Brief description of a short day trip from Marrakech to the desert through the Atlas Mountains. This trip includes overnight in a Berber tent and camel trek into the desert, visit the famous UNESCO World Heritage attraction in the south of Morocco. Also discover all what the Dades valley has to offer. The next day in Tinghir we visit the gigantic Todra Gorge and enjoy the wonderful nature.
Marrakech Desert Trip planning
Table of Contents
The Marrakech Desert trip starts after breakfast from your accommodation. We leave early Marrakech and we take the direction of Ouarzazate. On the way we will have a photo stop in the high Atlas mountains. After enjoying a wonderful view of the mountains, we visit the oldest Kasbah in Morocco. Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou is one of the most popular places to visit in Ouarzazate and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. It’s better known as the Hollywood of Morocco, very famous movies have been filmed in this place, such as Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia. Before we visit the other historical monuments in the center of town, we take lunch in one of the local restaurants. Afterwards we drive along small Berber villages to Roses valley. The end point of this day trip will be the Dades Gorge where we will spend the night in Berber Kasbah.
The next day we visit Todra Gorge (600m high) on the road to the desert, Merzouga. On the way, we will stop in different berber villages and discover the culture of native Moroccan. Once we arrive to Merzouga, a camel caravan brings us to the highest dunes in North Africa, Erg Chebbi, where you can enjoy the sunset from the top of the orange dunes. After dinner we make a fire camp outside under thousands of stars and enjoy the desert with traditional Berber music. Get up early in the morning to enjoy the sunrise over the desert dunes, it’s really quite beautiful when the dunes change color.
After breakfast we leave Merzouga and we drive towards Ouarzazate via Tazzarine. Ouarzazate is about 368 km, thus, it is not so far, we will have enough free time to take a walk in the green fields of the Draa Valley and visit the mausoleum of the founder of the Alawite dynasty of Morocco. Then we drive further to Agdz where we will visit the Kasbah of Tamnougalt. After lunch we continue our journey to Ouarzazate, crossing different landscapes with different colors of the rocks. Overnight at Hotel in Ouarzazate.
After breakfast we return to Marrakech, where this fantastic adventure trip will come to an end.
Accommodation during the tour
- Hotel in Dades Gorge: Hotel Xaluca Dades
- Hotel in Merzouga: Merzouga Desert Camp
- Hotel in Ouarzazate: Dar Chamaa
- Riad in Marrakech: Riad Sidi Ayoub
Destinations
- Day 1: Marrakech to Dadès Gorges via Ouarzazate
- Day 2: Dadès Gorges to Merzouga via Erfoud
- Day 3: Merzouga to Ouarzazate via Tazzarine
- Day 4: Ouarzazate to Marrakech via Demnat
Marrakech Desert trip on Maps
We wish you much happiness and a successful trip!
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