3 days in Morocco – Marrakech to Merzouga tour

Welcome to the largest and most beautiful dunes of Morocco!

Merzouga is a small village close to the largest sand dunes of Morocco, the Erg Chebbi dunes. The village is southeast of Morocco and is very close to the border with Algeria. The way to Merzouga passes through some of the most beautiful cities in eastern Morocco: Rissani and the oasis city of Erfoud. Erfoud was also used as a filming location for many movies due to the unique landscapes that surround the city.

Merzouga is the starting location of all the adventures to the Sahara desert. Here you'll take the camels to the desert or/and the Quad Bikes (if you add it as extra activity to your tour). In the desert you'll admire the charming sunset and sunrise over the large sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. That will be one of the best moments of your trip in Morocco and your life too. Depending on the tour, you'll sleep in traditional haimas (tents) at least one night. We ensure you'll fall in love with the beauty and the peace of the Sahara desert.

Dades is a place that everyone falls in love with. A place that impresses and strikes.

Dades Gorges is a series of gorges craved by the Dades River, a river that crosses the beautiful High Atlas Mountains range. You'll admire the amazing landscapes over gorges and mountains by passing through Dades Valley, named the Road of 1000 Kasbahs. The road starts from Ouarzazate and stretches out to the east to Tineghir oasis, passing hundreds of kasbahs and traditional Berber villages. Together with the Todgha River, Dades River also helped to carve out the Todgha Gorges, enormous limestone canyons which paint one of the most spectacular landscapes of Morocco. In Dades you'll also cross the amazing Rose Valley, a valley with fertile land where the locals plant roses every year. If you travel in May, you'll have the chance to enjoy the unique views of the blooming valley.

If you love to hike, we highly recommend you to take a Morocco hiking tour in Dades, getting to places where you can fully enjoy the beauty of the gorges and High Atlas Mountains. It's not recommended to go hiking alone if you're not a local as there is a high risk of getting lost.

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.

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.