Upon arrival at Marrakech Airport, your guide will welcome you and transfer you to your hotel or riad in the heart of the medina. The rest of the day is yours to settle in and begin absorbing the extraordinary energy of the Red City. Step out into the labyrinthine streets of the medina, listen to the call to prayer echo across the rooftops, and end your evening at the legendary Djemaa el-Fna square as musicians, storytellers and food vendors fill the air with life.

A full day with your private guide to discover the finest of Marrakech at a relaxed and genuinely immersive pace. Begin at the Koutoubia Mosque, the spiritual heart of the city. Wind through the covered souks where coppersmiths, spice merchants, leather workers and carpet weavers fill every alleyway with colour and craft. Visit the magnificent Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs and the extraordinary Majorelle Garden. Return to Djemaa el-Fna as the square transforms into a vast open-air theatre at sunset.

An early departure over the Tizi n'Tichka Pass at 2,260 metres. We stop at the UNESCO ksar of Ait Benhaddou, filming location for Gladiator, Game of Thrones and Lawrence of Arabia. After Ouarzazate, we follow the magnificent Draa Valley south ; two hundred kilometres of date palms, ancient kasbahs and Berber villages. We arrive in Zagora, the traditional gateway to the desert, by evening.

Departing Zagora, we drive south through the final settlements of the Draa oasis and across remote terrain by private 4x4. Erg Chegaga is a genuinely wild sand sea reachable only by open desert tracks. No tourist shops, no crowds, no noise ; only the dunes, the silence and the sky. At sunset we mount camels for the classic ride to your luxury tented camp as the first stars appear.

Rise before dawn for the sunrise over the dunes, then breakfast at camp. In the morning, your guide arranges a visit to a genuine nomadic Berber family in their traditional goat hair tent ; a completely unscripted encounter with people who have called this landscape home for generations. In the afternoon, choose between a guided 4x4 tour across the wider Erg Chegaga or a long relaxed trek on foot through the dunes. After dinner, stargazing under one of the finest night skies in North Africa.

After a final sunrise and breakfast at camp, we depart north by 4x4 through spectacular pre-Saharan hammada landscapes, past the Iriki dry lake bed and Foum Zguid. Arriving in Ouarzazate in the afternoon, there is time to visit the famous Taourirt Kasbah before a comfortable overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, we return to Marrakech over the Tizi n'Tichka Pass, arriving by early afternoon. The rest of the day is free for last souk shopping, a traditional hammam, or a mint tea on a rooftop terrace. A final dinner at one of Marrakech's excellent restaurants rounds off a remarkable week.

After breakfast, your guide will arrange your transfer to Marrakech Airport. Should you wish to extend your stay, we can arrange additional nights or a continuation to Essaouira on the Atlantic Coast or into the High Atlas Mountains.