Marrakech: 2 Days tour to Sahara Zagora Desert & Ait-BenHaddou

Recommended by 90% of travelers

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Marrakech, Morocco

Great choice

5+ bookings last month.

2 days (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

While most Moroccan dessert tours are a minimum of three days, this 2-day express tour covers the highlights making it perfect for time-pressed travelers. Travel from Marrakech to the UNESCO-listed Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, and the dunes of Zagoram in just one day. Experience a camel ride in the Sahara, enjoy local cuisine, and stay overnight in a tent at a Bedouin desert camp.

Explore Ait Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate on a 2-day tour
Enjoy a sunset and sunrise camel ride in the Sahara Desert
Stay overnight at a desert camp with some meals included
A small group means more attention from your guide

What's Included

Dinner
Breakfast
Accommodation in private Berber Camp
Air-conditioned vehicle
Camel Ride
Pick up and drop off from your accommodation if it's accessible by car

Lunch and Drinks
Visit Studio Cinema in Ourazazate ( not allowed if there is not enough time or if they making movies
Local guide in Ait ben Haddou Optional (Cost 3€)

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to your preferred meeting point, or request pickup.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

The pick-up is included if your Hotel/accesible by car but if your accommodation doesn't accesible by car we will provide the nearest meeting point possible to your Hotel/Riad . BUT if your accommodation doesn't accesible by car and doesn't near to any of our meeting point or it far from the jamaa elfna square more then 6 km . The pick-up will cost an extra charge we will discuss about it .

Meeting points

Select a meeting point

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.7:20 am

Itinerary

Day 1

Marrakech to Kasbah ait Ben Haddou-Ouarzazate-Zagora

6 Stops

Marrakech

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

High Atlas

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Ait Ben Haddou

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Ouarzazate

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Draa Valley

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Zagora

7 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight At Berber Camp in Sahara Desert

Meals: Dinner

Day 2

From Zagora back to Marrakech

2 Stops

Zagora

7 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Marrakech

7 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Not included

Meals: Breakfast

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation

Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.7

based on 193 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Unbelievable experience in the desert

Sofia_O, Jan 2025

Very nicely organized tour. The hours spent on the van are a lot, but it's totally worth it! Tour at Ait-BenHaddou very nice, sunset camel ride spectacular! The camp was better than expected, even with a normal package the dinner was a lot (we all left something) and the bathroom was big and clean, so good for one night even if it's shared. All people were extremely kind! Our guide was very nice, explaining us some interesting facts along the journey. Only downside, we didn't like much the fact that we were a bit forced to buy the scarf for the desert in a very touristic place with overpriced stuff, same for both lunches: €12-15 per person for dishes that you pay €3-5 anywhere else.. but we couldn't choose anything else. Anyway, overall absolutely amazing!

Fine experience. Lots of room for improvement.

Michael_Z, May 2024

Overall a fine experience. Camel riding and camp were the highlights. The night accommodations were just a bed in a tent so may pose issues for picky sleepers. Unfortunately, the driver over was 6 hours there and 6 hours back. What’s the point of a long tour if there isn’t a tour guide talking about the history, culture, food, etc of the country? Our driver was great but no one was there to tell us the significance or background behind anything. On top of that, the restaurants they take you to are very mid and overpriced. The lunch place on the second day didn’t even take card, which I feel if you’re going to rip off tourists you at least need to take card.

Would do it again!

Amela_T, May 2024

The communication with the organizer was great, they told us where we would get picked up and it was close to our Riad. The plan was also as expected so no surprises. Our driver Abdul was amazing! We went as a family and my older father was concerned about the length of the trip (it takes 5.5h to get to the desert from Marrakech in a single shot, longer with stops) but Abdul made sure to stop enough time for him to feel comfortable. He was so understanding and it did not affect our travel time either. The stop at Ait Benhaddou is enough time to explore, but remember you don't have to go with the guide (who charges 3-4EUR per person just to walk with you since they don't really give any type of explanation). Just walk around yourself. Also, the lunch place the guide will take you to is subpar but not the cheapest. I get it, they want to make a buck but you do have choices (which the Viator organizer makes clear on the reservation!). The camp was nice, for the price you cannot expect some luxury but the communal washroom and showers were clean with hot water. The dinner was ok, if you have dietary restrictions like diabetes or gluten-free, bring some snacks, and also buy drinks before because they are overpriced at the camp (tea and coffee is included). The Berbers are accommodating at the camp, but they do get a little intense with their constant requests for tips. Overall, I would highly recommend the trip because you get great bang for buck and we met some really cool people on the trip.

Great experience!

Elias_T, Apr 2024

Sahara desert with the camp was beautiful and the the trip there included great scenery. The trip host delivered a great experience!

Abdul was a fantastic...

Kevin_L, Apr 2024

Abdul was a fantastic guide! Very fun and personable. Would highly recommend to anyone traveling to Marrakech!

Abdul was an amazing tour...

Oliver_P, Apr 2024

Abdul was an amazing tour guide. We had a lot of fun on this trip and it was definitely worth the price for how much you get. Would recommend

Horrible tour guide

Sarah_S, Apr 2024

Our tour driver picked us up after waiting for 15 minutes. Then stops at the gas station for gas. The van is packed and has no AC running and the driver has to pull over due to me getting car sick. I ended up sitting up front however, he still would not turn on the AC. We would make stops and he never told us about the places we were going to. Drop us off and say what time to be back at the van. He was 35 minutes late picking us up from one location as we stood in the hot sun waiting for him. Still no AC. He was driving 80kpm and dodging cars while talking on his cell and driving stick shift. The trip would've been 1000th percent better if he would of given us information about the different locations. Make it worst he dropped us off 15 minutes away from our pickup location and said its right there.

Too many «non-included »...

daniel_l, Apr 2024

Too many «non-included » items. Too much time in driven shopping. The guides didn’t speak our language. Not recommended,

Zamora camping

JM_D, Mar 2024

Epic journey into the desert made amazing due to our awesome driver Jalal; full of cheer and local knowledge, he was an excellent guide. Journey to Zagora was long with a few delays due to the amount of tourists, huge queue at the lunch venue and the tour operator forgetting to pick up two people - we waited en route to pick them up, so no one was left behind. We were late getting to camp and missed sunset but instead we had a gorgeous camel ride at night with a moon rise to accompany us. We were very well looked after by Rachid and Lassan at camp and entertained late into the evening with local music by fire light. Camel ride at sunset was cracking. A lot of time travelling by minibus but a wonderful adventure if you’re not been to the desert before. Highly recommended!

Amazing experience

Theodoros_K, Feb 2024

Camel Riding, Camp, Berber Hospitality! Quazazarte really beautiful! The overall experience was amazing!

Great trip and very...

Jesus_L, Feb 2024

Great trip and very memorable! Amazing pictures and all the guides were very kind. The camels appeared healthy and the guides treated them well.

Sahara Sunrise and Sunset

Katherine_H, Jan 2024

If you’re spending a few days in Marakesh, I would recommend this trip. It has so many parts that makes going to Morocco truly memorable. Seeing the sunset and sunrise in the Sahara is an experience of a lifetime and well worth the journey. It’s a long drive and you’ll spend a good majority of the trip inside the van. If you were like us who traveled as a group of 6, we got the tour all to ourselves which has an upside and a downside. The upside is, we get to be picked up from our Riad which means we didn’t have to scramble for taxi early in the morning. We get to swap seats amongst ourselves as needed for comfort and convenience. And we get to skip things we don’t really want to see. The downside is that the guide, Ayoub only focuses on us and I think he tried too hard to get us all to like him that we lost track of the schedule. On every stop he didn’t tell us how long we have and spent a lot of time telling us unrelated stories that the driver Yousuf had to call him because we were running behind schedule which was very important. Kudos to the driver for not rushing and ensuring our safety above the schedule because we’d rather get to the destination in one piece. However when we got to the Camel ride, the sun was already so low on the horizon that we didn’t get the opportunity to take photos with our camel which was supposedly one of the highlights of the trip. Yes we got to experience the sunset on the camel which I think is magical still, but more than 80% of our trip was in the dark. Good thing the moon was up that night, so it wasn’t disturbing. When we got to the camp we only had few minutes left to freshen up and start the evening activity. Another thing he does that he really needs to change is interrupting conversations he’s not part of throughout the night. We get it, he was trying to be accommodating but we were getting to know other guests in the camp and he would join and make random comments which made them uncomfortable. He’s the reason I can’t give 5 stars. He would offer to take our photos as a group then actually take videos asking us to say something nice about the trip. We’re a very shy group and it made us feel put on the spot. He needs to learn to accommodate the guests based on their comfort level not his own. Overall, the trip was still worth doing for the price. I would still recommend it because it adds a whole new experience to the overall trip to Marakesh. Despite the need for improvement with the guide we still felt that it was money well spent for what we got out of it overall!

Amazing experience very helpful staff

Mathew_A, Jan 2024

Excellent ! The transport is great, and Confortable, the Driver was very friendly and professional, we don't have to drive, we cross sublime landscapes, it's magnificent! The visit to Ait Ben Haddou is incredible, great guide - Ouarzazate not much to see except the film studios - and the night in the desert just wow! The camel ride joy and serious good humor to our guide in (Ait Benhaddou) great time with sunset and moonrise magical moment! Evening at the camp, meals, songs, dances, bonfire - shower, toilet, sink and NIKEL Camp ! In the morning we climb the dune to admire the sunrise! Unforgettable moment - Nothing to say, everything was perfect . Thank you So much KARIM he contacted us before our trip as he always available for any help or any information needed . I highly Recommended

Great experience in the...

Yesung_H, May 2023

Great experience in the desert. I was with people only speaking either Spanish or French but the guides really tried to use all the three languages.

NO CUMPLIÓ EN ABSOLUTO LO DESCRITO

Rubn_C, Jul 2024

En primer lugar, la empresa encargada de recogernos llegó 10 minutos tarde al punto de recogida. Tras ello, nos llevaron a otro punto de la ciudad y nos cambiaron de furgoneta sin darnos ningún tipo de explicación. Para nuestra sorpresa, sin previo aviso, formaron un grupo de distintas nacionalidades donde el idioma previsto para el resto del viaje era el inglés/francés (hecho que nos desconcertó e irritó a la vez puesto que el idioma para el tour completo que seleccionamos y por el que pagamos en la reserva era el *ESPAÑOL* ). En relación a Ouarzazate, la visita mencionada en la página web a los estudios se trató de una mera parada de minutos para tomar algunas fotos sin ofrecer opción a la visita (aún habiendo tiempo suficiente). Una vez llegado al desierto de Zágora, de un minuto a otro, nos obligaron a bajar de la furgoneta sin ofrecernos explicación previa y nos dejaron junto a un grupo de turistas que no eran aquellos con los que habíamos viajado. Una vez montados en el camello, nos hicieron cargar con nuestro propio equipaje mientras al resto del grupo se lo cargaban en un coche hasta el campamento bereber. En adición, el paseo que se refleja en la web de 1h y 30 mins de duración duró 45 minutos. La mañana siguiente, concretamos las 5.30am para comenzar a organizar la actividad de paseo en camello viendo el amanecer. Una vez preparados, nos comunicaron que no iba a tener lugar la actividad prevista (1h y 30 mins de paseo en camello viendo el amanecer) justificando que "estaba nublado". Como se suspendió la actividad, estuvimos 2 horas sin hacer nada hasta la hora de partida esperando a que nos dijesen algo. Finalmente cogimos el camello durante 30 minutos para dirigirnos al punto de encuentro (que fue una carretera, en vez de Zágora que se refleja en la web). Por último, además de todo esto, la conducción del guía (porque el conductor es el propio guia de la excursión) fue totalemente temeraria: exceso de velocidad, adelantamientos con línea continua, invasión del carril contrario, uso del teléfono móvil en la conducción, etc.

Incroyable

Melissa_G, Jun 2024

C’était incroyable, je recommande fortement. Les guides sont tellement gentil, des paysages magnifiques. Vraiment formidable.

Sem ar condicionado

Caroline_M, May 2024

Tudo incrivel. Porém viajar 6h sem ar condicionado na van foi um pesadelo, super quente e impossível descansar o que tornou a viagem muito cansativa. Fora isso, todos muito simpáticos.

Una noche en el desierto

butnaru_M, May 2024

Fue una gran noche en el desierto. Transporte confortable, gente amigable, una excelente cena . Me gustó mucho el tiempo recorrido en los camellos. Sin ningún afán y Jawaf fue un increíble guía,

Wow inoubliable !

Jennyfer_G, May 2024

Un véritable coup de coeur pour cette excursion. La balade en chameau, les guides, la soirée musicale près du feu, le coucher et lever du soleil dans le désert ont été un des moments forts de notre voyage. Le trajet en autobus est un peu long si on part de Marrakech ( environ 5 heures), mais la visite de Ouarzazate et Ait Ben Haddou en chemin vaut vraiment la peine d'être vue. Merci énormément pour cette excursion. C'est inoubliable.

Molte ore di viaggio senza una guida turistica

Francesco_S, May 2024

Si tratta di una escursione di 2 giorni che ha come meta finale un'area del deserto intorno a Zagora. Il viaggio è molto lungo sia all'andata che al ritorno. MI sarei aspettato una guida a bordo del van che potesse raccontarti qualcosa sui luoghi attraversati ma in realtà non è così. L'autista è stato bravissimo alla guida e puntualissimo nel pick-up ma non dava info sull'itinerario. Abbiamo incontrato solo due guide, una ad Ait-BenHaddou e una a Ouarzazate (non parlava spagnolo come descritto). Queste sono le uniche due tappe intermedie del tour e sono piuttosto veloci e frettolose con info piuttosto scarse (circa 45 min). L'esperienza nel deserto è carina (tempo libero, cena e qualche canto intorno al fuoco) più le passeggiate in dromedario all'andata e al ritorno. Le persone che animavano nel deserto sono state molto gentili e accoglienti. I bambini saranno contenti di questa esperienza Tende da 2 o 3 posti letti e bagni in condivisione. Riassumendo, su 35 ore di escursione aspettatevi: 14 ore di viaggio, 7 ore nel deserto, 7 ore di sonno, 3 ore tra pause pranzo e caffè in posti fissi decisi dal tour, 2 ore di stop a Ait-BenHaddou e Ouarzazate. Se vi piace vedere paesaggi e viaggiare in van, allora ci sta altrimenti se il vostro interesse è solo una esperienza per i bambini nel deserto, forse meglio orientarsi sul più vicino Agfay.

2 Tagestour in die Wüste

Jens_j, Jan 2024

Eine tolle Tour mit schönen Sonnenuntergang und sehr netten Guides tollen Essen und allem was geplant war wäre da nicht dieser Busfahrer gewesen: inkompetent, rücksichtslos, launisch, rechthaberich und narzistisch chauffierte er uns richtung Wüste. mit permanent quietschen Reifen in den Kurrven die Bitte langsamer zu fahren ignorierte er wir hatten 4 Kinder am sich übergeben worauf wir wiederholt den Fahrer gebeten hatten zu stoppen aber leider keine Zeit Sie mussten warten bis zum nächsten regulären Stopp Sonst keine Information zu Land oder Leuten einzig vorn lief ein TV was den Fahrer auf dem Rückweg aber nicht vor dem Sekundenschlaf bewahrte. Infos gab es nur für eine arabische Familie. Wegen dieser Familie hatten wir eine dreivirtelstunde Verspätung, da sie den Bus ewig nicht besteigen wollten, wenn sie weiter hinten saßen. Also der Horror schlecht hin und nicht empfehlenswert wer sein Leben liebt.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Halo Jens ,Vielen Dank, dass Sie sich die Zeit genommen haben, eine Bewertung für uns zu schreiben. Obwohl es schwierig ist, den nicht so guten Fahrer zu hören. Wir freuen uns, dass Sie Ihre Erfahrungen teilen, damit wir uns verbessern können. Aus diesem Grund möchten wir Sie darüber informieren, dass wir etwa 13 Fahrer zum selben Ziel haben, da wir nach der Untersuchung bereits beschlossen haben, den Fahrer zu suspendieren. Bitte wenden Sie sich an mich, damit ich sicherstellen kann, dass wir uns gut um Sie kümmern.