The other side of The Atlas / 4 Days Circuit through the Sahara Desert

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The other side of the atlas

Number of nights
3
Departure
time
08:00
Return
time
18:00
Meeting
place
Hotel
Maximum number
16

This circuit for destination the desert of Merzouga is designed for people who don't want to do a lot of road and their objective is to discover quite deeply this region which is on the other side of the Atlas which endows with a cultural richness and very important heritage in addition to beautiful landscapes...

Day 1 - 330 km:

The road to Merzouga is done through Boumalne Dades which is the first stage of this circuit towards the large dunes. After a 2 hour drive in the High Atlas Mountains, you make a stop in the Tizi N'Tichka pass, it is one of the highest peaks in the Atlas with 2,260 meters in height, then you continue directly towards Ouarzazate city where you will visit the Kasbah of Taourirt, a 17th century kasbah built in the form of a labyrinth to ensure the protection of the Pasha and the caravans passing through Ouarzazate.

After lunch in Ouarzazate, you take the bus back to the palm grove of Skoura where you will visit its famous Kasbah Amerhidil and take a walk in its beautiful Oasis accompanied by a villager who takes you between its palm trees and makes you discover life Berbers from this Atlas region. He will talk to you about their ways of life, their customs and the nature of the work that is done in the palm grove by making a demonstration... Transfer to Boumalne Dades where you will spend the night in a guest house with dinner and breakfast are included.

Day 2 - 270 km:

On this morning and after breakfast, you take the road of the thousand kasbahs to the famous Dades gorges, then you continue to Tinghir where lunch is provided with the possibility of visiting the majestic Todra gorges.

After lunch, you go directly to the village of Merzouga which you must reach in the end of afternoon. Once you arrive, you will change the bus by 4x4 off-road cars that you will use on the tracks that lead to the bivouac where you spend the night in tents at the foot of the sand dunes.

Once you arrive in Merzouga, and after a few kilometers on the track, you reach the hostel from where you start a 30-minute camel ride. Night in the bivouac in a tent at the foot of the sand dunes.

In the evening, after watching the sunset and after dinner in a tent or under the stars, the Tuaregs from the bivouac will host a little tamtam show around a campfire.

Day 3 - 400 km:

Breakfast will be served after sunrise, then you then take the direction of Erfoud, located 60 km to the north in a region known geologically as the most mysterious region on our planet, according to several international researches and important scientific discoveries, Erfoud is located in the heart of an ancient valley which knew the existence of a marine fauna of the most ferocious dinosaurs and which dates back more than 560 million years.

Today's program is to discover a fossil quarry where you will inspect the traces of these dinosaurs as well as beautiful rock engravings which reveal the presence of man in the Bronze Age in this region, then a workshop for the extraction and polishing of fossils to assist in the different stages of this work.

You continue later to the hotel in Ouarzazate making a stop in the town of Alnif for lunch. Free time and overnight at the hotel in Ouarzazate.

Day 4 - 200 km:

After breakfast, we offer a visit to the famous Ouarzazate Cinema Studios, then you continue to Kasbah Ait Ben-Haddou declared as international heritage of humanity by UNESCO to discover it and carry out a guided immersion between its alleys.

Lunch in Ait Ben-Haddou village then drive to Marrakech.

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This circuit is proposed with drivers speaking different languages (French or Spanish or English), you can choose the desired language when confirming your reservation. To improve the content of this circuit, a guide is strongly recommended who will give you more explanations and information and will lead you to the different sites that you are going to visit except in the cinema studio where the visits are made with a guide from the studio against a tip.

