Southern Morocco: Souks, Sahara & Surf with Samantha

Start the day in the cobalt blue calm of Jardins Majorelle, a botanical pocket of shade, exotic plants, and that famous Yves Saint Laurent palette. From there, dive straight into the energy of the Medina with a local guide who knows every alleyway, hidden riad, and clever shortcut. You’ll trace the city’s stories through the Bahia Palace and stop to admire the towering minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque.

The tour winds up in the legendary Djemaa el Fna square, leaving your afternoon wide open. Hunt down a glass of fresh orange juice, browse the souks for lanterns, leather, and ceramics, or simply post up at a rooftop café and watch the square shift gears from afternoon shoppers to evening street food spectacle.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Gomassine (Standard Room) or Similar, Marrakech

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Majorelle Garden Visit, Marrakech
• Medina Guided Tour, Marrakech
• Bahia Palace Visit, Marrakech
• Koutoubia Mosque Viewing, Marrakech

Today the scenery turns cinematic. You’ll cross the High Atlas Mountains along the legendary Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, with mudbrick fortresses, palm-fringed oases, and switchback views unfolding through the window. The headline stop is the UNESCO-listed ksar of Ait Benhaddou, where a local leader walks you through ancient alleyways to the hilltop granary and shares why this otherworldly skyline keeps turning up on the big screen.

You then continue to the community-run Tawesna Teahouse, where you’ll take part in a hands-on cooking class, learning traditional Moroccan recipes and local culinary techniques with the women of the village.

After this immersive experience, the road carries on toward the lush, rose-tinged Dades Valley. Check into your riad, kick back by the pool, and let the view of fertile valley floors and towering rock formations do the talking as the light softens for sunset.

🏨 Accommodation

• Riad Rihana (Standard Room) or Similar, Dades Valley

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Lunch

✅ Activities

• Leader-Led Ksar Walk in Ait Benhaddou
• Cooking Class & Lunch at Community Run Tawesna Teahouse

After breakfast, point the vehicle toward Todra Gorge, a vast limestone trench where sheer rock walls soar more than 250 metres above a narrow ribbon of road. A gentle walk through the canyon lets you crane your neck and properly take in the scale of it before climbing back in for the run east into the Sahara.

This afternoon you’ll swap four wheels for four legs and ride a camel through golden dunes to your Feature Stay: a remote desert camp tucked deep in the sands. Tonight is the showstopper, a traditional Moroccan feast served under a North African sky crowded with stars, with the silence of the dunes stretching out in every direction.

🏨 Accommodation

• Yasmina Luxury Camp (Standard Tent) or Similar, Sahara Desert

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Dinner

✅ Activities

• Todra Gorge Visit and Gentle Walk
• Sahara Camel Ride
• Traditional Desert Dinner at Camp

Set an early alarm, because today opens with one of the most spectacular sunrises on the planet. Watch the dunes glow soft pink, then deep orange, then full gold as the desert wakes up around you. After breakfast at camp, the journey rolls west, with open Sahara slowly giving way to rugged mountain ridges and dusty crossroads towns.

By afternoon you’ll arrive in Ouarzazate, known as Morocco’s Hollywood for good reason. Step inside the famous Atlas Studios, where everything from desert epics to fantasy blockbusters has been filmed, then wind down with a poolside afternoon at the hotel or a slow wander through town as the day cools off. Tonight’s dinner is on us.

🏨 Accommodation

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

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Dinner

✅ Activities

• Atlas Studios Visit, Ouarzazate
• Dinner in Ouarzazate

This morning marks a clear shift in the journey, from earth tones to ocean blues. The drive west trades dunes and ridgelines for cool Atlantic breezes, palm-fringed coast roads, and the unmistakable salty tang of the sea drifting through the window. Settle in for the ride and let the change of scenery do its work.

By afternoon you’re in Taghazout, Morocco’s most loved surf village. Drop your bags at your surf camp-style stay, meet the local instructors who’ll be running the show for the next few days, then stroll the beachfront, scope out the lineup, and slide into the easy rhythm of coastal life. Welcome to the slow half of the trip.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Arrival at Surf Camp, Taghazout

Wake to the sound of waves and a breakfast spread that’s built for paddling. With expert local instructors leading the way, the group heads out to whichever break is firing best that morning, whether it’s a mellow beginner-friendly beach break or one of Taghazout’s famous point breaks for those ready to chase a longer ride.

Whether it’s your very first pop-up or you’re refining your style on the green face, today is all about catching waves, laughing off the wipeouts, and feeling that first proper rush of Moroccan surf. Roll back to the camp at your own pace and meet the rest of the crew on the rooftop for sunset, the unofficial end-of-day ritual here.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Full-Day Guided Surf Session, Taghazout

A whole day in Taghazout, exactly how you want it. Keep the surfing momentum going with another full-day session, or trade the board for a slower pace: a long café lunch, a poolside read, and a wander through the village’s little artisan shops for ceramics, leather, and handwoven blankets.

If you’re craving a change of scene, the optional Paradise Valley excursion delivers in a big way, with natural rock pools, deep canyons, and lush palm groves tucked into the Atlas foothills just inland from the coast. Whichever way you swing it, today is yours.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

✅ Activities

• Suggestion: Optional Full-Day Surf Session (Approx 482 MAD Booked Locally)
• Suggestion: Optional Paradise Valley Excursion with Lunch (From Approx 620 MAD, Depending on Group Size, Booked Locally)

Make the most of your final full day on the coast. Squeeze in one last guided surf session to lock in everything you’ve learned this week, or roll out the mat for an optional rooftop ocean yoga class and let the sound of the Atlantic stretch out the kinks before the journey home.

As the sun sinks, the group gathers for a farewell dinner at Windy Bay restaurant, perched above the Atlantic with the lineup glowing gold behind you. Trade favourite moments from the trip, from the souks of Marrakech to that pinch-yourself Sahara sunrise, and toast a journey that covered serious ground.

🏨 Accommodation

• Dar Surf (Multi-Share Room) or Similar, Taghazout

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast
• Dinner

✅ Activities

• Full-Day Guided Surf Session, Taghazout
• Farewell Dinner at Windy Bay Restaurant or Similar, Taghazout
• Suggestion: Optional Rooftop Ocean Yoga Session (Approx 228 MAD, Minimum 4 Participants, Booked Locally)

After a final breakfast by the coast, it’s time to point the vehicle inland and trace your way back through small villages, mountain passes, and shifting landscapes to the energy of Marrakech. Watch the country flip through its greatest hits one more time as ocean blues fade and the red-walled city rises into view.

Arrive with the afternoon ahead of you, ready to play. Dive back into the souks for last-minute treasures, sink into a traditional hammam for a proper end-of-trip reset, or simply order a pot of mint tea on a rooftop and watch the medina hum along below you.

🏨 Accommodation

• Hotel Gomassine (Standard Room) or Similar, Marrakech

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast

Your Moroccan adventure winds up after breakfast, with one last chance to soak in the city before your onward flight. Slip out for a final loop through the medina’s labyrinth, pick up the spice you wish you’d bought twice, or settle in for a slow rooftop brunch with a view over the rooftops.

From the energy of Marrakech to the silence of the Sahara and the long blue lines of Taghazout, this trip will leave a mark. Inshallah, you’ll be back.

🍽️ Included Meals

• Breakfast