Off-Road 6 Day Tour: Morocco Desert Quest

Seven nights from Ouarzazate across three ergs, guided, six days of riding with around ninety per cent of it off-road.

Ninety per cent off-road is the figure the operator gives, and it is what separates this from the shorter tours: there is almost no tarmac, and the itinerary is built to maximise time in the sand rather than to link up towns.

Ouarzazate opens and closes it. Foum Zguid comes first, then Oualid Driss, Ouzina, Merzouga, Dades and back. Across the week the route takes in all three of the major dune fields, Erg Chegaga, Erg Ouzina and Erg Chebbi, with an attempt on the tallest dunes in Morocco at 205 metres, and crosses the Jebel Saghro, where the trails wind with real drop-offs into the valleys below and the landscape turns lunar. Some sand and dune experience is preferable rather than essential, and the buggies can join the whole route, which keeps it accessible. The support truck follows close behind with the mechanic for punctures and a check-over after a fall.

The KTM 450 EXC or a buggy, third-party insurance, all the fuel, GPS, airport transfers, twin-shared half-board accommodation, picnic or cafe lunches, drinking water in the support vehicle and the support truck with driver and mechanic are all included; flights, medical insurance with repatriation, gear and a returnable deposit of €700 or €2,000 are not. A head torch is on the kit list for the desert bivouac. September to May is the season and a full biking licence is required. Eight days with six riding is the operator’s deepest Moroccan itinerary short of the signature tour.