8-Day Atlas Mountain Treks & Desert Tours: Explore Berber Villages to Desert Landmarks

After breakfast, you will meet your guide and muleteer. Once you have loaded up your bags, the mule and cook set off together, taking a head start to pick a perfect picnic spot and start cooking your lunch. Your walk starts with a fairly stiff climb up toward the pass at Tizi n Mzik (2489m), which offers dramatic mountain views. From here, the trail descends down into the spectacular Azzadene Valley, known locally as the Valley of Color. Your day of walking ends in the small Berber village of Tizi Oussem, where you will spend the night in a gite. If you’re feeling energetic, you can take a slight route detour to include the D’Irhoulidene waterfalls; this adds a couple of extra hours of walking but is worth the effort. Approx. 4-5 hours walking; 6-7 hours walking, including the waterfalls. (749m ascent and 649 649m descent) Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Accommodation: Village Gite Transport (where relevant): 4x4 or minibus

After breakfast, you will set off walking through the Azzadene valley, passing traditional Berber mountain villages. The view behind you is of the peaks of the High Atlas, while the valley ahead offers beautiful scenery with a rushing mountain stream surrounded by lush walnut groves. As you descend, you will eventually enter the Ouirgane National Park, a protected area of natural beauty. Tonight, you stay in Tinzert, a rustic Berber village. Approx. 5–6 hours walking (640m descent) Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Accommodation: Village Gite Transport (where relevant): 4x4 or minibus

Today is the gentlest day of walking; there are fewer steep inclines and descents, so you can really enjoy the Mediterranean-esque scenery. Shepherds tend to their goats amongst the pretty valleys dotted with juniper trees, rosemary, and thyme. You will be walking towards Imi Oughlad, where you will have lunch, before saying goodbye to your cook, guide, and mule. After lunch, you will be picked up and driven to your accommodation in Imlil, where you can enjoy a hot shower followed by an afternoon of relaxation. Approx. 4 hours walking (200m ascent) Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Accommodation: In Imlil Transport (where relevant): 4x4 or minibus

You will be picked up from your accommodation in Imlil at 9 am and head out over the Atlas Mountains, driving over the stunning Tizi-n-Tichka mountain pass. You’ll pass through lots of Berber villages, and once you’re in the desert, you’ll see riverside oases and barren hillsides dotted with kasbahs (fortified dwellings that house families and their livestock). Along the way, you will have the option either to take a break and visit the Ouarzazate Film Studios or stop for a hike. Once you reach Dades Gorge, you have the option of going for a hike or relaxing at your hotel. Overnight in Dades. (Total driving time: 6 hours) Meals Included: Breakfast and Dinner Accommodation: Kasbah Dades, Hotel Babylon, or Dar Essayaha. Transport (where relevant): 4x4 or minibus

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer from the Dades Valley to Todra Gorge, a massive fault dividing the High Atlas mountains, rising up 300 meters in a narrow valley with palmeries and Berber villages. Here, you can go for a hike to explore the Palmery, a green oasis full of large date palms. After lunch, you’ll head further into the desert to the gateway town of Merzouga to pick up supplies for your desert trip. You will then drive on to a kasbah to pick up your camel. At sunset, you’ll trek for an hour and a-half by camel to a Berber camp, where you will enjoy a traditional Moroccan dinner and sleep under the stars or in tents at a desert camp. (Total driving time: 6 hours) Meals Included: Breakfast and Dinner Accommodation: Overnight camping Transport (where relevant): 4x4 or minibus

Wake to a desert sunrise and then return to the Kasbah by camel. You will then have a chance to freshen up and enjoy breakfast. Once you are refreshed, you will head out of the desert for a drive to Ait Benhaddou. This is an ancient fortified city containing countless kasbahs and has been the atmospheric subject of numerous Hollywood movies (The Mummy, Gladiator, Alexander, Lawrence of Arabia, etc.) You will have the chance to walk around the buildings and explore with your guide. You will overnight in a hotel close to Ait Benhaddou. (Total driving time: 5–6 hours) Meals Included: Breakfast and Dinner Accommodation: Auberge Etoile filante or Hotel rose du Sable Transport (where relevant): 4x4 or minibus

Travel along the Ounilla Valley to the Telouet Kasbah, a crumbling kasbah that was once an important stop for traders. Explore the Kasbah, and then after lunch, you will head back over the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass to Marrakech (total driving time of 4 hours). End of 8 Days Atlas Mountain Treks And Desert Tours Meals Included: Breakfast Accommodation: None Transport (where relevant): 4x4 or minibus