15-Day Morocco Tour from Tanger: Erg Chegaga & Todgha Gorges

The historical day. We come down out of the Rif to the Roman city at Volubilis, then on to Meknes and its imperial gates, arriving in Fez in the evening. Around five hours of driving across a full day of stops.

• Morning departure from Chefchaouen
• Descent through the Rif to the Sais plain
• Volubilis, the Roman provincial capital, with its mosaics still in place
• Moulay Idriss, the hill town above the ruins
• Lunch in Meknes
• Bab Mansour and the imperial walls
• Arrival in Fez in the evening

Overnight in Fez.

Fez el Bali is the largest car-free urban area in the world and the oldest of the imperial capitals. A full day is the least it takes to get any sense of it, and most of that day is on foot.

• Morning in Fez el Bali, entering by Bab Boujloud
• The Chouara tanneries, seen from the terraces above
• Al Quaraouiyine, founded in 859 and still in use
• The Bou Inania medersa and its carved cedar screens
• Lunch in the medina
• The souks by trade: coppersmiths, dyers, weavers
• Afternoon at the Merenid tombs for the view over the city

Overnight in Fez.

A long day that crosses three landscapes in one run: cedar forest, high plateau, and the Ziz valley cutting south toward the desert. Around eight hours on the road with stops, timed so the camels leave before sunset.

• Ifrane, the Middle Atlas hill town built in Alpine style
• Cedar forest at Azrou, where Barbary macaques come down to the roadside
• Lunch at Midelt, between the Middle and High Atlas
• The Ziz gorges and the long palm oasis below Er Rachidia
• Erfoud and the road out to Merzouga
• Camel trek into Erg Chebbi in the late afternoon
• Dinner and drumming at camp

Overnight in a desert camp at Erg Chebbi.

The day the itinerary makes room for. With no transfer to drive, the desert opens up past the dune crest: nomad families still working the hamada, the Gnawa village at Khamlia, and the dry lake north of the erg.

• Sunrise over the dunes, then breakfast at camp
• Camel trek back to Merzouga
• 4x4 circuit around the erg
• Khamlia, the Gnawa village, for a session of their music
• Visit to a nomad family living out on the hamada
• Dayet Srji, the dry lake where flamingos gather after rain
• Afternoon at leisure, or sunset from the dune crest

Overnight in Merzouga.

A moderate day west along the edge of the pre-Sahara, ending where the Todgha river cuts through the High Atlas. Around four hours of driving with a long stop at the gorge.

• Morning departure from Merzouga
• Rissani and its souk, on the site of Sijilmassa
• West across the hamada by Tinejdad
• The Todgha Gorges, where the cliffs close to a few hundred metres apart
• Lunch in Tinghir
• The palm oasis strung along the valley floor
• Afternoon into the Dades gorge and its switchback road

Overnight in the Dades Valley.

West along the old kasbah road, running it in reverse of the way most itineraries do, with the afternoon at Ait Ben Haddou. Around three hours of driving.

• Morning walk in the Dades gorge
• Kelaat M'Gouna and the Valley of Roses
• The Skoura palm oasis and the Amridil Kasbah
• Lunch en route
• Ouarzazate and the Taourirt Kasbah
• Ait Ben Haddou, the UNESCO-listed ksar
• Time to walk up through the kasbahs to the granary at the summit

Overnight in Ouarzazate.

South over the Tizi n'Tinififft and down into the Draa, where the palm groves run more or less unbroken for a hundred kilometres. Around four hours of driving.

• Morning departure from Ouarzazate
• The Tizi n'Tinififft pass and the first view south over the valley
• Agdz, below the Jbel Kissane
• The Draa palm groves and the kasbahs along the riverbank
• Lunch en route
• Tamnougalt and its ruined earthen quarter
• Afternoon arrival in Zagora

Overnight in Zagora.

South to the end of the tarmac. Tamegroute holds a Koranic library of manuscripts going back to the thirteenth century and a pottery quarter still working its green glaze. Beyond M'Hamid the road stops, and the last stretch to Chegaga is by 4x4 across open desert.

• Morning at the Tamegroute library and its manuscripts
• The pottery kilns and their green glaze
• South through the Draa to M'Hamid, where the tarmac ends
• Lunch in M'Hamid
• Transfer to 4x4 for the crossing to Erg Chegaga
• Around two hours across reg and low dunes
• Erg Chegaga, the larger and emptier of Morocco's two great ergs
• Sunset from the dune crest, then dinner at camp

Overnight in a desert camp at Erg Chegaga.

A desert crossing most itineraries never take: west by 4x4 over the dry bed of Lake Iriqui to Foum Zguid, then north-west across the plateau to the walled town of Taroudant. Around seven hours, a good part off-road.

• Sunrise over Erg Chegaga
• 4x4 west across the Iriqui basin, a dry lake bed
• Watch for gazelle and desert larks out on the reg
• Foum Zguid and the return to tarmac
• Lunch in Foum Zguid
• West by Tazenakht and Taliouine, the saffron country
• Late afternoon arrival at Taroudant

Overnight in Taroudant, inside the red earth walls.

West through the argan groves to the Atlantic, then north along the coast road. Around four and a half hours with stops.

• Morning on the ramparts at Taroudant
• West down the Souss valley through the argan groves
• The coast at Agadir, then north past Taghazout
• Lunch at a fishing village on the coast road
• The cliffs and the surf beaches north of Tamri
• Goats grazing up in the argan branches along the roadside
• Late afternoon arrival in Essaouira

Overnight in Essaouira.

North up the coast, a road most itineraries skip, past the Portuguese cistern at El Jadida. Around five hours of driving with stops.

• Morning departure from Essaouira
• North along the Atlantic through Safi
• The pottery quarter at Safi and its hillside kilns
• Lunch on the coast
• El Jadida and the Portuguese cistern beneath the old town
• The ramparts of the Cite Portugaise
• Evening arrival in Casablanca

Overnight in Casablanca.

A gentle day. The morning in Casablanca, then an hour up the coast to the capital with the afternoon there.

• The Hassan II Mosque, built out over the Atlantic
• The Habous quarter and its arcaded streets
• Place Mohammed V and the downtown Art Deco quarter
• Lunch on the corniche
• The coast road north through Mohammedia
• The Kasbah of the Udayas above the river mouth
• The Hassan Tower and the Chellah necropolis

Overnight in Rabat.

A gentle day up the coast, with the afternoon at Asilah, whose ramparts are repainted by artists each summer. Around two and a half hours of driving.

• Morning in Rabat, or an early departure north
• The coast road through Kenitra
• Lixus, the Phoenician and Roman site above Larache
• Lunch in Larache
• Asilah and its painted ramparts
• The whitewashed medina above the sea

Overnight in Asilah.

A short last morning up the coast, with the cape where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic before the drop-off.

• Morning departure north from Asilah
• The Atlantic coast road
• Cap Spartel, where the two seas meet
• The Caves of Hercules below the cape
• Lunch in Tanger
• The medina and the Kasbah

Afternoon drop-off in Tanger.