Destinations
Zagora & the Draa Valley
A hundred kilometres of palms, kasbahs and caravan history.
The Draa Valley is southern Morocco at its most cinematic: a green river of date palms a hundred kilometres long, squeezed between bare desert ridges and dotted with fortified mudbrick villages. Zagora, its main town, was for centuries the last resupply stop for caravans — the famous painted sign here once read "Timbuktu, 52 days by camel".
Near Zagora, the village of Tamegroute hides two treasures: a Koranic library holding manuscripts over eight centuries old, and pottery workshops whose green-glazed ceramics are found across Morocco. Both are stops on our 4-day circuit.
The dunes near Zagora (Tinfou and the palm-edge sands) are modest compared to Erg Chebbi — which is why our desert nights happen at Merzouga. But as a route, the Draa is unbeatable: many travellers rate the drive through the valley as the most beautiful road of their whole trip.
Zagora is about 6.5 hours from Marrakech across two Atlas passes, and appears on day 1 of our 4-day desert tour.
