“All you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation.” – Paulo Coelho.
Set out on a private, 7-night grand south Morocco tour from Marrakesh to Morocco’s great southern desert, and go deep into the stark African landscape. Cross the Atlas Mountains on this Grand south of Morocco and explore the iconic kasbah of Ait-Ben-Haddou an Uneso world heritage and Ouarzazate; sleep in a Berber tent amidst towering dunes then watch a sunrise in the sand dunes. Explore a ruined palace and towering gorges, a rose-filled valley and shady palm groves before descending a winding mountain road to Marrakech.
Book your tour now or contact us for more information.
Free cancellation, no questions asked
We understand that plans change and the unexpected can happen, so you can cancel your experiences up to 10 days before they start!
What you should go in the Grand South of Morocco?
“Perhaps the logical question to ask at this point is: Why go? The answer is that when a man has been there and undergone the baptism of solitude he can’t help himself. Once he has been under the spell of the vast luminous, silent country, no other place is quite strong enough for him, no other surroundings can provide the supremely satisfying sensation of existing in the midst of something that is absolute. He will go back, whatever the cost in time or money, for the absolute has no price”. Paul Bowls
Itinerary of the Grand South of Morocco day per day:
Day 1 : Marrakesh Airport Arrival
Marrakesh
Arrival at Marrakesh airport, welcome by your guide, transfer to 4-star hotel or charming Riad, overnight stay.
Day 2 : Marrakesh Guided Visit
“If Marrakesh where my story, i would live there“
Meet and Experience the unexpected
I have been told of an oasis city that the sun floods with its light and does not leave until it is entrusted to the moon. A city where the olive trees, orange trees and roses of its gardens rival paradise. Colors, atmosphere, perfumes, smiling and welcoming faces. A city of lights, a happy city that knows how to welcome its guests and make them happy.
This city is Marrakesh! And if Marrakesh were my stories, i would live there.
After breakfast at the hotel, guided tour of Marrakesh, the Bahia Palace, a jewel of Arab-Andalusian architecture: 150 rooms lavishly decorated, built by the vizir Ba Hmad for his favorite, considered by many to be a symbol of eternal love.
You visit the Medina and its multicolored souks where the art of negotiation is done around a glass of mint tea:
A real labyrinth where the crowd snatches you, then brings you into the game of rays of light. In a maze of shady streets, we cross the copper souk where dinandiers hammer the metal ancestral way. In the souk of the dryers, they dry large skeins of wool with rich colors, stretched from one wall to another on poles. And At the carpets souk, it soled at auction to the highest bidder.
And the potter’s souk presents tajine dishes, glazed pottery and beautiful ceramics. We also cross the souk of jewelers, leather-workers and cabinetmakers. In the end the spice souk, there, the scents of saffron, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, orange blossoms daze the senses.
Further on the shelves of apothecaries line up amber, musk, henna pots, jasmine or rose extract vials. And to end on a high note, visit the famous Jemma el Fna square. An open-air theater, invaded at dusk by acrobats, monkey and snake trainers, musicians, storytellers, Henne tattoo artists, fortune tellers of good fortune and one of the great street food places in the Morocco!
What’s Jemma el Fna square?
*Agora, theatrical performance, point of convergence: open and plural space, vast field of ideas, peasants, shepherds, roundworms, merchants coming from bus stations, taxi ranks, drowsy car rental stops: merged into an idle mass, absorbed in the contemplation of the daily hustle and bustle, supported by license and heedless of the terrain, in a continuous and capricious movement: immediate contact between strangers, oblivion of social constraints, identification in prayer and laughter, temporary suspension of hierarchies, joyful equality of people. » Juan Goytosolo.
Rest of the time at your disposal, night in hotel.