All the services included in this product are mentioned below:

Air-conditioned and comfortable tourist bus throughout the circuit
Professional and responsible driver
Pick up from your hotel or from Jamaa el Fna Square or the nearest place to your riad
Walk in an oasis between palm trees with a villager
Night in a riad in Boumalne Dades
Visit of the gorges of Dades and Todra
Dromedary ride in Merzouga
Overnight in a nomadic bivouac with shared sanitary facilities
Visit to a fossil workshop
Overnight at hotel in Ouarzazate
Guided tour of Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou (local guide)
Dinner and breakfast in all the accommodation offered
Round trip transfer from Marrakech airport to the hotel in Marrakech
In case of choosing a rental car, fuel will not be included

Below are the pricing tables of all the services proposed in this product:

Price per adults

1 Person

615,00 €

2 Persons

310,00 €

3 Persons

210,00 €

4 Persons

155,00 €

5 Persons

125,00 €

6 Persons

105,00 €

7 Persons and more

95,00 €

Children's conditions

Children free

Children free with "Shared tour"

Discount per child

-0%

Discount after 7 pers.

-35%

*They are not applied on children if they benefit from a reduced rate.
*They are not applied on accommodation.

3 star hotels

Single room 155,00 €

Double room 220,00 €

Triple room 330,00 €

Triple child room 300,00 €

4 star hotels

Single room 240,00 €

Double room 330,00 €

Triple room 490,00 €

Triple child room 435,00 €

5 star hotels

Single room 365,00 €

Double room 520,00 €

Triple room 760,00 €

Triple child room 655,00 €

"Shared Tour" option Table

1 Person

-45%

2 Persons

-30%

3 Persons

-20%

4 Persons

-10%

5 Persons

-5%

6 Persons

-5%

7 Persons and more

-10%

Children policy 60 Days

Guides rates

Guide EN440.00 €

Guide FR440.00 €

Guide ES440.00 €

Guide IT440.00 €

Guide PO440.00 €

Car rental rates

Dacia Logan or equiv. ( 4 p ) -275.00 €

Renault Clio Manual or equiv. ( 4 p ) -240.00 €

Dacia Duster Manual or equiv. ( 4 p ) -210.00 €

Renault Kajdar Manual or equiv. ( 4 p ) -125.00 €

Toyota Prado TX Manual or equiv. ( 5 p ) +110.00 €

Vehicle rates

Toyota Prado TX or equiv. ( 5 p ) +50.00 €

Mercedes Vito or equiv. ( 6 p ) +60.00 €

Below are the hotels included in each destination by category, in the case of unavailability of one of the hotels mentioned in the program, MY MARRAKECH TOURS undertakes to offer you hotels similar or superior to the chosen category.

Category 3 stars:

Boumalne Dades

La Gazelle de Dades or La Fibule de Dades depending on the availability

Merzouga

Nomadic bivouac (with common sanitary)

Ouarzazate

La Perle du Sud or Le Fint depending on the availability

Category 4 stars:

Boumalne Dades

Riad Gabsi or Dar Ahlam depending on the availability

Merzouga

Normal bivouac (with private sanitary)

Ouarzazate

Le Zat or Farah Al Janoub depending on the availability

Category 5 stars:

Boumalne Dades

Riad Rihana or Tizzaraouine depending on the availability

Merzouga

Luxury bivouac (with private sanitary)

Ouarzazate

Riad Tama or Dar Kamar depending on the availability

First day options

Taourirt kasbah

A kasbah from the 17th century, it was built on a hill at the crossroads of two rivers, Dadès and Idermi to ensure the safety and protection of the caravans that came or went to Timbuktu. Kasbah Taourirt is built respecting the architecture of the Tuaregs of the Sahara in the form of a labyrinth to ensure also the protection of the Pasha in case of an invasion, then in the 19th century, the kasbah experienced the construction of its extension by the Glaoui family who ruled southern Morocco at the time.

Access fees do not include the guide.

Tea ceremony

During a stop in Skoura Oasis, we open the doors of an old kasbah still inhabited to discover from the inside and discover the customs of the Berber family who live there, she will make you attend a tea ceremony...

Amerhidil Kasbah

A 17th century kasbah located in the palm grove of Skoura built by a descendant of Zaouia Ennaciria. Amridil was a small Zaouia or brotherhood, its mission was purely religious, it ensured the teaching of the principles of Islam and the learning of the Koran. Its buildings still include a section reserved for students and a prayer room and on its roof, it still retains an ancient sundial whose main function was to determine the prayer times from sunrise to sunset. *Access fees do not include the guide.

