Here is a quick re-cap of our 2 day, 1 night trip into the Sahara desert (Marrakech to Zagora). On the first day, we started in Marrakech before visiting Aït Benhaddou, Ouarzazate, Draa Valley, and took camels to our camp in the Zagora Dunes. The second day began with another camel ride, then a stop in Ouarzazate, the Atlas Mountains, before returning to Marrakech.
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Hi,
I wanted to get your opinion about the 2 days/One night trip from Marrakech to Zagora.
Is it worth it?
My boyfriend and I will be spending 4 days in Marrakesh in December third week and are hoping to do a 2 day / 1 night trip down to Ouarzazate and Zagora in order to see some of the things around Ouarzazate and to do a camel trip and spend the night in the desert near Zagora.
Is it worth it to do this trip or should we just spend the time in Marrakesh? Is the desert worth seeing in Zagora?
I am looking at the tour companies online which include travel, guided tour and a night in the tents.Does anyone have any recommendations of tour companies that we can do this with? How much should we expect to pay for this sort of tour?
Are there likely to be any problems with these roads over the winter?
Many thanks in advance for your advice.
This is the itinerary that they are proposing-
Day 1:
This tour includes pick up from your Hotel in Marrakech.
The tour Departs from Marrakech at around 07:00hrs in a modern, air conditioned vehicle.
Travelling over the Atlas mountains to reach our first site, Kasbah Ait Benhaddou, where you can freely explore the Kasbah. Note that there is not an entrance fee to enter the Kasbah and you are not obliged to hire a guide.
Following along the route, we then arrive at Ouarzazate, the gateway to the desert, and the Moroccan city known for Hollywood movies being located and filmed here.
There are 2 opportune times to visit Ouarzazate on this tour. The tour allows for time for a visit of Ouarzazate on either day 1 or day 2, depending upon the schedule. It is possible to visit the Atlas film studios during the tour, subject to time. The small cost of about 3.00 euros entrance to the studios is not included in the cost of the tour. Entry to the Studios is voluntary.
Following your Ouarzazate visit, we continue along the route, experiencing the Draa Valley, en route to Zagora.
Once we arrive at Zagora, we have time to explore, until just prior to sunset.
At the beginning of Sunset, we will join our camels and head off into the desert for a 2 hour Camel trek to reach our Berber desert camp for the night.
The camp provides private Berber bivouacs, evening meal and Breakfast.
Full bedding is included at the camp. Everyone has a tent to sleep in, but if you wish, you can sleep out under the stars to enjoy this amazing free lightshow, with the stars being so bright in the Desert.
Day 2:
After a traditional Berber breakfast we have a two hour camel ride at sunrise to explore the area further.
We then start our return journey to Marrakech, stopping off at some highlights on the way.
Our journey takes us over the high Atlas Mountains for the enjoyment of magnificent views of the surrounding country and to see the local communities who live in these mountains.
We return to Marrakech, arriving at around 17:00hrs or 18:00hrs.
If you plan on spending 4 days in Marrakech, then the 2 day, 1 night tour is worth experiencing. Do not book in advance, as there are only a few tour operators, but a million middlemen trying to get you to pay more so they can make a larger commission. As soon as you arrive, your hotel will try to book this tour for you, feel free to ask the price and use that quote as a bargaining chip to pay less elsewhere. We found a travel agency in which we paid a fraction of the cost that our hotel was charging (500 Moroccan dirham or $56 per person versus 4500 moroccan dirham or nearly $500 per person). Here is what one of the brochures looked like: image 1, image 2, image 3. Since it is not high season, this should mean you should be able to negotiate a lower price for the tour. Since it will be December when you visit, bring warm clothes so that you are not cold. The temperatures can drop to 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit (or 0-4 degrees Celsius) at night.
Hope your trip goes well. Feel free to ask us any further questions you may have.