Atlas and Desert Tour Combined
This adventure is for people who want a memorable Morocco trek that combines both the Atlas mountains and the Sahara Desert.
Private Atlas and Desert Tour Treks
Minimum of 2 adults required for all private treks. Children under 10 years old can join private treks for 50% of the adult price.
Shared Atlas and Desert Tour Treks (see the date picker above)
The shared Atlas and Desert Tour treks enable you to join an existing group. A minimum of 2 people are required for a shared Atlas and Desert Tour trek to operate on each date. If more people book the shared trek for the same date, then you will receive a discount. We operate the shared treks on set days each month. If you don’t find the date that you require, you can ask us to start a new shared trek for a date that suits you. Get in touch here if you’d like to know more. The prices will depend upon how many people also book the same date.
The booking system is secure and we never get to see your card or payment details. You complete your reservation via our online booking partner. Our online booking partner operates the booking system securely and is available to help you with your planning for your trek and any questions that you may have.
Overview
This tour combines a trek to the summit of Mount Toubkal with a Sahara Desert tour on camels to a Berber camp. Here we will all sleep under the desert stars.
Early in the morning we’ll transfer from Marrakech to Agersioual and meet the team for your Morocco trek. There will be a guide, a cook, muleteers and their mules to meet.
Our first day will be an acclimatization trek in the Ouirgane National Park. The terrain here is gentler with copper green soil and juniper trees.
We’ll stay the night in a gite in the Berber village of Tizian.
Approximately 4-5 hrs walking time.
After breakfast we’ll head up and out of our valley and traverse over to the stunning Azzaden Valley.
The views open up with a rushing mountain stream surrounded by lush walnut groves leading up towards Mount Toubkal and her sister peaks.
We’ll spend our night in a village gite or camping.
Approximately 7 hours walking.
Today will involve a fairly stiff climb out of the Azzadene Valley to the Toubkal Refuge. We’ll head past the Ighouliden waterfalls and over to the Aguelzim mountain pass at 3560m.
We can have our lunch while we take in the spectacular views over the Atlas mountain range.
Later, we’ll spend the night the Toubkal Refuge (Neltner Hut) at 3200m where you’ll likely be sharing a bunk room with other trekkers. Everyone should get an early night so we’re all ready to tackle Toubkal early the next morning.
Approximately 7 hours walking.
We will be up early for the climb up to the peak of Toubkal (4167m) from where, clouds allowing, we’ll have wonderful views over the Atlas range and the Sahara Desert then a long way back down past the refuge and onto the well-worn path back to Imlil.
This is a fairly long day with 8-9 hours of trekking, involving 900m up then almost 2500m back down to Imlil!
When you get back for a well-earned rest in Imlil, you’ll spend the night at the comfortable and well-equipped Dar Oussagou guesthouse.
You will be picked up from your accommodation in Imlil at 9.00am. We will then head out over the Atlas mountains, driving over the stunning Tizi-n-Tichka mountain pass.
You’ll pass through lots of Berber villages, and once you’re in the desert, you’ll see riverside oases and barren hillsides dotted with kasbahs (fortified dwellings that house families and their livestock).
Along the way, you will have the option either to take a break and visit the Ouarzazate Film Studios or stop for a hike. Once you reach Dades Gorge, you have the option of going for a hike, or relaxing at your hotel. We’ll spend our night in Dades.
Approximately 4-5 hours of driving.
After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll transfer from the Dades Valley to Todra Gorge – a massive fault dividing the High Atlas mountains, rising up 300 meters in a narrow valley with palmeries and Berber villages. Here, you can go for a hike to explore the palmery, a green oasis full of large date palms. After lunch you’ll head further into the desert to the gateway town of Merzouga to pick up supplies for your desert trip. You will then drive on to a kasbah to pick up your camel. At sunset, you’ll trek for an hour-and-a-half by camel to a Berber camp where you will enjoy a traditional Moroccan dinner, and sleep under the stars or in tents at a desert camp.
Approximately 3-4 hours of driving.
Wake to a desert sunrise and then return to the kasbah by camel. You will then have a chance to freshen up and enjoy a breakfast.
Once you are refreshed, you will head out of the desert for a drive to Ait Benhaddou. This is an ancient fortified city containing countless kasbahs and has been the atmospheric subject of numerous hollywood movies (The Mummy, Gladiator, Alexander, Lawrence of Arabia…) You will have the chance to walk around the buildings and explore with your guide.
You will spend the night in a hotel close to Ait Benhaddou.
Approximately 5-6 hours of driving,
Travel along the Ounilla Valley to the Telouet Kasbah, a crumbling kasbah that was once an important stop for traders. Explore the Kasbah and then after lunch, you will head back over the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass to Marrakech.
Approximately 2-3 hous of driving.
Includes
- During the Mountains trek: - Pick up from Marrakech to the starting point of the trek - Qualified mountain guide, muleteers and cook - Accommodation in Guesthouse, Gites, Mountain hut, Berber homes & Bivouac - Mules for luggage
- During Desert Tour: - Transport from High Atlas & Desert to Marrakech
- - English speaking driver
- - Two nights at the hotels
- - One night in a berber tent - Two hours camel riding to see the sunset & sunrise
Doesn't include
- Drinks
- Sleeping Bags
- Lunches during the desert tour (3 days)
- Entrance fees