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A winding road between dense palm groves and bare mountains in the Draa valley near Agdz

Sample journey · 9–11 days

Beyond the Atlas: pink granite, saffron and the Draa oases

Taliouine, Tafraoute, Erg Chigaga & the Draa valley

Photo: Desert Morocco Adventure / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

The classic road to the Sahara from Marrakech crosses the Tizi n'Tichka to the Dades and Todra gorges and ends at Merzouga. This route goes elsewhere. Over the Tizi n'Test pass it drops into the Souss valley, then climbs into the Anti-Atlas, older and drier mountains where saffron grows in small terraced plots and villages cling to pink granite. Beyond lie Tata and a string of oases where water from the hills still feeds the date palms, and a long 4×4 crossing over a dry lake bed to the dunes of Erg Chigaga.

The way back follows the Draa valley: past the mud-vaulted lanes and pottery kilns of Tamegroute, Zagora and kasbahs among the palm groves, to Ouarzazate and over the High Atlas to Marrakech. It suits travellers who enjoy the road for its own sake: some days mean five or six hours in the car, the desert night is spent in a simple camp, and most stays are small guesthouses and kasbahs. You travel with a private driver, and on the desert stretch with an experienced local 4×4 driver.

The route

The journey

  1. Marrakech
  2. The Tizi n'Test pass
  3. Taliouine
  4. Tafraoute & the Ammeln valley
  5. Tata
  6. Foum Zguid
  7. Erg Chigaga
  8. The Draa valley: Tamegroute & Zagora
  9. Ouarzazate & Marrakech
  1. A row of red-brick arches forming a long corridor in the Tinmel mosque in the High Atlas

    01Days 1–3 · Marrakech, the Tizi n'Test & Taliouine

    Over the pass to saffron country

    The first night is in a riad in Marrakech's medina, leaving time after the flight for an evening on the roof terrace. In the morning the road climbs into the High Atlas: through the Nfis valley and past Tinmel, whose 12th-century mosque is being restored after the 2023 earthquake, to the Tizi n'Test pass at roughly 2,100 m. It's one of Morocco's great mountain roads, narrow and winding, with the whole Souss plain below. Down the far side you turn east to Taliouine beneath the Siroua massif, where saffron grows in small plots. It's a long day, about five or six hours with stops. In the evening, a saffron cooperative where the women explain how each flower yields three red threads. Travel in late October or November and you may see the harvest itself at dawn.

  2. The silhouette of a walker on a summit above Anti-Atlas ridges fading into haze near Tafraoute

    02Days 3–6 · Tafraoute & the Ammeln valley

    A granite valley and almond villages

    About four hours west through Igherm lies Tafraoute, a small town in a bowl of pink granite boulders. You stay three nights, because this is country to know on foot. In the Ammeln valley the villages line up beneath Jbel Lekst: the old stone houses higher up, newer ones below among argan and almond trees. With a local guide you walk village to village along terrace paths, stop at an old granary or a house museum, and have lunch with a family. Another day brings the pink rocks and painted boulders outside town, the Aït Mansour gorge with its ribbon of palms between rock walls, or ancient engravings on the stones. In February the valley is often in almond blossom, and the light on the granite at sunset makes it hard to want to be anywhere else.

  3. Two men in turbans, seen from behind, pointing towards the great dunes of Erg Chigaga in the Moroccan desert

    03Days 6–9 · Tata, Foum Zguid & Erg Chigaga

    The oasis road to the dunes

    From Tafraoute the road drops south to the foot of the Anti-Atlas and the chain of oases along the desert's edge. A night in Tata, a town of palm groves and old ksour, then on in the morning to Foum Zguid and the end of the tarmac. From here it's 4×4 with a local driver: roughly three to four hours on gravel tracks and across the dry bed of Lake Iriki, where the horizon goes perfectly flat. Erg Chigaga lies far from any paved road, so it's quieter than the better-known dunes. Two nights in camp: mornings climbing a sand ridge before sunrise, days resting in the shade, evenings around a fire under a sky where the Milky Way is plain to the naked eye. Camps range from simple Berber tents to roomier ones with a private shower; we would choose the one that suits you.

  4. Mud-brick houses and kasbah ruins among dense palms in the oasis of Tamnougalt in the Draa valley

    04Days 9–10 · The Draa valley

    A ribbon of palms and a library of manuscripts

    From the dunes it's about two hours by 4×4 to M'Hamid and the start of the tarmac, then north along the Draa. The first stop is Tamegroute: in the old part of the village the lanes run beneath mud vaults, potters fire green-glazed ware, and the zawiya library keeps old Qur'ans and scholarly manuscripts. Lunch in Zagora and a short walk in the palm grove. The last stretch follows the valley, where a green belt of date palms and a brown wall of mountains run side by side for a hundred kilometres. The night is in a kasbah near Agdz, at Tamnougalt for instance, where the old ksar stands above the palms. In the evening, walk the paths along the irrigation channels as farmers come back from the fields.

  5. A mud-brick kasbah beside the water on a broad valley floor, on the back road near Telouet

    05Days 10–11 · Ouarzazate, Telouet & Marrakech

    Back over the High Atlas

    About an hour and a half to Ouarzazate, then the Tizi n'Tichka pass and the road to Marrakech, five or six hours in all. For a quieter road, turn up the Ounila valley past old ksour to the kasbah of Telouet, once the seat of powerful mountain lords, and rejoin the main road there. The last evening is back in Marrakech's medina: a hammam after the desert dust, dinner on a roof and, if you still have the energy, Jemaa el-Fna as the smoke rises from the food stalls. The next morning, the flight home or, with more time, a few days by the Atlantic in Essaouira.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Saffron beneath Jbel Siroua

    A cooperative in Taliouine and, in autumn, the harvest gathered at dawn.

  2. 02

    The Ammeln valley on foot

    Terrace paths between villages beneath Jbel Lekst, and lunch in a family home.

  3. 03

    Two nights at Erg Chigaga

    The crossing of a dry lake, sunrise on a dune ridge and a silent desert sky.

  4. 04

    Tamegroute

    Lanes beneath mud vaults, green pottery and a library of old manuscripts.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • At a gentler pace

    An extra night in Taliouine or Tata halves the longest days, and a third night in the Draa valley leaves time for walks in the oases.

  • More walking

    The Anti-Atlas suits several days of walking in a row: from the Ammeln valley along the flanks of Jbel Lekst, or in the Siroua massif with mules and a local guide.

  • Choosing the season

    February's almond blossom, the October–November saffron or calm spring days: we would choose the month around what matters most to you.

  • With the Atlantic coast

    Tafraoute is only a few hours from the Atlantic, so the journey can carry on to Taroudant or Essaouira and end by the ocean.

Practical considerations

  • The best time is roughly October to April. Summer in the south, and above all in the desert, is often fiercely hot, so we don't suggest this route then; in winter, nights in the desert and on the passes are cold, with occasional snow on the passes.
  • The journey is planned with a private driver: roads are mostly good but narrow and winding in the mountains, so we allow more time than the map suggests. The stretch between Foum Zguid, Erg Chigaga and M'Hamid is 4×4 only, with a local driver.
  • Desert camps vary a great deal; before you travel we check the camp, its comforts and which track to it is open at the time.
  • Mountain roads change after the 2023 earthquake and after heavy rain, so we check the Tizi n'Test and back roads, and current travel advice, before you travel.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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