Second day options

Ksar khorbate

Located between Erfoud and Tinghir in the lower Todra valley, El Khorbat is an old ksar or a fortified village which consists of several houses. Built in raw earth in the 19th century, it is recently restored through to international cooperation to bring this heritage back to life, half of these houses are still inhabited and the other half has been rehabilitated to serve tourism in the region. During this stop we offer you a walk between the alleys of this Ksar with a visit to the museum and the embroidery cooperative. *Access fees do not include the guide.

Adrenaline in Jeep

To add an adventure touch to your circuit and better enjoy the Merzouga desert, We suggest you to change your vehicle in Erfoud by 4x4, then head to Merzouga where you make a 60-minutes circuit between its sand dunes, this circuit ends in the bivouac or the place from where you start the dromedaries ride. The next day, you will use the 4x4 from the bivouac to the village of Merzouga to take back your vehicle and continue the circuit.

Each 4x4 car has a capacity of 6 people, if you are more than 6 people please select more than one car according to your number.

Option available only if the vehicle chosen from Marrakech is not a Toyota Prado TX car.

Quad ride

For lovers of high adrenaline, we suggest you take a 60-minute quad bike ride in the Merzouga desert, then take your vehicle back to the bivouac. Please select the number of people who want to do this activity.

Quad passenger

For those who want to share a quad for two or for children who can not drive a quad and want to ride behind adults, this option allows you to provide you with a two-seater quad with the insurance of the second person included. Please select this option and enter the number of quads that you want to share.

Third day options

The fossil quarries

In Erfoud, we suggest visiting the fossil quarries with a geology connoisseur who will give you geological information on the Erfoud region. This visit is offered before visiting the fossil workshop where the stones are worked to bring back quarries. Only 4x4 cars can access the fossil quarries.

Fourth day options

The cinema museum

Located in the city center of Ouarzazate, this museum was first of all a film studio created by Italian film production companies in 1981 on two hectares, it consists of different sets of cult films relating to the history of the Bible. In 2007, the studio was transformed into a cinema museum. Free for children under 7 years old.

Cinema studios

Ouarzazate cinema Studios are very famous in Morocco, during this visit you go to discover the different sets and stages used in major international productions filmed in Ouarzazate... The studio guide is not included, visitors generally leave him a tip.

Telouet kasbah

Located in the heights of the Atlas, this kasbah dominates the salt mines which are in the region of Telouet and the passage of caravans coming from the south towards Marrakech. The kasbah of Telouet is built by the Glaoui family towards the end of the 18th century, it consists of two sections, the harem section and place of life of the Pasha and another military section, the latter was demolished because of the abandonment, but there is still the Pacha section composed of lounges extraordinarily made with the Arab-Andalusian touch and views dominating the entire plateau of Telouet. *Access fees do not include the guide.

Tea ceremony

During the immersion in the village of Telouet, we propose you a stop in a Berber family house in a village that will welcome you and make you discover his house from the inside, his lifestyle and will make you attend a ceremony berber tea.

Immersion in the village of Telouet

Arriving in Telouet and before visiting its Kasbah available us an option, we offer you an immersion in its historic Berber village accompanied by a villager who will give you some explanations on the village and take you between its alleys... An opportunity for those who wish to discover a Berber village.

Full board supplement

This option gives you the possibility to include lunch meals throughout your circuit in the places mentioned in the description. All the meals proposed consist of a minimum of 3 courses (starter + main course + dessert), the menus are excluding drinks.

For allergy sufferers, please inform us about your allergy in the dedicate field in the second step of the Cart.

The time mentioned between destinations is the journey time without any stops!

Marrakech

330 KM 6:00

Boumalne Dadès

270 KM 4:20

Merzouga

400 KM 6:00

Ouarzazate

200 KM 4:00

Marrakech