Southern Morocco: The Sahara, The Coast & Marrakech
Experience Overview
Can’t choose which amazing Morocco experience to have? This epic trip means you don’t have to. You’ll hike through the Sahara to a desert oasis camp where you’ll stay overnight and watch the sun rise and set over towering dunes. Next, you’ll explore the markets of Marrakech and Agadir, learn about regional cuisine with a tanjia-making demonstration, and then visit the Ouzoud oasis and waterfall for a refreshing dip and a delicious lunch. Then, you’re off to the coast! You’ll sandboard on dunes and visit a Berber Village, visit the walled city of Essaouira and the ceramic market of Safi, before capping off your trip by kicking back on the beach at Oualidia.
Highlights
- Ride a 4x4 to a desert oasis to catch the sunset
- Take part in a multi-day food experience and preparation of "tanjia": a delicious local specialty
- Walk along Tamri beach before taking part in an exhilarating sandboarding experience on the nearby dunes
- Visit a Berber village for a bread making lesson with a local family.
Trip Details
Product Code: 1936
Tour Type: Small Group
Accommodation: Budget
Transport: Private vehicle, walking, 4x4.
Guide Language: English
Travel Styles:
Budget
Tour Operator:
G Adventures
Supplier Code: DCSC
Starts: Marrakech, Morocco
Finishes: Marrakech, Morocco
Duration: 12 days
Departures: Guaranteed
Physical Rating:
Average
Includes
Activities
- Your Discover Moment: Marrakech Your Foodie Moment: Tanjia Cooking Experience, Marrakech Your Foodie Moment: Local Lunch and Traditional Cooking Demonstration, Sidi Kaouki
- Visit to the Souk Lhad market
- Tamri Beach Sandboarding
- Bread making and lunch with a local family
- Visit to Essaouira
- A stop at Safi old town and pottery market
- Free time in Oualidia and Marrakech, Cooking class in Marrakech
- Food tasting in the medina
- Tea on terrace overlooking Jemaa El Fnaa
- Visit to Jardin Secret or Bahia Palace and Ben Yousset Medressa
- Local bakery stop for some moroccan bread
- Tanjia pots lunch
- Visit to Ouzoud, an oasis waterfall
- Dinner in Jamaa Fnaa Square food stall
- Film Studio visit in Ouarzazate
- Welcome Tea and bonfire at Erg Lihoudi desert camp
- A camel ride and 4x4 jeep excursion to desert oasis camp
- All transport between destinations and to/from included activities
Accommodation
- Hotels (6 nts), Traditional Riad (3 nts), Desert Camp (2 nts).
- 11 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 5 dinners
Transport
- Private vehicle, walking, 4x4.
Group Leader
- CEO (Chief Experience Officer) throughout.
Price
Price per person: (Double Occupancy) CAD $1,424 ($119 /day)
Itinerary
Day 1: Marrakech to Ouarzazate
Arrival Day. Make your way to the joining hotel for a brief welcome meeting before driving to Ouarzazate for an overnight stay at our accommodations there. Please arrive at the hotel meeting point before 2:30PM.
Please plan for your flight to arrive at the airport in Marrakech no later than 12:30PM.
Day 2: Ouarzazate to Erg Lihoudi Desert Camp
In the morning before leaving the group will explore the famous atlas film studios in Ourzazate and learn a bit about the film making in Morocco. Drive to Zagora and then to Mhamid. From there head out into the Sahara desert for two nights of camping under the stars. The walk will take about two hours and we will arrive at the camp around sunset. Enjoy a cup of tea and watch the colors change in the sky as the sun slips below the horizon.
From Ourzazate we drive to Zagora along rural roads. In Mhamid (Oulad Edriss) we meet the local crew and start the desert journey to Erg Lihoudi. Any luggage will be brought to camp by jeeps. Dinner will be served fireside.The camp is in Erg Lihoudi. Our camps will be comfortable, but still somewhat basic. You'll see some spectacular night skies.
Day 3: Erg Lihoudi Desert Camp to Rass Nkhal Oasis.
Wake up to a stunning sunrise, enjoy some breakfast at camp and then start the day. This is our second day of the Berber desert journey. Then you have a choice of walking or riding a camel to our lunch stop. Enjoy the sights and sounds of the Sahara as you travel like people have for millenniums. After lunch we'll enter the 21st century again and travel to the next desert camp by 4x4. Arrive at the oasis of Rass Nkhal to catch sunset before having dinner fireside with stories and music.
Day 4: Rass Nkhal Oasis to Skoura
After another sunrise out in the desert and some breakfast at camp the group will travel to Zagora by 4x4. Enjoy some free time to shower, freshen up, and relax by the hotel pool after our Sahara adventure. After lunch continue on to Skoura. Explore this oasis city famed for its date palms. Have dinner as a group in Skoura.
Day 5: Skoura/Marrakech
Travel back to Marrakech and enjoy free morning to see the city. In the afternoon the group will attend a cooking demonstration and learn how to make tanjia, a different form of tagine.
We'll make the dish and seal it in the clay pot to cook overnight in the hamman. Then, explore the various food vendors in the Medina with your CEO and learn about the different ingredients. End the day with evening tea on the rooftop terrace overlooking the main square of Jemaa El Fnaa.
Day 6: Marrakech
Visit the important sites within the medina this morning. Make stops to Jardin Secret and Bahia Palace. End the morning adventure with a trip to the bakery to learn a brief introduction into Moroccan bread making, then have a taste.
