Marrakech to Mhamid: Overnight Sahara with Camel Ride & Tent

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/7

Duration2d

GroupUp to 8

LanguagesEN · DE +2

PickupAt your hotel

Two days crossing the Atlas to sleep under stars in the Sahara

You get picked up from your hotel at 8am, cross the Atlas Mountains, walk through the UNESCO Ksar of Ait Benhaddou with a local guide, descend into the Draa Valley, ride camels at sunset over the Erg Lihoudi dunes, sleep in a nomadic tent with dinner included, and return the next day after sunrise. The fixed itinerary and included transport mean you don't have to piece together logistics or timing across two days in unfamiliar terrain.

Step-by-step itinerary

Marrakech to Sahara Desert Journey

Pick up from hotel at 08am
Cross Atlas Mountains via Tizi N'Tichka pass
Visit Ait Benhaddou kasbah with local guide
Stop for lunch in Ouarzazate
Optional film studio tour in Ouarzazate
Descend to Draa Valley via Tizi n'Tinififft pass
Explore palm groves and visit Tamegroute kasbah
Arrive at Oulad Driss for camel ride
Watch sunset from highest dune
Overnight in nomad tent with dinner

The Experience

You've just landed in Marrakech, or maybe you've been here a few days already — either way, you've got a gap in your plans and the desert is calling. The pickup happens at 8am from your riad or hotel, and then you're heading south through the high Atlas Mountains on Tizi N'Tichka, the highest road pass in Morocco at 2,260 meters. The road winds, the air gets thinner, and the landscape shifts from the city's red clay to bare rock and snow-capped peaks. It's the kind of drive that makes you understand why the desert feels far away even when you're close to it.

By mid-morning you're in Ait Benhaddou, the fortified Ksar that's been the backdrop for dozens of films — your local guide walks you through the kasbahs, pointing out the earthen architecture and the families who still live inside the old walls. After that comes Ouarzazate, where you stop for lunch, and then the real shift happens: you drop down from the mountains into the Draa Valley, a ribbon of palm groves and villages that follows an ancient caravan route. The landscape opens up. You pass Tamegroute with its underground kasbah and Koran library, and by late afternoon you're in Mhamid, at the edge of the sand. That's when the camels arrive. You ride for about an hour and a half across the Erg Lihoudi dunes, watching the sun drop behind distant mountains, and then you're back at the nomadic tent camp for dinner — grilled meat, bread, tea — and the night.

The next morning you catch the sunrise from the dunes (it's quieter than the sunset, somehow), then breakfast and the drive back to Marrakech. The whole overnight Sahara tour takes two days, and what stays with you isn't just the camel ride or the tent — it's the feeling of crossing from one world into another, slowly enough that you notice it happening.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off from your Marrakech riad or hotel, transport by private vehicle across the Atlas Mountains and through the Draa Valley, a guided walk through the Ait Benhaddou kasbahs with a local guide, an hour-and-a-half camel ride at sunset over the Erg Lihoudi dunes, overnight accommodation in a nomadic tent, dinner and breakfast, and short walks to stretch your legs in the valley. A film studio tour in Ouarzazate is optional and not included.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelers

Operated by Authentic Sahara Tours

Is this one for you?Right for travelers arriving in Marrakech with two days to spare and no interest in arranging transport, guides, or logistics across unfamiliar terrain — the fixed itinerary and included meals mean you show up at your hotel at 8am and the rest unfolds without negotiation.