Ouarzazate is the gate of the desert and Africa's Hollywood: the Atlas Studios where Gladiator and Game of Thrones filmed, the Taourirt kasbah, and — 30 km away — UNESCO-listed Aït Ben Haddou, Morocco's most famous ksar. Every southern circuit we run passes through; the day trip from Marrakech costs €30 per person.
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Hollywood knows it as the backdrop of Gladiator and Game of Thrones; the caravans knew it a thousand years earlier as the crossroads of the Draa, the Dades and the desert roads. The kasbahs here are the real thing — pisé towers the colour of the hills they stand on.
What to see and do
- Aït Ben Haddou: climb the ksar to the granary for the Ounila valley panorama
- Atlas Studios — walk film sets from Egypt to Tibet in one dusty backlot
- The Taourirt kasbah's painted ceilings and the old Glaoui quarters
- The Fint oasis, a palm ribbon in black rock 10 km south
- Continue east into the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs — Skoura's palm grove first
Planning Ouarzazate & Aït Ben Haddou
- 200 km from Marrakech over the Tizi n'Tichka — ≈3 h 45 of spectacular hairpins
- Our Ouarzazate & Aït Ben Haddou day trip: €30 per person, private vehicle
- It is the desert junction: Zagora/Chigaga lie south, Merzouga east — most circuits sleep here or in Skoura
- The light is the attraction: film crews come for the same golden hours you photograph
- Year-round destination; summer middays are for pools, mornings for kasbahs
Tours that go there
- Ouarzazate & Kasbahs Day Trip — from €23
- Moroccan Desert Adventure, 4 days — from €600
- Grand Tour of the Sahara, 5 days — from €750
- 2 Days to Zagora — from €300
Read before you go
Questions travellers ask about Ouarzazate & Aït Ben Haddou
Is Aït Ben Haddou worth visiting?
It is Morocco's single most photographed monument for a reason: a fortified mudbrick village stacked against the hillside, essentially unchanged since the caravan era — and walkable in an hour with the river crossing and granary climb. Go early or late; middays belong to coaches.
Can you do Ouarzazate as a day trip from Marrakech?
Yes — our €30-per-person private day trip covers the Tizi n'Tichka pass, Aït Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate in a long, rewarding day (≈11 h door to door). If you can sleep south of the Atlas instead, the road relaxes into a circuit.
Why do film studios choose Ouarzazate?
Light, landscapes and labour: 300+ clear days, deserts, kasbahs and mountains within an hour, and crews that have serviced productions from Lawrence of Arabia's heirs to Gladiator and Game of Thrones at Atlas Studios — open to visitors between shoots.
Plan a journey through Ouarzazate & Aït Ben Haddou →
Updated: September 2026
