Request to Join – Southern Morocco Adventure with Samantha Casolaro

Salaam Aleikum, and welcome to Marrakech. This is where your journey with Samantha Casolaro and the rest of the group begins, in a city layered with souks, palaces and the scent of spice markets drifting through narrow lanes. The trip moves fast from here, so if your schedule allows, arriving a day or two early is well worth considering, giving you time to explore Marrakech at your own pace before the group comes together.

Once everyone has checked in, gather for a welcome meeting at 4pm to run through the days ahead, then head out together for a Welcome Dinner at Rooftop Dardar, where your first taste of Morocco arrives in the form of tagine, couscous and delicate pastilla, enjoyed as the city’s rooftops catch the last light of the day.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Gomassine (Standard Room) or Similar, Marrakech

🍽️ Included Meals

• Dinner

✅ Included Activities

• Welcome Meeting
• Welcome Dinner at Rooftop Dardar or Similar, Marrakech

ℹ️ Special Information

• The welcome meeting takes place at 4pm.

💸 Local City/Tourist Taxes

• Some destinations charge a local city or tourist tax or entry fee that is not included in your trip payment. Whether this applies, how it’s collected, and the amount can vary by destination and is subject to change. Please check the destination guide linked in the Important Notes section to confirm whether this applies to your trip and how to prepare for it.

After breakfast, head to the Jardins Majorelle, a garden filled with cobalt blue walls, towering cacti and vivid pops of colour at every turn. Take time to wander the grounds and relax by the pool before meeting your local guide for a tour of the old medina and its bustling souks, where narrow lanes open onto workshops, spice stalls and the occasional surprise around every corner.

The tour passes through the tranquil courtyards of Bahia Palace and by the towering minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, before winding back through the medina to Djemaa el-Fna, the city’s famous main square. From there, the rest of the afternoon and evening is yours to spend as you like, whether that means ducking into Le Jardin Secret or testing your haggling skills one more time in the souks.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Gomassine (Standard Room) or Similar, Marrakech

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Included Activities

• Majorelle Garden Visit
• Guided Medina Tour
• Bahia Palace
• Koutoubia Mosque (Exterior)
• Djemaa el-Fna
• Afternoon and Evening Free Time in Marrakech

💡 Suggested Activities

• Le Jardin Secret, Self-Guided
• Souk Shopping and Haggling, Self-Guided

Leave Marrakech behind and set off along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, climbing over the Atlas Mountains before descending toward Ait Benhaddou, a hilltop ksar little changed since the 11th century and instantly familiar to fans of Game of Thrones. Walk through the Old Town with your leader, tracing the same mudbrick walls and towers that have drawn filmmakers here for decades.

From there, settle in for a community lunch at the Tawesna association, a teahouse run by local Amazigh women, where freshly made bread, soup, Moroccan sweets and mint tea are served in a setting that supports the women who prepare it. The drive continues into the Dades Valley, where the scenery shifts from sweeping green valleys to wind carved rock formations, and the night ends by the pool and terrace of your accommodation.

🏨 Accommodation

• Grand Canyon Lodge Dades (Standard Room) or Similar, Dades Valley

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Lunch

✅ Included Activities

• Guided Ksar Walk, Ait Benhaddou
• Community Lunch at the Tawesna Association, Ait Benhaddou

After breakfast, drive to Todra Gorge, a trench rising more than 250 metres to form one of Morocco’s most dramatic natural sights. A short, gentle walk through the gorge makes the most of the towering limestone walls before you continue on toward the Sahara Desert, watching the landscape flatten and the colours shift as the dunes come into view.

A camel carries you the final stretch into the dunes of Erg Chebbi, arriving at your desert camp as the light starts to soften. Tonight brings a traditional feast beneath the stars, followed by live Gnaoua music around an open fire, a fitting way to spend your one night sleeping in the middle of the Sahara.

🏨 Accommodation

• Camp Caravane (Standard Tent) or Similar, Merzouga

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Dinner

✅ Included Activities

• Todra Gorge Hike
• Camel Ride into Erg Chebbi
• Live Gnaoua Music Around the Campfire

Rise before dawn for a desert sunrise over the dunes, a quiet last look at the Sahara before you begin the drive west to Ouarzazate, known as the Gateway to the Desert. The landscape softens again along the way, rock and sand giving way to the kasbahs and film sets that have made this stretch of Morocco famous on screen.

