The Moroccan village of Merzouga, a small desert settlement, is a true travel destination and is included in practically each round-trip itinerary’s scheduled program. It is the location to go if you want to take a camel ride in the Merzouga desert and potentially spend the night there!
The Sahara is the most breathtaking dune located in this region of the country. The so-called Erg Chebbi dunes at Merzouga can reach heights of 180 meters. A camel ride in the basking sun is the greatest way to take in these amazingly magnificent surroundings in a Morocco desert tour. A wonderful event that you won’t soon forget. So let’s uncover the beauty of small destinations you may cross in a 3-day Merzouga trip. However, to be precise, it takes a 4-day to travel to the Merzouga desert from Marrakech and back.
Traveling From The Atlas Mountains, Kasbah, And Ait Ben Haddou: Your three-day Morroco desert tour will begin with a car ride from Marrakesh. The countryside in Morocco’s south is simply magnificent. Your trip will be unforgettable thanks to the wide variety of landscapes you’ll have the chance to witness from the car. Soon after leaving the city, you’ll travel through the High Atlas mountain landscapes over the Tizi N-Tichka pass, which rises 2260 meters (7415 feet) above sea level. There are beautiful locations where you can stop along the journey to view some lovely Berber communities.
Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah: Later, you reach the Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah, a fortified settlement regarded as a fine show-off of Moroccan architecture. The Kasbah has served as a backdrop for several well-known films shot in Morocco, including “The Kingdom of Heaven,” “Babel,” “Prince of Persia, Game Of Thrones, and the latest David Attenborough’s A Life of Our Planet. Here in Ait Ben Haddou, you can explore the architecture of this Kasbah from the inside too. This ancient Berbere settlement, formerly a significant stop on the trade route from the Sahara, is built around a collection of adobe homes fortified with walls for defense.
The Dades Valley: Now, You can proceed to the Dades Gorges via Ouarzazate, Skoura, and the Valley of the Roses in Kalaat M’Gouna while taking in the breathtaking natural richness of Morroco, stopping at random stops. Later you can continue south along the Route of the famous 1000 Kasbahs. After reaching the Gorges in the evening, you must drive to visit magnificent rock formations famous as the monkey fingers. Then you can stay the night in your camps at our hotels. It’s about 353 kilometers of driving distance overall and takes approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes to drive.
To Tinghir Todgha Gorge Merzouga From Dades Valley:
The tour of the Moroccan desert is incomplete without a visit to Tineghir, where you can stop for a panoramic view of quaint Berber towns and a lush oasis filled with palm trees. You can walk underneath this deep Canyon, known as Toudgha Gorge, which is not distant from this location. It is 300 meters high. Despite the height, the place is always rushed by tourists due to its exceptional beauty.
You’ll go Morroco camel trekking across the Erg Chebbi dunes when we get to Merzouga later in the day. During the hike, you’ll pause at a high dune to take a breathtaking sundown over Erg Chebbi’s golden dunes. Ride your camel until you reach your tent, where you can experience the traditional welcome with a cup of tea. After that, take some time to unwind. You enjoy sitting around a campfire with Berbers playing drums and sharing stories beneath a starry sky with a great Moroccan meal or spending the night in your tent. It’s about 275kilometerss of driving distance overall that takes around 4 hours.
Camel Trekking and Beautiful Sunset in Merzouga: People are always excited about the impending camel trekking in Marrakech to Merzouga holiday tours. After gliding leisurely over the Erg Chebbi on desert boats for around 15-20 minutes, you can find yourself over the first dunes. The sand looked reddish-yellow as a hot gold in the setting sun as the dunes grew taller and higher. It is incredibly gorgeous to ride a camel over these dunes. You can stop sizable dunes more than 200 meters high after traveling for almost 1 1/2 hours before dusk. Even if the ascent is challenging, the breathtaking 360-degree panorama of the lovely Erg Chebbi desert is worth it.
Though it may be your last tour day, you must get up early to catch a spectacular sunrise from the nearby high dune. Following a sumptuous breakfast, you will have the option of leaving the camp on camels or in a 4×4 vehicle. Then return to Marrakech via car to end your Marrakech to Merzouga holiday tour. But this time, across the Valley of Agdez, Morocco’s longest valley. It is about 1100 kilometers long.
You must request your driver for random stops to explore the attractive location and take panoramic shots. When you reach Ouarzazate, you can have a photography stopover in front of the historical site “Taourirt Kasbah.” It’s an ancient place with rich historic importance. Then you can travel back to Marrakech from over the High Atlas Mountains. The three-day Marrakech to Merzouga desert tour concludes here. With a total driving of approximately 560 miles, that takes about 9 hours.
5-day Merzouga to Fes tour: A well-known Moroccan desert journey from Marrakech to Fes ends in the Merzouga deserts, where visitors may enjoy stunning attractions and try out wonderful adventures. It has stunning mountains like the Atlas and the well-known dunes of the Menuga and Erg Chebs deserts. In addition, it passes through beautiful locations such as Bay Cedar Forest and Lane City on the way to Fes.
