Merzouga desert tour 3D

agoudal travel

Tour Overview

The 3 days desert tour to Merzouga is very popular, because it allows visitors with tight schedules to have a condensed experience, visit the beautiful Merzouga and ride camels on the dunes to witness the astonishing sahara sunset, visit Ait benhaddou kasbah, the valley of Dades and the gorges of Todra, all in 3 days,

PS: the third day is a very long and straight drive from Merzouga back to Marrakech with minimal stops and breaks, if you have time, we recommend you take the longer versions of this tour. The 4 days version offers a slower pace with more free time to fully enjoy the attractions and scenery.

Tour map

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Tour Itinerary

Departing from Marrakech and heading south, we will cross the highest pass in Morocco, named Tizi N'Tichka, after descending for a while, we will arrive at Ait benhaddou village, classified by the UNESCO a world heritage site in 1986. A beautiful preserved Ksar ( a village made of kasbahs), where many film shots were made such as The gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, and even Game of Thrones. Once in the village, you will have a local guide accompany you to visit the area and climb to its summit to get a great view of the whole valley of the Ksar and the whole valley of Ounila.

After the visit, you can have lunch in of the restaurants in the new side of Ait benhaddou, our drivers will recommend the best quality/price ratio places. After a delicious meal, we will continue towards Ouarzazate, also called Hollywood of Africa, famous for its attraction of filmmakers, it has 2 cinema studios and a cinema museum along with its beautiful kasbah of Taourirte, you can optionally visit one of these attractions but a short break in front of the kasbah to take a photo is already included.

Leaving Ouarzazate and continuing south, after crossing Skoura region with its beautiful palmgroves, we will enter the valley of roses with its capital Kelaat-Mgouna, famous for its damascina rose, which the locals have excelled in transforming it to a variety of perfumes, soaps, creams and more. The blooming season where one can actually notice the roses in the nearby fields starts mid-April and ends mid-May and a yearly festival is held in town to market new products, celebrate and choose a rose queen...yaaay

Leaving Kelaat-Mgouna and continuing on the same national road, we will arrive to the small town of Boumalen-Dades, where we take a sharp left and head up the awesome valley of Dades, with its contrasting colors of reddish mountains and vibrant green river sides. A short stop to admire the famous rocky formations of the Monkey feet, before heading to our hotel for the night.

Once at the hotel, your luggage will be taken to your rooms, and welcoming tea will be served at the reception, then you will be shown to your rooms and why not take a hot shower to relax after the long day. A delicious dinner will be served at the hotel restaurant, and musical plays by the staff usually take place after that

 

Overnight Options
  • SILVER
    • Dar blues
    • Jnan Tiouira
    • Ksar Sultan
  • GOLD
    • Xaluca Dades
    • Chez pierre

Leaving Dades valley after a refreshing breakfast, we will head to Tinghir, where we will take a sharp left again to visit the famous Todra gorges with their beautiful cliffs that serve as a nice mountain climbing spot for enthusiasts, you can enjoy a 30 minutes walk there, take some great photos, have a coffee or tea before continuing the road.

After Tinghir, the immense barren plateaus announce our approach to the desert areas of the country, the lunch stop can be made either in Tinejdad or Touroug depending on the day pace and your hunger meter.

Driving even more, we reach Erfoud and then awaited Merzouga, where different camps are situated in different regions, your driver will take you all the way to your camel park at the edge of the dunes, you can enjoy a couple of minutes to stretch and adjust your scarfs and cameras, you don't need to worry about the luggage as it will be transported to the camp in the vehicle. Cameleers will assist you to ride your desert ship, probably after telling you their names as a fun introduction, you will then cross the dunes during sunset to enjoy the mesmerizing views of the Sahara and take some memorable photos. The ride takes around 1 hour give or take, and will take you all the way to your camp, or you will be welcomed with mint tea as usual, get to know the place and staff. You will be shown to your tents to sort your luggage that has probably arrived before you. Camps offer hot water for showers and electricity for charging electronics, so we highly invite you to be as responsible about those resources as possible, as most camps rely on solar energy to satisfy the basic needs.

 

Overnight Options
  • GOLD
    • Sahara stars Camp

Starting the day early to witness the absolutely magnificent sunrise over the mighty, vast dunes of Merzouga, the exact time of sunrise will be communicated to you by your camp hosts, as the time changes throughout the year. After that soul recharging experience, you will have an energetic breakfast at the camp. Once done, you will ride the camels from the camp back to the meeting point with your driver at the desert edge, to commence the long road trip back to Merzouga.

