Almost nobody flies to Morocco to ride and go home. Here is the honest version of what to do with the other days — where the desert is worth the drive, when Toubkal makes sense next to a riding week, and which day trips are worth it.
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Most people who ride with us are in Morocco for a week or more and riding for two or three days of it. Whether that is a day tour from Marrakech or a 3-day Atlas crossing, the question that follows is the same — what do we do with the rest — so here is the answer we give on the phone, written down.
We do not run desert trips, treks or cultural tours. We run bikes. For everything else we send people to Marrakech Eco Tours, a sister operator working out of the same city, because they do the things we do not and we would rather you had a good trip than a half-booked one.
The Sahara: worth it, but respect the drive
The honest version first. Merzouga — the big dunes, the ones in the photographs — is about nine hours from Marrakech by road, each way. That is not a day trip and anyone selling it as one is selling you a bus. The minimum that works is three days, and the third day is what turns a long drive into a trip worth taking.
The 3-day Marrakech to Merzouga tour is the standard version: over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, through the Dades or Todra gorge, camel trek into the erg at sunset, a night in a desert camp, and back. It is the one most people mean when they say they want to see the Sahara.
If you have two days rather than three, Zagora is the compromise: closer, smaller dunes, and a genuine desert night without the full drive. It is a real trip, not a consolation prize, but it is not Merzouga and nobody should pretend otherwise.
And if you want the version with almost nobody else in it, Erg Chegaga is the remote one — bigger dune field than Zagora, reached by 4x4 across the Iriqui plain, and far fewer camps. Ask for it specifically; it is not the default.
Toubkal: only if you are not already riding hard
This is the one where we will talk you out of something. Toubkal is 4,167m, and the standard ascent is two days of sustained walking with a very early summit start. It is not technical, but it is altitude and it is long.
Stacking it against a hard riding week is usually a mistake. Your legs will be finished, you will enjoy neither properly, and the summit day is the one that suffers. If you want both in one trip, do the trek first and ride afterwards, or put a full rest day between them — or swap the hard riding for our e-bike day tour, which reaches the same 2,300m pass without the legs.
If it fits, the 4-day Toubkal summit trek is the version with enough acclimatisation to actually enjoy the summit rather than endure it. There is a 3-day version via the Aguelzim pass for people who are already fit and short on days. Both start in Imlil — the same village we are based in, which means you can ride one half of your trip and walk the other without moving hotels.
The imperial cities, if you like cities
Fes is the one worth the journey. The medina is the largest car-free urban area in the world and the oldest continuously operating university is in it, and it is a genuinely different city from Marrakech rather than a bigger version of it.
The 3-day Marrakech to Fes tour goes over the Middle Atlas and through Volubilis, the Roman site, which is the part people do not expect and usually rate highest. There is a 5-day version covering all four imperial cities if you have the time and like that sort of thing.
Chefchaouen, the blue town in the Rif, is the other one people ask about. It is genuinely beautiful and genuinely far — four days from Marrakech and back is the realistic minimum.
Day trips that are worth the day
If you have single days to fill rather than blocks, these are the ones we actually recommend. All of them are out and back from Marrakech.
- Ouzoud waterfalls — 110m of falls, wild Barbary macaques, and a swim at the bottom. About three hours each way, and the best single day trip from the city.
- Agafay at sunset — stone desert rather than sand, forty minutes from Marrakech, dinner under the stars. The one to do if you have an evening rather than a day. You may recognise it: our 2-day Berber valley e-bike tour rides across it.
- Ourika valley — the closest green valley to the city, waterfalls and Berber villages, and a short walk rather than a trek.
- Marrakech medina on foot — worth doing with a guide on your first day rather than wandering and getting quietly fleeced. The souks make more sense with someone explaining them.
If you are flying into Agadir
Agadir is three hours from Marrakech and has its own set of trips, which matters if your flights are cheaper into the coast. Paradise Valley and the Immouzer waterfalls is the day everybody does and it deserves the reputation — palm gorge, natural pools, a swim.
There is also a 3-day Sahara trip from Agadir if you want the desert without backtracking through Marrakech first, and Taroudant — a walled town that looks like Marrakech did fifty years ago — as a day out.
How to actually plan the week
Three rules, learned from watching people get it wrong.
- Ride first, drive later. Riding is the part that needs legs and weather. Do it early in the trip while you are fresh and while you still have days spare if a storm moves your dates.
- Do not stack two hard things back to back. A desert trip is nine hours in a vehicle each way; a trek is two days on your feet. Either is fine after riding. Both is a lot.
- Leave a day in Marrakech at the end. Not for the sights — for the fact that everything in Morocco takes longer than planned, and a spare day is the difference between a relaxed last evening and a scramble to the airport.
If you tell us what else you are doing when you enquire, we will build the riding around it rather than against it — that is what our private and custom trips are for, and it is usually free. Always easier than rearranging afterwards, and if you have not booked the rest yet, we are happy to point you at the right people.
Common questions
Can you book the desert or trekking part for us?
We do not run those trips ourselves, so we do not take bookings for them. We send people to Marrakech Eco Tours, who run desert, trekking and cultural tours out of Marrakech and Agadir. Tell us what you are thinking and we will make sure the riding dates work around it.
Is three days enough for the Sahara from Marrakech?
Three days is the minimum that works for Merzouga, because the drive is about nine hours each way. Two days gets you to Zagora, which is a genuine desert night with smaller dunes and a much shorter drive. One day gets you a lot of coach and no desert worth seeing.
Can I climb Toubkal and ride in the same week?
Physically yes, enjoyably usually not. Toubkal is two days of sustained walking at altitude, and stacking it against hard riding means you will do both badly. If you want both, put a rest day between them, and do the trek before the riding rather than after.
What is the best single day trip from Marrakech?
Ouzoud waterfalls, if you have a full day and do not mind three hours in a vehicle each way. Agafay at sunset if you only have an evening. Both are run by Marrakech Eco Tours.
