What's a good 5-day Morocco itinerary?

Five days is the first itinerary where I can give you Marrakech and the real Sahara — the towering Erg Chebbi dunes at Merzouga, not just a quick taste — without it feeling rushed, and that's why it's such a popular length. The shape I love is two days exploring Marrakech, then the great three-day desert loop that so many travellers describe as the highlight of their entire trip. You leave the city behind, climb into the mountains, and come back transformed.

Day three runs from Marrakech over the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka pass — a spectacular mountain drive — stopping at the UNESCO-listed kasbah of Aït Benhaddou (where countless films were shot) and Ouarzazate, then continuing through the Dades Valley with its rose fields and dramatic rock formations to sleep among the gorges. Day four takes you through the Todra Gorge's soaring cliffs and the date-palm oases of the Tafilalt, arriving at Merzouga in the afternoon to swap the vehicle for camels and ride into the dunes for sunset, a Berber camp, drumming and a sky thick with stars.

Day five is the long but scenic return: sunrise over the Sahara, then the drive back toward Marrakech (some routes loop a slightly different way so you're not retracing every kilometre). Yes, there's real driving on this loop — Morocco's distances are genuine — but it's broken up by constant changes of landscape, from snow-dusted peaks to gorges to palm groves to sand, so it never feels monotonous. This is the trip that shows you how astonishingly varied Morocco is.

If the desert isn't your priority, five days also makes a lovely two-city plus coast plan — three days in Marrakech with Atlas and Essaouira day trips, say — but honestly, the Marrakech-and-Merzouga version is the one I recommend most often at this length. It's the classic 'first proper Morocco trip' and it delivers the country's two signature experiences, the imperial city and the deep Sahara, in a window most people can manage.