Marrakech to Merzouga Desert Tour: Camel Trek & Ait Ben Haddou

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Duration3d

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · IT +2

PickupAt your hotel

Cross the High Atlas, ride camels at sunset, sleep under desert stars

A three-day guided tour from Marrakech to Merzouga crosses the High Atlas Mountains through Ait Ben Haddou and Dades Gorges, then descends into the Sahara for camel trekking and a night in a desert camp. A driver-guide leads the route in a 4x4 or minibus with air conditioning; accommodations, meals at the hotel and camp, camel rides, and turbans for the trek are included, though lunches and drinks are separate.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Marrakech to Dades Valley via Atlas

Pick up in Marrakech at 08:00
Drive through Tizi N’Tichka Pass
Stop for photos and village views
Visit Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah
Lunch break
Visit Taourirt Kasbah in Ouarzazate
Drive through Skoura palmary and Valley of Roses
Arrive at Dades Valley hotel
Dinner and overnight stay

Day 2 — Dades Gorges to Merzouga Desert

Breakfast at hotel
Visit Monkey Toes rock formation
See Kasbah of Ait Yul
Drive to Tinghir and Todra Gorges
Walk under Todra Gorge cliffs
Lunch in Erfoud or Rissani
Arrive in Merzouga village
Camel ride into Erg Chebbi dunes
Overnight in Berber desert camp

Day 3 — Merzouga Desert to Marrakech

Sunrise camel ride in dunes
Return to hotel for breakfast and shower
Drive through Tafilalet palm grove
Pass Rissani and Draa Valley
Lunch break in Ouarzazate
Return to Marrakech
Drop off at riad or chosen location

The Experience

The tour starts at 8am with pickup from your accommodation in Marrakech. Your driver-guide takes the route over Tizi N'Tichka Pass at 2,260 meters—the highest road pass in Morocco—where stops let you photograph the High Atlas and Berber villages below. By midday you reach Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of earthen kasbahs where you have free time to walk the old settlement before lunch. The afternoon continues through Ouarzazate and the Skoura palmary into Dades Valley, where you spend the night in a hotel with dinner and breakfast included.

Day two leaves Dades at dawn to see the rock formation called the monkey toes and the 19th-century Kasbah of Ait Yul, then moves toward Tinghir and the Todra Gorges—a 300-meter-high red cliff where rock climbers work the walls. The route passes through old mud villages and continues to Erfoud and Rissani for lunch before reaching Merzouga in the late afternoon. Here a camel and an experienced camel guide wait for you. You ride across the Erg Chebbi dunes as the sun sets, then spend the night in a traditional Berber nomad tent or a luxury desert camp with dinner under the stars and Berber drums.

On the final morning a camel guide wakes you early to watch the sunrise from the dunes, then you ride back to the camp for breakfast and a shower. The return to Marrakech follows the Draa Valley through Rissani and Alnif, with a stop in Ouarzazate for lunch and free time before arrival in the evening. Drop-off is at your riad or anywhere in the city you choose.

What’s included

Transport in a 4x4 vehicle or minibus with air conditioning and a driver-guide.
hotel overnight stays in Dades Valley with breakfast and dinner.
camel trekking across the Erg Chebbi dunes with a camel guide.
one night in a desert camp or Berber nomad tent with dinner and breakfast.
a turban for the camel trek.
sandboarding in the dunes.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditionsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Marrakech Camel Trips - Day Trips

Is this one for you?Three days is long enough to cross the mountains, walk the kasbahs and spend a full night under stars in the desert, but short enough to leave the rest of your Marrakech trip open. The fixed itinerary and included transport mean you don't arrange the route or the camel trek yourself; the guide handles the timing so the day holds together.