surfmom

Hello my fabulous travel planners. We are planning a quick highlights trip to Morocco - I know, not enough time, but we are constrained. We are trying to limit where we go/what we do, but also want to hit a few "must-see" places.

Here is what I am proposing. Thoughts/Ideas/Feedback?

Day 1 (Monday) - arrive Marrakech (will be late and just transfer into city)
Day 2 (Tuesday) - Marrakech tour (with a guide). Cultural tour, etc.
Day 3 (Wednesday) - depart Marrakech (maybe Hot Air Balloon in the High Atlas in the AM?). Stay in High Atlas mountains, hike, explore, etc.
Day 4 (Thursday) - depart High Atlas, drive to Ouarzazate (or beyond). (about a 5 hour drive). stop en route?
Day 5 (Friday) - drive from Ouarzazate to Erg Chebbi. Overnight Erg Chebbi.
Day 6 (Saturday) - drive from Erg Chebbi back to Ouarzazate. depart Ouarzazate about 4.00pm

We thought about not doing Erg Chebbi and doing Agafay Desert instead. When I look at Agafay, I think we'd rather go to Erg Chebbi. We can fly out of Ouarzazate instead of Marrakech when we depart, so that saves abut 5 hours driving.

I know it is short, but we are squeezing it in....

vipsha

You don't say when you are going or where you will be flying in from or where you will be flying out to. The 1-day tour of Marrakech is definitely doable. I know that there are very few flights out of Ouarzazate and to very few destinations (if I remember correctly ~ 1 flight a week to Paris and maybe another 2 to Marrakech) so you may not be able to avoid the drive back to Marrakech.. Erg Chebbi was the highlight of our trip, but I am told such experiences can be had elsewhere with shorter travel times. We did see a lot of Morocco on our way to EC and back.

surfmom

vipsha We are flying from Ouarzazate to Paris (Orly). I've already checked the flight schedule on the day we want to go and the flight departure time is 16.00.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Erg Chebbi. We originally thought about doing Agafay, but it just isn't the same. (from my research).

thanks for your thoughts -

TimCullis

Make sure you leave enough time on the final day. Merzouga to Ouarzazate is 6 to 6 and a half hours at legal speeds and allowing for returning your hire car and getting through check-in and security you need to be leaving no later than 0730, and earlier would be better to allow a coffee stop.

surfmom

TimCullis Thanks for the feedback. we've actually changed our itinerary a wee bit just for that reason!

We are taking out the High Atlas overnight so that we can head south earlier and split up the drive -

thanks!