4 day tour from ouarzazate to merzouga
4 days from Ouarzazate to Merzouga. Join us on an unforgettable excursion with Berber natives and experience the desert in a way you’ve never seen it before.
TOUR DETAILS
| Period | Departure | Return | Tour Type |
|---|---|---|---|
4 Days/3 Nights | Ouarzazate | Ouarzazate | Private |
Overviw
This 4 days from Ouarzazate to Ouarzazate is one of the desert itineraries that allows you to visit southern Morocco. We will explore the old settlement of Kasbah Ait Benhaddou, the panoramic views of the Todra valley, the Todra gorges, the Draa Valley, and the wonderful terrain of the Sahara desert with a full day exploring Merzouga Desert, over the course of four days. The tour comes to an end in Ouarzazate.
Highlights
- Promenade along the Todra oasis’s stream to the beautiful gorges.
- Spend time in Ait Ben Haddou’s Casbah and discover the Berber village.
- Taking a camel ride across the dunes.
- Spend the night in the Merzouga desert camp after enjoying a Berber meal under the stars.
- Enjoy the sights of Erg Chebbi and its magnificent sunset from the back of your camel.
Includes
- PICK UP AND DROP OFF AT YOUR ACCOMMODATION.
- AC PRIVATE FUELED TRANSPORTATION (4WD VEHICLE, VAN, MINIBUS).
- A DRIVER WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH OR A DRIVER ACCOMPANIED BY AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING GUIDE.
- OVERNIGHT IN A HOTEL OR A RIAD.
- OVERNIGHT IN A DESERT CAMP (PRIVATE TENTS).
- MERZOUGA CAMEL TREKKING.
- BREAKFASTS AND DINNERS.
Excludes
- LUNCHES
- DRINKS
- MONUMENT FEES
- TIPS AND GRATUITIES
Itinerary
Our driving guide will collect you up from your accommodation and transport you to Ait Benhaddou hamlet for the start of our 3-day Sahara desert tour from Ouarzazate. This fortified walled city was built directly on the caravan route between Marrakech and the Sahara in the 17th century and was once a prosperous commercial station. Six kasbahs and a limited number of dwellings are contained within the high mud walls. Ait Benhaddou has starred in a number of films, most notably Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia.
There will be time for a visit to the Kasbah. Following that, we’ll return to Ouarzazate, stopping to visit Atlas Studios and Kasbah Taourirte. Then, via Skoura’s palm plantations, the Rose Valley, and the Dades Valley, we continue our journey to Tinghir city. We will conclude our first day of the desert journey in Tinghir, where we will have dinner and stay overnight in a hotel or Riad.
Following a traditional Moroccan breakfast, we’ll continue our Sahara desert adventure, this time from Tinghir to Merzouga. We’ll explore Todra Gorge in Tinghir, which is known for its orange towering cliffs. Todra Gorge’s canyons are about 1,000 feet deep, making it a popular climbing location. Then, take in the lush green views of the Todra Valley, which are dotted with palm and almond trees.
We continue our journey to the Sahara desert in the afternoon, passing through numerous Berber settlements such as Tinjdad, Melaab, and Erfoud. On our trip, you’ll have time for lunch. Once you arrive at Merzouga, you’ll begin your Camel Trekking Adventure across the stunning, one-of-a-kind orange-colored sand dunes to the desert camp. Spend fantastic moments in an incredible location where you may feed your spirit and take in the magnificent sunset from the midst of the dunes. Dinner and nighttime will be held in camp, and you can romp on the sand dunes beneath zillions of stars.
After breakfast, we will begin our excursion around the Erg-Chebbi dunes. We will visit several interesting places in Merzouga. We’ll stop in Khamliya village to listen to African music (Gnawa) performed by people who are originally from the south of Africa. Then we’ll continue our desert road trip to the desert behind the Erg-Chebbi dunes. We’ll visit an abandoned village to witness the functioning fossil minerals, then drive to a nomadic Berber family to learn about their lifestyle.
We’ll return to Khamliya for a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant. We’ll take a ride to Merzouga Lake in the afternoon. If we’re lucky, we’ll find it full of water and see some birds, such as ducks and flamingos. If not, we’ll have to find it even if it’s dry because we can see camel pasture. While we’re there, we can observe and learn about local palm farms, then we will drive back ahead riad
We have to get up very early in the morning to see the sunrise. If you want to see the best sunrise you’ve ever seen from the top of a nearby dune in the middle of the desert, you have to get up early. After breakfast, we rode back to Merzouga on camels or in a vehicle to go back through Ouarzazate.
Leaving towards the town of Rissani, we’ll walk around the area’s most famous traditional and largest market, looking for locally manufactured goods and arts and crafts. Later, on the way to the Draa valley, we’ll make some stops to enjoy the beautiful views of the river that gives the valley its name. It’s the longest river in Morocco, going through the whole country before reaching Mauritania. Our trip continues through the Anti Atlas, and going towards Ouarzazate, and conclude our services.
Tour Map
Tour Gallery
Know before you go
- The cost of the tour is based on the number of people in your group and the kind of accommodation you stay in during the trip.
- The drive back from Erg Chebbi to Marrakech on the last day is somewhat lengthy. Please prepare yourselves for it.
- A 4×4 vehicle can easily seat up to four adult guests. However, if your tour has more than five individuals, a van will be used.
- Local guides and (if applicable) entrance fees are not included. You make direct payments to suppliers for those.
- The pick-up time for your desert tour is negotiable. Between 07:30 and 08:00 AM is the best time.
- The 3-day itinerary can be customized to be a 4-day Marrakech to Merzouga excursion with an additional night at Erg Chebbi, or halfway between Merzouga and Marrakech.