Collect your tanjia lunch on the way back to the Riad. Enjoy your own cooking as lunch on the terrace. The afternoon and evening are free for you to explore Marrakech on your own. Don't miss a chance to visit Jardins Majorelle with their vibrant blue garden houses and thriving plants.
Day 7: Marrakech
Set out on a full day excursion to Ouzoud, a beautiful oasis waterfall near the Atlas Mountains. Walk up the stairs to the top of the falls and enjoy breathtaking views of the flowing water. After a delicious lunch right near the falls the group will travel back to Marrakech. Enjoy a local dinner in the heart of Jamee Lafna Square.
Day 8: Marrakech/Agadir
Take advantage of a free morning in Marrakech to do some walking around and maybe shop in the medina for spices and Moroccan pottery. Depart for Agadir in the early afternoon. Upon arrival, visit Souk Lhad, the local market and have dinner on your own from one of the many food stalls.
Day 9: Agadir/Sidi Kaouki
Today we go local. Drive to Sidi Kaoukki and walk along Tamri beach to take in the views of the shoreline and rock formations before an exhilerating sandboarding experience on the nearby towering dunes. Finish the journey to Sidi Kaouki for lunch and take part in a cooking class with a local family. After lunch, have tea on the terrace and end the day with free time to simply go for a walk along the beautiful waterfront of this small fishing town or stroll down the beach and search for the perfect place to watch sunset.
Day 10: Sidi Kaouki/Oualidia
Travel to Oualidia today with a few stops en route. First up is Essaouira for a visit to this historic walled city. Spend time in the old city and oldest international port city in Morocco. Choose to grab some lunch or visit the beach and sample some of the fresh fish dishes prepared by the local food stalls along the water. Then continue further north to Safi, famous for having the largest pottery market in Morocco. See the old town and the Ceramic Market. You'll arrive in Oualidia in the evening.
Day 11: Oualidia
Enjoy a full free day in Oualidia. Here the beach is beautiful and there's a lagoon that allows for a more quiet area for swimming away from the surf. Later in the day choose to go to the OSTREA oyster farm for a farewell dinner overlooking the beach. In the evening if the weather is permits, the group will enjoy the sunset.
Day 12: Oualidia/Marrakech
After breakfast transfer back to Marrakech, about three hours from Ouilidia, arriving around 12pm. The tour ends on arrival to the airport or at the Marrakech hotel for those have booked post-tour nights.
Please do not book departing flights any earlier than 4PM.
Similar Tours
Tour Operator
G Adventures
G Adventures is an operator of small-group escorted tours. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with 28 offices worldwide. It offers more than 700 itineraries in more than 100 countries, and carries 200,000 travelers from 160 countries each year.
In Business Since 1990
Reviews
Kevin L. - Traveled, December 2023
Fantastic experience, good cost and flexibility. Attentive staff
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 12/28/2023
Ding D. - Traveled, November 2023
The trip was well organized, everyone on this trip loved their experience. Most importantly, our CEO, Abrahim is just amazing! He made this trip so unforgettable for all of us!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 12/07/2023
Anett K. - Traveled, November 2023
The tour was well organized, and met the things I was expecting prior, and the CEO was amazing the whole way which made my experience 10*
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 12/07/2023
Sarah M. - Traveled, November 2023
We had a great time and memories we will have for a lifetime
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/30/2023
Ian B. - Traveled, November 2023
All the tours I've done with G have been good, but I feel that sometimes there's a lack of thought in some areas.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/30/2023
Jane S. - Traveled, October 2023
Because the experience was great better than I expected Said was amazing and went out of his way to ensure that we were all happy and looked after
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/30/2023
Clare K. - Traveled, October 2023
The CEO, Saaid, was amazing
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/30/2023
Cheryl K. - Traveled, September 2023
some Hotels did not have hot water The food was bland and the same Too long on buses Very cold camping at night
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/30/2023
Catherine S. - Traveled, September 2023
Generally the activities undertaken were great, but far too much time was taken driving around (it felt like the second half of the trip was just driving and sleeping) and the hotels and food weren't good enough
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/30/2023
Jacqueline P. - Traveled, October 2023
The trip is mostly for younger people or people not expecting nightly comforts.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/30/2023
Christine F. - Traveled, October 2023
Loved seeing so much of Morocco
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/23/2023
Eva K. - Traveled, October 2023
The overall trip was very good! Karim, our guide was amazing! Some over night stays like the 2nd night camping in the desert was very poor! Expecting 2 grown elderly women to spend a night together in a pup tent was ridiculous.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/23/2023
Manuela F. - Traveled, October 2023
Great combination and options of tours. Always a great mixture.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/23/2023
Deborah G. - Traveled, October 2023
Beautiful trip and CEO but description of tour for our desert experience was deceiving
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/23/2023
Dana S. - Traveled, October 2023
Activity and location diversity.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/16/2023
Carina S. - Traveled, October 2023
Balance between group experience and Individual activities
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/16/2023
Frazer S. - Traveled, October 2023
Amazing experience. Some of my friends would not like camping in the desert
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/16/2023
Hal S. - Traveled, October 2023
Having traveled with a few service providers we like the overall style of travel and level of accommodation and level of fitness we are able to choose with G Adventures. Specifically with this trip we had a good schedule that worked relatively well, I'll share a few thoughts on that later, and had a superb CEO in Said.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/16/2023
Rhiannon D. - Traveled, October 2023
Very well run tour, fantastic value for money
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/16/2023
Richard B. - Traveled, October 2023
G Adventures are excellent but are not appropriate for many of my family members, mostly because of age or disabilities
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/09/2023
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