PS : If you need to arrive to Marrakech a bit early, each minute saved in the morning is precious, and that is why we offer the possibility of returning by car from the camp instead of the camels. You can discuss this with your driver the day before to make necessary arrangements, this will also give you the opportunity to ride the SUV throughout the sand and get a glimpse of the challenging but fun sand driving.

Once on the asphalt, you can appreciate the comfort of the vehicle to take a nap and rest for a while, since the scenery will be the same for quite a while as your driver crosses vast distances of the wasteland. The first coffee break could be in Alnif or Tazzarine, and a lunch stop can be  arranged either in Nkoub or Ouarzazate, depending on the day start and morning pace.

The day will only include minimal and necessary stops, as the distance to cover is quite important (which is why it is recommended to take longer versions of this tour whenever possible)

After crossing the High Atlas mountains once more, and arriving to the vivid city of Marrakech, your driver will take you to your hotel/riad or the closest parking lot if the place is not accessible by car, and can arrange the meeting with your hosts for the night if necessary announcing the end of our beautiful and memorable journey.

Tour Inclusions

  • 3 Days Private tour

    A private tour with your personal driver, for ultimate flexibility.

  • 2 nights accommodations

    Private rooms/tents with private sanitaries and showers.

  • Luxury desert camp

    Overnight in luxury desert camp, for a cozy and unforgettable night

  • Luxury vehicle with A/C

    Air-conditioned luxury vehicle for enjoyable drives.

  • Language speaking driver

    Our tours are in English, however you can request another language.

  • Car Wifi

    Driver can share Wifi hotspot connection on-demand.

  • Bottled water

    Bottled water will be provided throughout the tour.

  • Daily breakfast

    Breakfast is included in all accommodations during the tour.

  • Dinner meals

    Dinner meals are included in the southern part of our tours.

  • Certified city guides

    Certified guides speaking your chosen language for city visits.

  • Tickets to city monuments

    Entrance fees for all monuments included in the cities visits.

  • Local taxes

    Local taxes and toll fees are included.

  • Photo breaks & pauses

    Photo breaks and pauses in sites of interest throughout the tour.

  • Camel ride in Desert

    Included in desert tours but not mandatory if you prefer not to.

  • Baby Car Seat

    On-demand baby car seat for the kids comfort and security.

Not included :
  • Lunch meals
  • entrance fees to optional visits of Ouarzazate
  • Extra drinks on included meals
  • Gratuities ( optional )
Important notice:

The tour can be reversed, shortened, extended or altered in any way to suite your specific needs and schedule ! Don't hesitate to contact us and ask for other combinations

Frequently Asked Questions

With the rise in interest in vegan and vegetarian food, all our partners are now accommodating this need and offer completely vegan and vegetarian meals. However, this needs to be communicated in advance, either when booking or when meeting your driver for early preparation purposes.

A frequent and definitely good question, if you are not well-prepared, you might not enjoy your time fully in the desert due to the extreme weather conditions. Deserts get super hot in summer, in Morocco, August is the hottest month of the year, with temperatures reaching 50 °C—122ºF, you can literally cook eggs on the asphalt (great for a TikTok clip). With this said, if you can't take that much heat, please avoid visiting the deserts during July and August. If you are okay with this kind of temperatures; it is still highly recommended to come prepared with good sunscreen, sunglasses, a wide hat, light but covering pieces of clothing and some insect repellent, you can also purchase all these items in Morocco. And let's not forget winter days, starry nights are freezing. The mountainous parts of the roads are usually snowy, but all our vehicles are equipped with A/C for that matter, so make sure to bring warm clothes if you take this tour during December-January.

Arriving at the edge of the dunes, there is a meeting point where camels from different camps in the area are waiting for us, we will get out of the car, put on a scarf if you have one (the cameleer or your driver can help you properly install it) and then you will be introduced to your camel. Once your caravane is ready and onboard, you can take pictures or stories to memorize the moment, then take off and travel on the golden sands to see the sunset on high dune before continuing to the camp. Next morning, you can take the camels again on your way back to the meeting point or take a 4x4 . If a member doesn't want or cannot take the camel ride, the camp is accessible by 4x4 vehicle and it will get you there.

This once was a hustle indeed but no more, all camps nowadays have dedicated 4x4 vehicles that can transport your luggage from your tour car to the camp directly, so you don't have to carry anything during the camel ride. However, we highly recommend you only pack the things you will need for the desert night and transport it to the camp, while leaving the rest of the luggage with your driver.

Yes, you will have your own private hotel rooms and camp tents in all our tours, you can choose between different combinations of twin/triple/quadruple (separate beds) or double (single large bed) rooms and tents depending on your number and preferences but you will never share them with other travelers. All rooms/tents are equipped with private bathrooms and showers with hot water.

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