Marrakech to Zagora Desert Tour

Welcome to the Hollywood of Morocco.

Ouarzazate is a city with a lot to tell and show to its visitors. It's the Door of the Moroccan Sahara, being boarded by the High Atlas Mountains to the north and by Sahara desert to the south. The city was an important crossing point of the former caravan trade rout between Sahara and Morocco. Aït Benhaddou, Tifoultoute Kasbah, Taourirt Kasbah and Skoura Oasis are just some of the Ouarzazate attractions.

Ouarzazate is famous for having one of the biggest film studio in the world, Atlas Studio. The studio was the shooting location of many well known movies such as Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, Gladiator, The Mummy and Alexander. Together with the nearby ksar of Aït Benhaddou which was also used as a shooting location in many films, Ouarzazate is named the Hollywood of Morocco.

You'll also be delighted by the beauty of nature that surrounds Ouarzazate: oases of palm groves and a stunning mixture of mountain and desert landscapes. If you decide to visit the city in May, you'll witness the most beautiful period of the year when the roses plantations in Draa Valley are blooming. There is also an annually festival in mid-May that is celebrating the rose crops, El-Kelaa M'Gouna Rose Festival, being a very popular festival in Morocco. Ouarzazate is nearby the festival location.

Zagora- the entrance to the Sahara desert.

Zagora is a Berber city in Draa Valley of the Draa River, the longest river in Morocco. The beautiful city is surrounded by the Anti-Atlas Mountains and is directly bound with the Sahara desert. Around Zagora there are impressive palm groves (small oases) along the Draa River which beautifully contrast the desert landscape.

When you'll arrive to Zagora, you'll notice instantly the different culture and the way of life of the desert people. Zagora will conquest you with the modesty of the locals and their rich culture. Here you can attend annually the International Nomads Festival in M'Hamid that aims to preserve and promote the nomadic cultural identity. Another unique festival celebrated in Zagora is the religious Moussem of Sufi Moulay Abdelkader Jilali, which is a real attraction for visitors.

In our tours to Zagora, you'll take a camel ride to the Sahara desert. You'll sleep in traditional Berber camps in the deep desert and you'll live a small part of the local culture. In the morning you'll enjoy the amazing sunrise over the Zagora dunes and you'll fill up your soul with calm and positive energy.

Aït Benhaddou is an 11th century ksar (fortified village) in the Ouarzazate province that strikes with its historic architecture. The village is an amazing evidence of the ancient architecture in the South of Morocco. That's because the ksar was built with very old techniques where the rammed earth, clay bricks, and wood were being used as main construction materials.

The ksar of Aït Benhaddou was a strategic site in the Ounila Valley along the caravan route between Marrakech and the Sahara for a long time. The fortified village has enjoyed a high prosperity at those times until the trade expeditions stopped. Aït Benhaddou became again well know in the French colonial because of its unique appeal.

Having an important architectural value for Morocco and for the entire world, Aït Benhaddou has been an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. That increased the popularity of the ksar among tourists, and not only that. Aït Benhaddou was the shooting location for many famous movies and series such as Jesus of Nazareth, The Mummy, Gladiator and Game of Thrones. Thus, Aït Benhaddo became the Hollywood of Morocco together with Ouarzazate and the interest in visiting this attraction increased significantly. Beside the fortified village that's a wonderful attraction per se, you'll also find in Aït Benhaddou a mosque, a kasbah, and a caravanserai which will take you many centuries ago.