Palm Groves, Ksour and Kasbahs: A Road Trip in Southern Morocco

After a delicious breakfast including homemade jams this morning, you’ll set out to explore the palm grove of Skoura by scooter. With a private guide leading the way, you’ll move between palm trees, fruit trees and other crops, taking in your splendid surroundings, including the irrigation system itself, which gives life to the land. You’ll also see the kasbahs (citadels) which display the power that great merchant families once had. As you ride, you can read stories into the architecture and witness a whole world unfolding around you. The famous Kasbah Amridil, for example, was originally a ksar (fortified village) that was turned into a kasbah for an Islamic jurist. If you like, we can also organise for you to take a closer look at the architecture and agriculture of the oases in private.

Today you’ll drive on to Tineghir, which takes an hour and 45 minutes. Not far from here are the Todgha Gorges, where a wadi flows at the bottom of a dizzying red limestone canyon. It’s this water that’s led to the development of the beautiful Todgha palm grove. Nearby at Ksar Afanaour, the Ikelane Mosque and madrasah are open to non-Muslims and well worth a visit. When you’ve finished exploring, you can continue driving on to Tinejdad.

Tonight, your accommodation is a bed and breakfast that has been instrumental in the renovation of the ksar. The money made from welcoming travellers goes back into maintaining and preserving the site - it doesn’t get more authentic than this. While you’re here, we’ll arrange for you to visit the Oasis Museum, which is spread across three houses and devoted to documenting traditional Amazigh life and civilisation within the oases. You’ll visit with a private guide who will help to bring these stories to life.

Your next stop is N’kob, just under two-and-a-half hours away. This ksar is famous for having no less than 45 kasbahs, and is surrounded by two palm groves. Around the village, you’ll find a string of Neolithic carvings.

When you’ve finished exploring, you’ll head to your home for the night, located in the palm grove of Zagora. This house is surrounded by a beautiful garden complete with a swimming pool and a terrace where you can unwind with a drink. The ksar of Amezrou is also worth a detour, located at the foot of Jebel Zagora. This historic village dates back to the 18th century, and is home to a synagogue which is a reminder of when the Jewish community practiced goldsmithing here.

From Zagora, you’ll drive on to the Chegaga Dunes. The Erg of Chegaga is vast, isolated and wild, with dunes that are almost 1,000ft tall. This is the desert as you’ve always imagined it, an endless stretch of gold and bronze that leaves a lasting impression on anyone lucky enough to experience it. You’ll begin with a one-hour camel ride that brings you a little bit closer to life in the desert, mimicking the age-old story of man and camel braving the sands together to transport goods across arid land.

This evening you’ll spend the night in a desert camp, a romantic spot whose elegance is born of simplicity. Enjoy an excellent meal before spending the evening around the fire marvelling at the desert’s great starry sky.

You’ll head back to Zagora today to spend the night in the same hotel. Along the way, you can make a pitstop at Tamegroute, around 12.5 miles south-east of Zagora,. This village is famous for several reasons. The beautiful green-glazed ceramics created here are crafted to a process that’s been passed down from generation to generation. Pottery aside, Tamegroute also served as an important religious and intellectual centre for the Nasiriyya order, one of the Islamic world’s most influential Sufi orders. The 16th-century Zaouia Naciria contains a library of several thousand volumes that cover various topics across the Muslim school of thought. You can visit this historic outpost of knowledge, situated at the gates of the desert.

Your final stop is Ouarzazate, around two-and-a-half hours from Zagora. You’ll spend the night in the kasbah of Taourirt, which dates back to the 17th century. This is a wonderful place to spend a final day relaxing and soaking up Moroccan culture, whether sipping a hot drink in the tea room or spending some time in the hammam and sauna. At dusk, enjoy a moment of calm on the large terrace.

Southern Morocco has long been the setting for some influential international films including Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962). If you’re interested in film, pay a visit the Cinema Museum which is housed in a former Italian studio and holds a collection of old props, sets and equipment.