7 nights of captivating charm across Southern Morocco!

From the bustling Jemaa el-Fnaa square in Marrakech to the wondrous Atlas Mountains and Sahara desert, this experience is your gateway to all of Morocco's southern wonders.

Does American literature and film do justice to these cities and sites? Come with us and find out!

For a relaxing trip extension, see our 2-night add-on from October 23 - October 26 in the incomparably beautiful, oceanside city of Essaouira.

Upon your arrival to the Marrakech Menara airport, you will be greeted by a friendly, English-speaking guide.

Our tour operator is Morocco Land Tours, a long-standing company whose guides have been successfully leading small groups trips through Morocco for 15+ years.

After a smooth pickup from the airport, you'll be driven to our villa, Taj Sofia.

Your bags will be brought to your reserved rooms where you can relax and freshen up before dinner.

We'll spend our first full day in the opulent heart of Marrakech, exploring it's majestic palaces, gardens, the medina (old, walled city) and the magnificent city square.

Jardin Majorelle, the famous city oasis created by French painter Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and later owned by fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, is a botanical garden spanning 2.5 acres with striking cobalt blue buildings, an exotic plant collection featuring over 300 species, and tranquil water features.

Next we'll visit the medina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with time to marvel at it's many architectural jewels including the soaring Koutoubia minaret. Housed in a palace, it is among the most beautiful of its kind in the world.

We'll visit the stunning Bahia Palace, an exemplary specimen of privileged life in the 19th century, the Mellah (old Jewish quarter) with its old and new synagogues, and experience the sensory delight of Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakech’s main square.

Think of it like a farmer's market with locally-produced food and goods, but with fire-eaters, mime artists, snake charmers and street musicians performing at every turn.

Returning to Taj Sofia for the evening, we'll prepare to next head into lesser traveled, historic villages of Southern Morocco.

As we depart Marrakech, we say goodbye, or Ma'a Salama in Arabic, to the iconic Red City and head for Ouarzazate.

The road winds through villages typical of the northern slopes of High Atlas Mountains and we'll cross Tizi n' Tichka, the highest pass in Morocco.

This is the ancient territory of the powerful Glaoua tribe. We'll stop in Telouet to see the old Kasbah, once the residence of the Glaoua chieftain and Pacha of Marrakech.

Lunch will find us near Ait Ben Haddou, a ksar (fortified village) along a former caravan route.

Ait Ben Haddou is a quintessential example of Moroccan earthen clay architecture and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

Our hotel in Ouarzazate, Auberge Chez Talout, offers gorgeous sunset views over mountains and the desert.

Day 4 begins our journey into the Atlas Mountains!

Morocco has two mountainous regions - the Mid-Atlas in the North, and the Atlas Mountains in the South. The Atlas Mountains contains the highest peak in all of Northern Africa, named Toubkal.

After breakfast on the terrace with a view of the Atlas over the palms, we'll visit the Atlas Studio, affectionately called the Hollywood of Africa due to numerous cinematic triumphs having been filmed here.

Our route takes us up into the M'Goun valley and across little known tracks and areas where nomadic families still live in caves.

We will drive across the rose valley to the Dades Gorge, a spectacularly beautiful canyon full of multicolored rock formations and kasbahs.

After a day full of sight-seeing we'll enjoy a relaxing stay at our riad in the mountains, Riad Dades.

We travel from the Atlas Mountains into the Sahara for an amazing, two-day desert experience!

Our route takes us across the hamada (desert landscape) toward the Sahara. We'll ride past the Todra Gorges and across the Jbel Sarhro, which means the ‘dry mountains’ in Berber.

We pause on the far side of the mountains in the tiny village of Tinjdad and by late afternoon we'll have left the paved road to arrive in Erg Chebbi.

The stunning Riad Madu will welcome us this evening where we'll enjoy a restful night ahead of our big desert adventure.

No desert excursion would be complete without a trek on camels and glamping under the stars!

This remote, nomadic region hidden east of the vast dunes is famous for Bedouin hospitality.

Enjoying a glass of mint tea in a tent while marveling at the near-Neolithic lifestyle of our hosts is a highlight of this travel experience!

After lunch in the endearingly scruffy village of Merzouga, you can choose to relax at our accommodation or explore the souks of Rissani, a town nestling in the ruins of antique Sijilmassa.

As the sun begins to set, we'll return to the dunes of Erg Chebbi to be dazzled by the changing colors as the light fades.

As dusk falls we'll head to the luxurious Madu Camp. The night sky here is superb, with the Milky Way frequently visible.

After a leisurely breakfast in our desert camp, we set out for Agdez, a history lover's dream with nearby Neolithic carvings of elephants and giraffes dated to between 3,000 and 10,000 years old - a fascinating reminder that the area was not always so dry.

The mountains here have vast fossil deposits that are available for sale, but we'll have fun looking for our very own!

The journey will take us south toward the routes of caravans that connected Timbuktu (Mali), Marrakech, and Europe called the Salt Road in ancient times.

We'll settle into our riad for the evening, Dar Amazir, and prepare for the next day's departure in Marrakech for some, while the rest of the group heads to beautiful Essaouira for some rest and relaxation.