Day 3 : Marrakech – Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate the Moroccan “Cinecitta”
After breakfast in the hotel, you depart for Ouarzazate over the High Atlas Mountains through the Tichka Pass. Keep your eyes open for the Berber villages tucked away in the mountain side. Upon arrival, you will Visit Kasbah Aït Benhaddou, listed UNESCO Heritage one of the world”s most magnificent Kasbahs, this setting has been used for more films than any other location in Morocco; films including, Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, Game of throne, Queen of Desert, The Gladiator. In ouarzazate you visit the museum of cinema. Dinner & accommodation in hotel in Ouarzazate.
Day 4 : Ouarzazate – Merzouga
“Sometimes in my tent, late at night, I think I can hear the stars scraping against the sky.” Rick Yancey
Merzouga Desert
Breakfast, departure towards Zagora, arrival and lunch, route for the camp in Merzouga sand dunes, one of the country’s greatest natural wonders. Before the sunset, climb the dune. Return to your luxury Berber tent and experience warm desert hospitality. Enjoy the star-light sky and be reminded just how special this experience is. Dinner and overnight in Berber tent (Bivouac).
“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, you see nothing, you hear nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams…” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Day 5 : Merzouga – Tinghir- Todra Gorges
” You leave the gate of the fort or town behind, pass the camels lying outside, go up into the dunes, or out onto the hard, stony plain and stand awhile alone. Presently, you will either shiver and hurry back inside the walls, or you will go on standing there and let something very peculiar happen to you, something that everyone who lives there has undergone and which the French call ‘le bapteme de solitude.’ It is a unique sensation, and it has nothing to do with loneliness, for loneliness presupposes memory. Here in this wholly mineral landscape lighted by stars like flares, even memory disappears…A strange, and by no means pleasant, process of reintegration begins inside you, and you have the choice of fighting against it, and insisting on remaining the person you have always been, or letting it take its course. For no one who has stayed in the Sahara for a while is quite the same as when he came.” Paul Bowls
After the breakfast, departure towards Khamlya village (lives by ancian slave from Soudan) The Gnaoua musicians of Khamlia could thus be descendants of black slaves deported from Sudan on the tracks of trans-Saharan caravans passing through Timbuktu, which was then the capital of the Ghana Empire. Their installation could be linked to the context of the strong relations maintained by the reigning dynasties in Morocco with sub-Saharan Africa. We listen to Gnaoua music, (listed Unesco world intangible heritage in 2020) We have a glass of mint tea (or lunch) while the old people tell us their stories and those of their ancestors captured and deported to America via the United Kingdom Then route for the Todra Gorges via Alnif. visit on the way Kasbahs, impressive ruins of the palace, the visit of the small museum of Sahara, lunch on way and arrival and visit to the gorges (canyons), return to Tinghir. Dinner and overnight.
P.S: In Tinghir, you can admire the beautiful Berber carpets in wool woven by the women of the local cooperative, who work hard to have their financial independence (social tourism and self-help)
“All I need are palm trees and a little bit of paradise“
Day 6 : Tinghir – Valley of roses- Ouarzazate
“True love is like little roses, sweet, fragrant in small doses.” Ana Claudia Antunes
After the breakfast, departure for Ouarzazate, the valley of the roses and the road of the thousand Kasbahs. Have Lunch on the way, then visit of the palm grove of Skoura before on arrival to Ouarzazate. Dinner and overnight.
Day 7 : Ouarzazate – Marrakesh
Marrakesh
After breakfast, route for Marrakesh, lunch on the way, arrival and installation in hotel. Free time at your disposal overnight. Optional evening diner live show (50€ except drinks).
Day 8 : Marrakesh Airport Transfer
“Anyone who is used to travel knows that there always comes a day when he have to leave.” Paulo Coelho
Marrakesh
After breakfast and according your time flight, transfer to Marrakesh airport.
Book now your Grand South of Morocco Tour or contact us for more information.
This itinerary is only a suggestion, all our trips are tailor-made according to each client.
This product is suitable for: Couple / between girls / Solo/ Family/ Group of friends.