On arrival, visit the Atlas Studios, one of the world’s largest film studios and the backdrop for some of cinema’s best known productions. With the visit done, the rest of the afternoon and evening is free at leisure, giving you a chance to rest up after the desert before the trip turns toward the coast.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Rose Valley (Standard Room) or Similar, Ouarzazate

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Dinner

✅ Included Activities

• Atlas Studios Visit, Ouarzazate
• Afternoon and Evening Free Time in Ouarzazate

Enjoy a relaxed morning before setting off for Taghazout, Morocco’s laid back surf town on the Atlantic coast. The drive traces a real shift in scenery, from desert plains to the Atlas foothills and finally the open ocean, a fitting way to close out the overland stretch of the trip.

Check into your surf camp and meet your instructors, who will get a read on your experience ahead of the sessions to come. With introductions done, the evening is yours to spend by the ocean, watching the sun go down over Morocco’s famous right hand point breaks.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout (Single Room Supplement Not Available)

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Included Activities

• Evening Free Time in Taghazout

After breakfast, head out for your first surf session under the guidance of local instructors, who will read the conditions and take the group to whichever break suits the day best. Whether you are catching your first wave or chasing something more advanced, Taghazout’s famous right hand point breaks are the reason surfers travel from all over the world to paddle out here.

Back on land, there is nothing on the schedule for the rest of the day. The evening is at leisure, leaving plenty of time to compare notes on the day’s waves over dinner, or simply watch the sun set from camp.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout (Single Room Supplement Not Available)

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Included Activities

• Full-Day Surf Session, Taghazout
• Evening Free Time in Taghazout

Today is a free day at leisure, yours to shape however you like. Sign up for another full-day guided surf session if you are chasing more time in the water, or trade the waves for a day trip inland to Paradise Valley, an oasis of natural pools and palm groves tucked into the mountains.

Paradise Valley makes for an easy escape from the coast, with clear pools to swim in and shaded groves to relax under before heading back to Taghazout in time for the evening. Either way, it is a day built around choice, exactly the kind of pace this stretch of the trip is designed for.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout (Single Room Supplement Not Available)

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Included Activities

• Full-Day Free Time in Taghazout

🎟️ Optional Activities

• Day Trip to Paradise Valley with Lunch (cost to be confirmed)
• Full-Day Surf Session, approximately $51 USD (pricing approximate and to be finalised once the trip is confirmed)

Make the most of your last full day on the coast with one more full-day surf session, or take it easy with a day on the beach or a yoga class at the surf camp. However you spend it, this is your last chance to soak up Taghazout before the trip wraps up.

In the evening, the group gathers for a Farewell Dinner at Windy Bay, a restaurant overlooking the Atlantic, closing out the adventure with one last shared meal as the sun goes down over the ocean you have spent the last few days surfing.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout (Single Room Supplement Not Available)

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Dinner

✅ Included Activities

• Full-Day Surf Session, Taghazout
• Farewell Dinner at Windy Bay Restaurant, Taghazout

🎟️ Optional Activities

• Yoga Session, approximately $24 USD (pricing approximate and to be finalised once the trip is confirmed) (Minimum 4 Participants)

After breakfast, leave the coast behind and travel back to Marrakech for one final night in the Red City. It is a chance to close the loop on the trip, arriving back in the city that kicked things off eleven days ago, now with a lot more sand, surf and stories behind you.

The afternoon is free for shopping, relaxation or one last wander through the city, whether that means picking up souvenirs in the souks, revisiting a favourite corner of the medina, or simply enjoying one last Moroccan sunset before the trip comes to a close.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Gomassine (Standard Room) or Similar, Marrakech

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Included Activities

• Afternoon Free Time in Marrakech

After breakfast, your Southern Morocco adventure comes to an end. From the souks and palaces of Marrakech to camel rides across the Sahara and surf sessions on the Atlantic coast, this trip has covered a huge amount of ground in a short amount of time.

There is no group activity scheduled today, so take breakfast at your own pace before making your way home, or extending your stay in Marrakech a little longer if you are not quite ready to say goodbye.

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast