Top 5 Things to Do on Your Trip to Ouarzazate

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Ait Benhaddou, Ouarzazate

“See Ouarzazate and die” are feelings often expressed by Moroccans with regards to this magical city that is the door to the Sahara Desert. Located just four hours from Marrakesh, Ouarzazate is the main Berber city in the south known for its spectacular sunsets and dramatic mountain and desert scenery. Surrounded by breathtaking valleys, Ouarzazate was once crossing point for African traders seeking to reach northern cities in Morocco and Europe. During the French period, Ouarzazate expanded considerably as a garrison town and became the administrative center of the Zagora region. Ouarzazate is best visited on a Morocco Private Tour or a Day Trip for those who have a limited time in the region. Often considered a city that has been left behind, this Sahara town that is the door to the desert lays claim to various Berber people and tribes who came from different regions and settled there. Today Ouarzazate’s proud icon is one of the world’s largest solar plants.

Top 5  Things to Do in Ouarzazate, Morocco – Private Tour Excursions

Ouarzazate City Tour:

Enjoy a One-day Guided Tour of Ouarzazate with lunch in a Kasbah family home. Ouarzazate became famous when it’s nearby Kasbah; Aït Benhaddou appeared in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. This spellbinding quiet town is the perfect home base for exploring the southern region of Morocco which is comprised of ancient Kasbahs, the Oasis of Fint, the Atlas Films Studios, and Kasbah Taourirt.

Excursion to Skoura:

Enjoy a One-day Guided Tour of Skoura with lunch at a local guest house and views of the Valley of One Thousand Kasbahs. During the season of Almonds consider an excursion to Sidi Flah.

Skoura is a fertile oasis lined with immense palm groves that provide great views of the Atlas Mountains alongside deserted landscapes. It is renowned for the cultivation of roses. The palm groves were laid out in the 12th century by the Almohad sultan Yacoub el-Mansour and named after its original inhabitants, the Berbers of the Haskourene tribe. The most beautiful kasbahs in southern Morocco can be found here. Many of them are still partially inhabited. Visit Kasbah Amerdihl, Kasbah Ait Abou, go for a Palmeraie walk, and see women weavers, potters, and local Berber Village life.

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Saghro Mountain Region, Berber Villages

Excursion to Boumalne Dades Valley:

Enjoy a One-day Guided Tour of the Boumalne Dades Valley with Lunch at a Local Guest House and Views of the Dades Gorge.

Explore the Valley of Roses. En route go by pise to the region of Mount Mgoun and the Valley of Nomads. Visit and break bread with a Nomad family and see how cave dwellers have lived in this mountainous region for centuries, isolated from the outside world peacefully. Sip tea with the Nomads in this region of Bouthgrar before heading towards the magnificent Dades Valley and the region of the Dades Gorge.nce you reach Boumalne at first sight you notice the limestone cliffs with uniquely shaped erosions and superb scenery and the valley spice (windy roads). Driving along you will pass flower filled fieldsfertile fieldsriverbanks, and several fortified ksours. 

Excursion to Todra Gorge:

Enjoy a One-day Guided Tour to the Todra Gorge, one of Morocco’s highest canyons with lunch in a Berber Village or a local Guest House.

Explore the Todra Canyon located just a couple hours from Ouarzazate. The drive is scenic as with the new roads built, you will pass the hotels at the mouth of the Gorge and up to the villages of Ait Hani, Tamtouchte and Imlilchil. The Todra, with cliffs rising dramatically up to 300m on each side of a narrow corridor, make up some of the most impressive cliffs and are by far, the highest in Morocco. The Todra Gorge is a spectacle with its gigantic rock walls changing color to create magical effects with the sunlight. In the morning, when the sun permeates through the bottom of the gorge, the rock changes from pink rose to deep ochre gradually throughout the rest of the day.
Berber Bread Baking, Excursion to Draa Valley & Ait Ouzzine

Excursion to the Draa Valley & the Berber Village of Ait Ouzzine:

Drive through Draa Valley, Morocco’s longest river. The formation is that of the Dades River and Imini River and flows from the High Atlas Mountains southeastward to Tagounit and from Tagounit mostly westwards to the Atlantic Ocean somewhat north of Tan-Tan. The Draa Valley is the road of the old caravans that once traveled to transport dates and other goods from the Draa Region to Marrakech.

Meet a local Berber family, sip tea in the Saghro Mountains, and dine on couscous in the village of Ait Ouzzine. Learning how to bread bake in a traditional oven or on volcanic rock. Then explore and tour the village on foot. Walk in the green fields and see how the traditional Berbers live with their gardens of herbs, livestock, and henna plants. On return from Ouarzazate stop to visit Kasbah Tamnagoult and the dusty Sahara town of Agdz known for its market of dates.