Zagora Desert Tour from Marrakech – 2 days

Zagora Desert Tour – 2 days:

Perfect for travellers looking for a fast-paced trip, this short but adventure-packed desert tour from Marrakech to Zagora Desert offers a great combination of southern Morocco’s highlights and the magnificent Sahara Desert with free time to explore on your own.

It is an incredible experience that includes a scenic drive across the spectacular Atlas Mountains, visits to the UNESCO Ait Benhaddou Kasbah and the fertile Draa Valley with its thousands of palm trees. You will also learn about pottery craftsmanship and visit a local old library in Tamgroute village.

The highlight of the trip is the tranquil desert of Zagora where you will hop on a camelback to reach your nomad campsite for a magical overnight in the nomad tent.

Highlights:

• Travel through the scenic landscapes of the Atlas Mountains and the beautiful Berber villages.
• Tour old Kasbahs: Kasbah Teleout and, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou.
• Experience a camel ride at sunset, try sandboarding, take epic photos and dance to nomad music and drumming.
• Taste delicious traditional local food, and stay in your private tent in a luxury desert camp.
• Drive through the Draa Valley with its fortified kasbah, palm trees dotted rivers and oases.
• Learn about pottery crafts in Tamgroute village and visit Kasbah Tourirt, the symbol of Ouarzazate.

What is included in the price:

• Transport in a private air-conditioned & comfortable van or 4WD vehicle
• Experienced English-speaking nomad driver-guide
• Pick-up from and drop-off at your hotel in Marrakech
• Meals: breakfast & dinner – with vegetarian and vegan options available
• One night in a luxury desert camp in Zagora desert under private & comfortable tents equipped with private bathrooms and shower
• A camel ride for about two hours with a guide in Zagora Desert and free sand-boarding, if desired
• Berber drumming & music in the desert camp
• Hiking in beautiful scenery and free time to explore the sites of interest
• Tea/ coffee in the desert camp

What is not included:

• Lunches
• Local guides
• Entrance fees
• Tipping

Itinerary:

1st day: Marrakech – Zagora

Departure in the morning from your hotel in Marrakech at 08:30 as you set out south on your 2-day desert tour from Marrakech to Zagora. You travel across the high Atlas Mountains and over the famous Tizi-n-Tichka pass (2260m).

From these mountains, the views over the valleys and the Berber villages perched on the mountainsides, sometimes barely distinguishable from the entourage of the mountains themselves, are spectacular.

Just after crossing the Tizi-n-Tichka pass, you descend until you finally reach Ouarzazate, the last big town before the desert. Here, you stop to visit the Atlas Studios, a movie wonderland known for keeping its sets and reorganising them to offer a wide range of choices to production studios, but also for letting tourists experience the unique thrill of the movie sets.

After lunch, you continue driving further south as far as the Draa Valley where you stop to visit Kasbah Tamnouglat in Agdez. Afterwards, you go along the ancient Caravans Road between the mountains and the river, which allows for a better view of the Berber villages and the oases.

You then reach Zagora, the largest oases town in the Draa Valley and the door of the Sahara, where you will have a camel ride to watch the sunset and have dinner in the Zagora dunes at the bivouac of nomad tents where you spend the night.

2nd day: Zagora – Marrakech

If you get up early enough to see the sunrise, you will be rewarded by the wonderful play of shadows across the sand. After breakfast, the return from the dunes of Zagora to the paved road is on camelback.

Afterwards, we drive north to reach Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou. This is the most famous kasbah in all of Morocco and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Kasbah is also renowned for its use as a filming location for many Hollywood blockbusters including “Alexander the Great”, “The Mummy,” “The Jewel of the Nile,” and “Kingdom of Heaven”.

In the afternoon, a visit to the Kasbah is scheduled with a local guide to learn about the significant history of this incredible place and its fascinating adobe buildings.

Afterwards, you drive back to Marrakech along a different road and through the beautiful Ounilla Valley, full of fortified Kasbahs, small villages and green fields as far as Kasbah Telouet. The Kasbah was the seat of the El Glaoui family, thus sometimes also called the Palace of Glaoui.

From here, you cross the Atlas Mountains and the Tizi-n-Tichka pass to arrive back in Marrakech by the end of the day.

Price Details