It provides excellent experiences, such as passing by stunning views of the Atlas Mountains and places like Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah. It offers hiking through the Todra Gorge Canyon, an adventure in Merzouga, and the ultimate camel journey to spend the night in a Berber camp. So let’s dive into it more.
The Way to Quarzazate: The Marrakech desert tour begins with a car journey to Quarzazate. On the journey, you will pass by the amazing Tizi n’Tichka port, which is 2,260 meters high, and cross the High Atlas Mountains. The Kasbah of Alt Ben Haddou, a magnificent walled settlement where movies like Game of Thrones, Gladiator, and Lawrence of Arabia were filmed, is located not far after crossing the Atlas Mountains.
After visiting the Kasbah, you can go down the path of a Thousand Kasbahs to Skoura Casis, the Valley of the Roses, and Dades Valley. In Dades Gorge or Boumalne Dades Town, you can stay the night in a village inn or hotel. Way to Todra Gorge, the Merzouga Desert, and the Dades Gorges for Camel trekking: Following your visit to Boumalne Dades, you may continue your true Moroccan tour by traveling to the stunning Todara Gorge, where you can take a quick stroll through the 300-meter-high canyons. You can travel the way to the desert of Merzouga while passing through palm tree groves that are home to the tastiest dates. Continue to the lovely village of Erfoud, where you can see a marble factory and antiquities.
You may reach the Merzouga Sahara Desert hamlet in the afternoon to begin your camel trip to the desert camp. You can ride your camel through the bright, sunny dunes of Erg Chebbi to get to the camp. The Sahara desert, which stretches 35 km in length and 5 to 8 km in width, is where the dunes are found. It is also thought to have the highest dunes in North Africa.
The journey by camel takes around one and a half hours from Merzouga town to the nomadic settlement. Both a luxury and standard comfort camp are available. YOu can spend the night at any well-established resort with all the luxuries or under the sky. There are Berbers who play some Berber music after a great dinner in village inns at Morroco dessert tours. They employ traditional drums, and you can enjoy the traditional culture while gazing at the stars around a bonfire.
Tour Of The Erg Chebbi Dunes and Merzouga Exploration: On a 5-day trip from Marrakech to Fes, you finally get to explore the rich culture of Morroco camel trekking and the famous Erg Chebbi sand dunes trip at Merzouga dessert. Then you can explore the attractive and old Merzouga oasis. It’s the ancient irrigation system that the city barbers have always used. You also can visit Khamlia Village, popularly known as Black Town.
This town’s name beholds the dark-skinned population, who arrived in Morocco 100 years ago as enslaved people after emigrating from Sudan and Maly. They are famous for their Gnawa music. Many tourists who love music especially visit them for their artistic songs. After that, you can go off-roading along the Paris Dark path after listening to Gnawa music with your dinner and drinks.
You can get an incredible panoramic picture of the sandy sea dunes of Merzouga as you travel off-road along the Paris Dark Road. Then You can visit various mines and M’fis, a historic abandoned settlement constructed by French troops during the French occupation of Morocco. We’ll then, you can proceed to the Black Desert, which is famous for its black volcanic rocks. It’s a great chance for tourists to explore a nomadic lifestyle where folks reside in real nomadic tent cities and understand their lifestyle and earnings. Here you can enjoy pizza since It is a specialty dish in the region. The pizza made by the Berbers here lacks cheese and is baked in the scorching sand of the Sahara. However, it’s delicious.
Destination To Fes Via Ziz Valley, Cedar Forest, and Ifrane: The route to Fes is lengthy, passing through Erford City. It’s a lovely town where you can visit marble industries and antiquities like fossils. It is also the place where the richest coconut palm trees are grown. Then you can make a short stay at Ziz Valley, take the beautiful panoramic view, and capture it to relish the natural esthetics. After that, you can proceed to Errachidia and, traversing the High Atlas Mountains, reach Midelt, the city renowned for its fresh apples. You can stay in multiple hotels and take in the beauty before continuing to the Azrou Cedar Forest. It is popular for its view of wild monkeys in their natural habitat. Later you can Move onward to Ifrane, a small, charming town often called Moroccan Switzerland. And here, the 4-day trek from Marrakech to Fes via the Morroco Sahara Desert finishes after an adventurous journey.
Final Wrap: The route between Marrakech and Merzouga is dotted with spectacular sites – whether you are a history buff or a nature lover. From the white snowy peaks of the Atlas Mountains to deep river canyons and gorges of Todra and Dades, the historical sights of Rissana, and the beautiful villages by the Draa River – all make it a beautiful road trip with multiple stops on route! There are several ways for desert tours to Merzouga from Marrakesh. The long road trip is one of the most favorable options. You can relish nature, palm trees’ greenery, the sun’s warmness on Camel rides in Morroco, dunes, and breathtaking sunsets at dune trips in Merzouga. Just make sure you choose the right hotels and trip advisors and enjoy every bit of your trip because there is so much to explore, like traditional music, historic places, multiple terrains, and beautiful locations.