The shortest way to a night in the desert from Marrakech: over the Atlas, past Aït Ben Haddou and down the palm groves of the Draa Valley to a camp near Zagora.
If you have two days, this is the desert trip that fits them. The road crosses the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka, stops at Aït Ben Haddou and then follows the Draa Valley south, some 200 km of date palms, earthen villages and old kasbahs along the river. Near Zagora you ride a camel at sunset to the camp, eat dinner by the fire with music and wake early for sunrise before the drive home. The dunes here are smaller than at Merzouga, and the trade is one day less on the road.
We collect you at 7:00 am, cross the Tizi n'Tichka pass and stop at Aït Ben Haddou, with lunch in Ouarzazate. Then the long run down the Draa Valley, past palm groves, earthen villages and kasbahs that once stored the harvest. At Tamegroute you see the old library and the green pottery workshops. You reach the camp near Zagora in the late afternoon, ride a camel into the dunes for sunset and end the day with dinner and music by the fire.
≈7 h · ≈360 km
A short walk, or a camel if you like, to watch the sun rise, then breakfast at camp. We leave at 8:30 am, and the palm groves of the Draa look quite different in the morning light. Lunch is in Ouarzazate, home of the Atlas Film Studios, or on the way, before the drive back over the High Atlas. You are in Marrakech by 6:30 pm.
≈7 h · ≈360 km
Starts from: Marrakech — your hotel or riad
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