4 and the camp nights come on top of the price shown.

The journey, landscape by landscape

The Atlas and the palm grove: days 1 to 3

Day 1, Marrakech. Marrakech-Menara airport is 6 km from La Mamounia, 10 minutes by car. Rooms are available from 3 pm, local time. If your flight lands early, the guided tour listed in this itinerary fills the day: about 4 hours, starting from the Café de France on Jemaa el-Fna, with the Bahia Palace, the Semmarine and El Attarine souks and the Ben Youssef Madrasa. Entry fees are extra: 100 dirhams for the Bahia, 50 for the madrasa. Otherwise, the tour fits on the last day, before your flight.

Day 2, the pass. The road crosses the High Atlas at the Tizi n'Tichka pass, 2,260 m, Morocco's highest road pass. In Ouarzazate, the film town, visit the Taourirt kasbah and the Cinema Museum before driving on to Skoura, about forty kilometres east.

Day 3, Skoura. Dar Ahlam occupies a kasbah in the palm grove, with 14 rooms and suites, no reception desk and no set menu: each meal is served in a different place, under a tree or by candlelight. Two nights match La Kasbah, the house's shortest stay, with its gardens, hammam and workshops. The palm grove covers nearly 25 km²; the 17th-century Amridil kasbah is partly open as a museum. Ait Ben Haddou lies the other way, north-west of Ouarzazate: it can be added to day 2 if you leave Marrakech early.

The Draa: days 4 and 5

Day 4, down the Draa. This is the longest day on the way out, about six hours at the wheel. The Draa is Morocco's longest river, and its valley forms a ribbon of oases nearly 200 km long, which the N9 road follows from Ouarzazate. Choose your stops along the way:

• Agdz, about 1 h 30 from Ouarzazate, and close by the ksar of Tamnougalt, former capital of the Mezguita Berbers, partly in ruins;
• Zagora, about 3 h from Ouarzazate, where the "Tombouctou 52 jours" sign recalls the caravan route;
• Tamegroute, some twenty kilometres south, with the library of its zawiya (a religious brotherhood and its shrine), which holds old Koranic manuscripts, and its potters with their green glaze.

M'Hamid is about 80 km south of Zagora. Dar Azawad stands in the palm grove, in the douar (hamlet) of Ouled Driss, about 400 m from the first dunes. Check-in is from 1.30 pm, local time.

Day 5, M'Hamid. A day off the road, before the track. The hotel has 15 rooms built of pisé (rammed earth) in a 3-hectare garden planted with acacias and date palms; from August to November, guests can join the date harvest. The heated pool and the two-room hammam, warm then hot, set you up for the nights in the sand. Erg Lihoudi, a small dune field 8 km north-east, is reached by 4x4 or dromedary for a first sunset.

The dunes: days 6 and 7

Day 6, the track. Erg Chigaga is about fifty kilometres of track west of M'Hamid. Dar Azawad, which runs both the hotel and several camps, organises the transfer. Four of its camps are in Erg Chigaga:

• Nomade Camp, in traditional Berber tents, with songs and tales around the fire;
• Aladdin, more comfortable, with a terrace in front of each tent;
• Le Sand, the best equipped: 8 large white tents with bathroom, toilet and king-size bed;
• Les Hommes Bleus, a private camp for a single group of up to six, with a gourmet table.

For a couple, Sabaro recommends Le Sand; for friends or a family, Les Hommes Bleus. Dar Azawad gives a 10% discount for two nights in the same camp.

Day 7, a full day in the erg. It is the reason for the second night. Sunrise from the nearest crest, a dromedary ride, a siesta in the shade at midday, sunset, then the night sky, far from any light. The programme ends there, and that is the point.

The way back: days 8 and 9

Day 8, the long drive north. This is the longest day of the trip: the track back to M'Hamid, then about 250 km to Ouarzazate and 194 km to Marrakech, nearly nine hours on paved road. You leave at dawn. In the evening, La Mamounia, its eight hectares of gardens, its 2,500 m² spa and its pools heated to 28 °C all year.

Day 9, departure. Rooms are vacated at noon, local time. With an evening flight, the morning leaves time for the guided medina tour, if you did not take it on day 1.

Three ways to lighten the trip

• Split the drive back. A night in Ouarzazate or Skoura on day 8, and the last night in Marrakech the next day. The trip becomes ten days.
• Fly home from Ouarzazate. Ouarzazate airport is a few hours' flight from Europe's main cities, direct or with one stop: arrive in Marrakech, leave from Ouarzazate, and skip the pass on the way back.
• Swap the M'Hamid nights. One night at Dar Azawad before the camp, one after, as in the house's standard stay: you recover from the sand at the hotel before the long drive.

Before you go

Season. For Erg Chigaga, it runs from October to April. Spring and autumn days are mild; summer is very hot, with an average July high of 38.8 °C in Ouarzazate and up to 45 °C in the Draa desert. In January the average low falls to 1.8 °C in Ouarzazate, and nights in the camps are very cold. In autumn, flies are a nuisance during the date harvest.

Calendar. The International Nomads Festival in M'Hamid takes place every spring, in early April in recent years; the Marathon des Sables, a self-supported foot race across the Sahara, runs from 2 to 12 April 2027 from Ouarzazate. Sabaro advises booking early for these dates.

Safety. The Deep South lies close to the southern border with Algeria. In the dunes, travel with the driver and the camp operator, on the tracks they know. Foreign ministries do not all give the same advice. Your country's advice:

Luggage. A warm jacket and hat for the nights, light long-sleeved clothes, a sun hat, sunglasses and closed shoes. A small bag for the two camp nights, the rest left in the vehicle.