Shared Group 5-Day Atlas & Sahara

Toubkal Trek & Sahara Tour is organized by Toubkal Experience. We plan combined Atlas and Sahara tours from Marrakech, beginning with a transfer from your accommodation to Imlil and ending with a hike to Toubkal base camp through Aremd and the Mizane Valley.

Leaving the city, we go south to the Toubkal Massif's peaks and valleys. As we traverse the Haouz Plain, we travel through Asni and begin climbing the Massif's slopes. As we reach Imlil, the Oued Rhirhaia Valley spreads out below us, and little communities cling to the steep hillsides. Our mountain guide leads us on a trip through the Mizane Valley, first to Aremd and then to Sidi Chamarouch. Crossing the flood plain, we follow mule routes up the Valley's granite cliffs. After crossing the river, we reach Sidi Chamarouch's pilgrimage site. The trail steadily climbs, bending and zigzagging to the snowline and Toukbal base camp (3206m). 5-hour walk.

Trek to the summit of Jebel Toubkal (4165m); return to Imlil early this morning for our summit attempt on Jebel Toukbal, Northern Africa's highest peak. Our path ascends the south cirque, crossing the creek above the base camp and then through one of the mountain's several scree fields, where we must negotiate an apparently unending carpet of pebbles and rocks. After ascending the ridgeline, we reach the plateau, from where it is a short walk to the top, where the views out over the surrounding area are pretty spectacular. There are unobstructed views in all directions from here, from the Marrakech Plain to the High Atlas in the north to the Anti-Atlas and the Sahara in the south. Pliny, the famous Roman scholar, once characterized the High Atlas Mountains as "the most magnificent mountains in all of Africa," and it's easy to see why from our vantage position high above the Valley. We next return down the mountain and make our way down to Imlil, where we will spend the night at a riad Atlas prestige or similar.

At 9 a.m., you will be picked up from your Imlil lodging and driven across the Atlas Mountains, passing over the breathtaking Tizi n'Tichka mountain pass. You'll pass through several Berber settlements and, once in the desert, you'll come across riverfront oasis and barren slopes scattered with kasbahs (fortified dwellings that house families and their livestock). Along the journey, you might choose to stop and see the Ouarzazate Film Studios. A side journey to Ait Benhaddou is conceivable. This is a historic walled city with multiple kasbahs that has served as the dramatic backdrop for numerous Hollywood films (The Mummy, Gladiator, Alexander, Lawrence of Arabia) You will have the opportunity to roam about and investigate the buildings with your guide. Once you get to Dades Gorges, you can choose to go on a trek or rest at your accommodation. In Dades, spend the night. (6 hours total driving time)

Breakfast is provided by the hotel. Transfer from Dades Valley to Todgha Gorge - a major fissure splitting the High Atlas mountains that rises 300 metres in a small valley filled with palmeries and Berber communities. Here, you may take a trip through the palmery, a lush green oasis dotted with huge date palms. After lunch, you'll continue deeper into the desert, to the gateway town of Merzouga, where you may stock up on supplies for your desert adventure. After that, you'll drive to a kasbah to retrieve your camel. At twilight, you'll embark on a 1.5-hour camel trek to a Berber camp for a traditional Moroccan meal and overnight beneath the stars or in tents in a desert camp. (Total time spent on the road: 5 hours).

We get up early, just before sunrise, for a 1h30 camel ride to further explore the area before returning to Merzouga on our Camels. When we arrive in Merzouga, we have breakfast and the opportunity to shower before continuing our drive across the rocky desert and into the Atlas mountains, stopping frequently for photography, exploration, and lunch on our way back to Marrakech. In Marrakech, the typical arrival time is 18:00 hours.