You will be picked up at the airport and drive to the city center. Check-in at to your riad in the medina. Riad Pachavana is planned for your stay in the red city. Free time for sightseeing depending on your arrival time.

Accommodation:

• Comfort: RIAD PACHAVANA

Morning guided tour of Marrakech, your driver will pick you up from your hotel towards the old Medina where your official guide will be waiting for you. Start with the most beautiful palaces and monuments in Marrakech, the Bahia Palace. Built at the end of the 19th century, the name literally means "brilliance". You will also visit the Koutoubia Mosque (exterior) with its remarkable minaret, a major attraction for visitors to Marrakech. Enter one of the historic gates of the old Medina and walk to discover the medieval way of life of its inhabitants and their daily occupations. Discover the hidden quarters and the historic caravanserai called Fondouks once used as hotels for caravanners. Visit the souks and Jamaâ El Fna Square, a veritable open-air theater, which always amazes its visitors.

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Comfort: RIAD PACHAVANA

Leave the busy city behind as you head for the desert. This journey takes you up and over the High Atlas. You can often see the highest peak, Mount Toubkal 13,671 feet (4,167m), on a clear day. The Berbers (the Mountain People) live here; to see their villages and to observe their everyday farmland and village activities is fascinating. Their traditional mud-brick homes are seen plus the rapid, recent change to concrete construction. Taddert is en route, an ideal stop for refreshment. Here you can make a quick stop at a local Argan Oil Co-operative, where you can see the process and taste a sample of the oil. (an example of rural development to help ladies gain income). The N9 road continues to snake upwards to the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass (7,415ft, 2,260m), the watershed of the High Atlas. From near to here great panoramic views can be seen, over the mountain range and the road recently traveled. You can see places where they are changing the road to make the drive less curvey. As you descend the pass you will notice the climate as it becomes drier toward Ouarzazate, a town growing rapidly due to the movie industry. Here you have an option to tour one of the 2 movie studios if you like, including an up-close look at some props and sets. The nearby regions have been featured in many movies, portraying landscapes all over the desert, Africa, and the middle east.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Comfort: Riad Dar Chamaa

Departure for the Zagora palm grove via the Drâa val-ley and its magnificent decoration of ksour (strong-holds) in adobe and palm groves. Excursion to Tamegroute, a religious center known for its collec-tion of illuminated manuscripts (subject to change); walk in the covered streets of the vil-lage. In Zagora, visit of the Museum of Arts and Tra-ditions: discovery of Berber culture and the desert.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Comfort: Riad Lamane

In the morning, drive to the foot of the Jebel Rahrt, Sarhro (2,559 m above sea level) and Ougnat, passing through the towns of Tazzarine and Alnif. Arrival in Rissani (in Tafilalet), ancient fortified city and cradle of the Alaouite dynasty: beautiful door, view-point on the mosque, mausoleum of Moulay Ali Che-rif. Reach the desert dunes of Erg Chebbi, take a short break near Merzouga for a camel ride through the dunes; you'll arrive at camp just before sunset. Climb up the nearest sand dune to watch the colorful display on the sand sea as the sun dips in the west, then head back to camp for dinner, followed by an evening of traditional Berber music by your campfire. Before you head to bed, take a look at the expansive night sky, then turn in for the night in your tradi-tional Bedouin tent.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Accommodation:

• Comfort: Tiziri Camp

As you leave the Merzouga region, stop in Rissani, another market town with a most impressive gate at the entrance into town. It is a good place to take a walk around a traditional market, especially on mar-ket days when many animals are bought and sold. Route offering beautiful views of the region and the khettara (irrigation systems). In Lalla Mimouna, visit of the Sources museum for an overview of Berber culture. Upon entering, the visitor is invited by a harmonious progression of the place, to browse from aisle to aisle all that is representative of local history and of both Berber and nomadic life in gen-eral. Let yourself be guided along the signposted route while inhaling the scents of the groves of Ibiscus, laurels or bougainvilleas planted by the owner of the place. A great lover of maxims and an attentive calligrapher, Zaïd collects all kinds of enlightened quotes on water. They appropriately dot the various stops along this pilgrimage evocative of a return to basics. Reach the the village of Tin-erhir, former ksar of the Todra valley, neighbor of the old kasbah of Glaoui. Excursion to the spectacu-lar Todra Gorge (free walk). Continue to the mountain town of Boumalen Dades for overnight.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Comfort: Dades Xaluca Hotel

Morning drive through the road of Thaousand Kasbah, time to explore the city of Qelaat Mgouna , a small town located between Ouarzazate and the Sahara Desert and capital of the valley of roses. If you visit during the first week in May, you can observe the annual rose festival There is never a set date for the festival as it depends on the harvest season. Expect a lot of local Berber musicians playing traditional instruments and dancing. Continue towards Ouarzazate, which was in the past the point of commercial and cultural encounters between different peoples of the North and South of the African continent. Visit of Aït Benhaddou, the most famous Kasbah in Morocco and a UNESCO world heritage site, it has been featured in many movies, portraying landscapes all over the desert, Africa, and the middle east. Some popular film credits include Lawrence of Arabia, The Last Temptation of Christ, Alexander, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Prometheus, American Sniper, and Game of Thrones.. People believe that the old ksar dates from the 11th century when it held an important position along the trans-Saharan trade route between Marrakech, Ouarzazate, and the southern desert. Overnight in Ait Benhaddou.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Comfort: Riad Maktoub

Route via the Tichka pass (2260 m altitude) to Marra-kech, the former Moroccan capital, which deploys its ramparts facing the snows of the Atlas. Upon arrival, free sightseeing in the Medina: famous minaret of Koutoubia, witness of Hispano-Moorish art; alleys of the Medina, Djemaa el-Fna square, a real open-air “theater”.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Comfort: RIAD PACHAVANA

Depending on your flight schedule, free time for sightseeing in Marrakech then transfer from the hotel to Marrakech airport

Meals: Breakfast