Three Countries, Three Deserts, One Set of Handlebars

Three countries, three deserts, one set of handlebars. Sometimes you do not need a trip around the world to feel the big adventure, just the right stage. In this post we take you on three motorcycle tours that look far apart at first glance and yet share the same promise: sand under the tyres, wide open space above the helmet, and roads that are not in the guidebook.

From the royal palaces of Rajasthan over the dunes of the Tunisian Sahara to Morocco's High Atlas, each of these tours has its own character. One is colour and commotion, the next silence and sand, the third switchbacks and kasbahs. What connects them is the feeling only a motorcycle gives you: you are right in the middle of it, not behind glass.

As you read, just pick your stage. It might even turn into more than one.

Let us start with colour. Riding Rajasthan on a Royal Enfield is like diving into another century, only with an engine. The rich thump of the Enfield, plus storybook palaces, desert forts, camels by the roadside and markets that hit all your senses at once.

You roll through the land of the maharajas, past pink and blue cities, out into the fringes of the Thar desert. Between temples and tea stops you get to know an India that is loud, warm and never dull. In the evening you fall into bed tired and full of images, ready to climb back into the saddle the next morning.

This trip is for anyone who loves culture and corners in equal measure and does not mind a little chaos, but enjoys it. If that gives you a tingle, take a closer look at the Rajasthan tour on the Royal Enfield.

Completely different, but just as intense: the Sahara on an enduro. This guided motorcycle tour takes you on travel and sport enduros deep into the Tunisian desert, over stone and sand tracks into the dune world of the Grand Erg Oriental.

Here teamwork counts. Together you master tricky sand passages, pitch your wild camp among the dunes and cook by the fire in the evening, while the starry sky of Allah's Garden rises above you. A support vehicle and the expedition kitchen keep you self-sufficient and free of worries.

The special part: this edition falls over New Year. You do not ring in the year at a party, but in the saddle and by the fire, with sand instead of confetti. For experienced enduro riders who finally want to put the desert under their knobblies, the New Year enduro tour through the Sahara is exactly right.

And then Morocco, for many the perfect way into the desert adventure, because here everything sits a little closer together. On this enduro tour you ride over the passes of the High Atlas, through palm oases and past mud kasbahs that look as if they grew out of the landscape.

Switchbacks screw their way up, and behind them wait gravel tracks, riverbeds and the first sand on the edge of the Sahara. Between Berber villages and wide plains you get an incredible amount of Morocco in a short time, from snow-capped peaks to warm dunes on a single trip.

It is the tour for anyone who wants variety: mountains and desert, culture and riding fun, all in one. If Atlas and Sahara on a single trip sound like your thing, take a look at the Morocco enduro tour through Atlas and Sahara.

Three trips, one thread. Whether colour and commotion in Rajasthan, silence and sand in Tunisia or mountains and kasbahs in Morocco, in the end it always comes down to the same thing: out of the routine, onto the bike, into a landscape that will not let you go.

Which stage is yours depends mostly on your mood. Are you after the overwhelming cultural programme, the pure desert silence or the colourful mix of both? You do not have to decide right away. Start with the one that gave you the biggest tingle while reading.

You will find all our motorcycle tours at a glance at Overcross motorcycle travel. We are happy to help you find your next stage. See you on the trail.