Tour Highlights:
- Visiting Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, Kasbah Amredhil, and Kasbah Tamnougalte
- Exploring Skoura Oasis unlimited palm groves and driving through the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs
- Stopping at Kel’aa M’gouna to visit the cosmetic co-operatives
- Discovering the Dades and Toudgha Valleys and Gorges
- Stopping at Berber villages, interacting with the local inhabitants and learning about life in the oases
- Riding camels to the top of the dunes and photographing your friends wearing blue turbans
- Dining under a starlit sky, dancing to Berber music and drumming, and sleeping in nomad tents near the big dunes
- Strolling in the Dra’a Valley with its green palm groves and numerous Kasbahs
- Visiting the green pottery workshops and ancient Quranic library in the village of Tamgroute
- Crossing the Anti-Atlas Mountains via the Tizi-n-Tinfifite pass
Desert tour from Ouarzazate to Merzouga and Zagora Overview:
Outside of Merzouga, in Erg Chebbi, are the most well-known and well-liked Sahara sand dunes, with different vistas along the route. In addition to fortified Kasbahs, lush oasis, stunning valleys, vast canyons, and breathtaking sand dunes, this 4-day desert trip from Ouarzazate offers a one-of-a-kind experience in the southern region of Morocco.
On this Ouarzazte desert trip, the following locations hold the highest significance: the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, the exquisitely restored Kasbah Amredhil, the historic Kasbah Tamnougalte, the Valley of the Roses, the Dades and Dra’a Valleys, and the ancient caravan route. Each location offers the chance to explore Berber settlements, talk to locals, and see what it’s like to live in an oasis.
You may ride camels in the desert and take pictures of your pals standing in the sand dunes wearing blue turbans. You will be able to see both the dawn and sunset from the top of Erg Chebbi’s beautiful dunes. You will eat your meal outside beneath a starry sky and then dance to music and rhythms from the Berber people. In Merzouga, you spend the night in a unique, private, and cozy tent close to the large dunes. And the memories of the day’s desert excursion will fill your dreams.
Ouarzazate desert trip to the Erg Chebbi dunes and Zagora itinerary:
Day 1: Ouarzazate – Dades Valley (117 km):
Following breakfast in your riad, your driver/guide will take you up at 8.30 am in a spacious 4WD car and bring you to Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, which you will tour with a local guide. The most well-known kasbah in Morocco is Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has served as the backdrop for several Hollywood blockbusters.
You proceed forward to Skoura Oasis from here, where you may stroll among the enormous palm trees and see the fortified Kasbah Amredhil. Soon after, your journey leads us through Kel’aa M’gouna, the Valley of the Roses, and the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. Here, a visit to one of the numerous cosmetic goods cooperatives is planned to see how the many roses are transformed into perfumed cosmetics and personal care items.
After lunch, you’ll veer off the beaten path to learn more about life in the oasis and take in the continuously shifting scenery. You will make stops along the route at the caves occupied by whatever Berber nomads chance to pass by and make a claim there. You visit them for a cup of tea and then head to the Dades Gorges.
There will be time once we get to Dades Gorges to stroll around the farms and gardens and through the valley. Either a hotel or a kasbah will be where you spend the night.
Day 2: Dades Valley– Merzouga (248 km):
Your Ouarzazate trip continues after breakfast to the Dades Gorges, where you may enjoy a stroll by the river and a little distance further. Once you turn back north toward the mountains and reach Tinghir, you proceed back down the valley to the main road. There, you may enjoy another little walk along the river between the gorge’s steep, slender walls.
You soon continue our journey via Tinjdad to the Erg Chebbi dunes. You may see the intriguing “khattarat” subterranean water canals in Tinjdad after lunch. They are located far below the surface of the ground and are constantly cold, avoiding the evaporation of this source of irrigation. The journey continues to the Oasis of Tafilalt and Erfoud, where you may visit and is renowned for its fossil and artifact exhibitions.
After being greeted with a drink of tea at the desert camp, you will ride a camel for an hour to an hour and a half to the top of the Erg Chebbi dunes, where the sunset is spectacular and the dunes extend as far as the eye can see.
Enjoy dinner outside beneath the stars, then spend the evening listening to Berber music and drumming around the campfire:
The accommodation for the night will be a luxurious camp with a private bathroom, king-sized mattresses, lovely Moroccan furniture, and tastefully placed lighting to enhance your enjoyment of the solitude and beauty of the dunes.
Day 3: Merzouga – Zagora (280 km):
If you get up early enough, you will be rewarded with the magnificent dawn, when the dunes’ color and the shadows’ interaction create a truly spectacular scene. There will be time for a second camel and a walk over the dunes after breakfast. Shortly after, the route from Merzouga to Zagora continues past the villages of Rissani, Alnif, and Tazzarine, which were shown in the “Babel” film. Dinner will be served at a stunning riad where the night will be spent.
Day 4: Zagora – Ouarzazate (160 km):
After breakfast, you travel south to Tamgroute hamlet to see the green pottery studios and the Quranic Library. Although it is particularly well-known in the south, this pottery is also present in the medinas of Marrakech, Rabat, and Fes.
In order to gain a greater sense of the palm tree farms, fortified kasbahs, and lush oasis, you drive up the Dra’a Valley in the direction of the north while off-roading along the old caravan route. We’ll pause at panoramic vistas to take pictures and stretch our legs.
A visit to Kasbah Tamnougalte, where you will have lunch, is planned with a local guide at the top of the Dra’a Valley. We travel back to Ouarzazate in the late afternoon across the Tizi-n-Tinfifite pass in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. Your journey to the Erg Chebbi dunes in the Ouarzazate desert will come to an end when your driver escorts you back to your accommodation.
Good to know on your 4 days tour from Ouarzazate:
- This Ouarzazate desert trip to Erg Chebbi dunes can be customised to accommodate your areas of interest
- We require a 20% deposit of the total price to book the car, while the balance is payable to us in the office in Ouarzazate
- We accept payment through PayPal, bank transfers in Europe, by credit card, or cash (USD, Euro, GBP or MAD)
- There is a 25% reduction for children under 12 years old, whilst we do not charge children under 5
- These prices are liable to fluctuation according to the current exchange rate
- Our prices are subject to an increase over the Christmas and New Year period
- Also, due to globally increased fuel prices, you may receive a higher quotation in our correspondence during other seasons
Departure Location:
Accommodation in Ouarzazate.
Departure Time:
8:30 am
Duration:
4 days/ 3 nights
Return Location:
Accommodation in Ouarzazate.
Comfortable Vehicle
+4 Hours
+1 People
English speakers drivers
Includes:
- Pickup & dropoff service.
- English speaking driver/guide.
- Accommodation.
- 4 WD vehicle with fuel.
- Breakfast.
- Dinner.
- Camel for each in the desert.
Excludes:
- Plane ticket.
- Travel insurance.
- Monuments fees.
- Lunches.
- Tips.
- Drinks.
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