5-Day Manchester to Marrakech Holiday | Sahara & Desert Camp From £490

An early start today pays off in extraordinary scenery. Your guide collects you from the hotel (flexible pickup: 7am, 8am, 9am, or 10am — your choice) and you begin the drive south through the High Atlas Mountains via the famous Tizi n'Tichka Pass at 2,260m — Morocco's highest road.

The landscape transforms from city to mountain to canyon as you descend toward your first major stop: the Kasbah of Aït Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of earthen towers and fortified alleys. You may recognise it — it's appeared in Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Lawrence of Arabia, and more. Explore at your own pace with an optional local guide.

Lunch at a nearby restaurant, then onward through Ouarzazate — known as the "Gateway to the Sahara" and Morocco's film capital — passing the Taourirt Kasbah and Atlas Film Studios. As afternoon light softens, you wind through the Valley of Roses and the dramatic Dades Gorges before arriving at your overnight hotel in the Dades Valley for dinner and rest.

Day 2 highlights:

• High Atlas Mountains drive & Tizi n'Tichka Pass (2,260m)
• UNESCO Kasbah of Aït Ben Haddou
• Ouarzazate & the Valley of Roses
• Traditional dinner & overnight in Dades Valley

After breakfast, you continue along the legendary Road of a Thousand Kasbahs — one of Morocco's most photogenic routes, flanked by ancient mud-brick fortresses and lush palm oases. Your first stop: Tinghir, a market town set against a magnificent palm oasis fed by a mountain river.

From Tinghir, a short drive brings you to the Todra Gorge — a cathedral of limestone where canyon walls rise 300 metres above a narrow riverbed. Walk through the gorge floor, photograph the towering cliffs, and pause for lunch at a local café.

The afternoon drive east marks your arrival in the Sahara. As the tarmac gives way to ochre plains and the first dunes appear on the horizon, anticipation builds. At the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes, your camel caravan is waiting.

Your camel trek into the desert at golden hour is the centrepiece of the whole journey — the light, the silence, the scale of the dunes. Arrive at your Berber desert camp just before sunset. Dinner is served under the stars, followed by a traditional Tam-Tam drum performance around the campfire. Sleep in your private tent to the sound of absolute silence.

Day 3 highlights:

• Road of a Thousand Kasbahs & Tinghir oasis
• Todra Gorge (300m limestone canyon walls)
• Camel trek across Erg Chebbi dunes at sunset
• Traditional Berber dinner & drum performance at desert camp
• Overnight in Berber camp under the Sahara stars

🌟 Optional upgrade: Deluxe Desert Camp — private tent with ensuite bathroom and hot shower. Ask at booking.

Wake before dawn for an optional sunrise over the Erg Chebbi dunes — the most photographed moment of the entire trip. The desert shifts from deep indigo to burning orange as the sun clears the horizon.

After breakfast at camp, your driver begins the return journey to Marrakech. The route retraces the southern landscapes with a lunch stop in Ouarzazate, where you can visit the Kasbah Taourirt or simply rest and reflect. Then north again over the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka Pass, arriving in Marrakech by early evening.

Your final night is yours — explore the famous Djemaa el-Fna square at night, browse the souks for last-minute gifts, or simply enjoy a quiet dinner in your riad.

Day 4 highlights:

• Optional sunrise over Erg Chebbi dunes
• Return drive through High Atlas Mountains
• Lunch stop in Ouarzazate
• Free evening in Marrakech (Djemaa el-Fna, souks)

A final Moroccan breakfast at your hotel. Time to savour the last sounds of the Medina — the call to prayer, the street vendors, the clatter of the souks — before your driver arrives for your airport transfer.

Your flight departs Marrakech Menara Airport for Manchester, landing you back in the UK with a head full of memories: the warmth of Moroccan hospitality, the scale of the Sahara, the glow of a desert sunrise.

Day 5 highlights:

• Final Moroccan breakfast
• Private transfer to Marrakech Airport
• Return flight to Manchester Airport (MAN)