Ouarzazate is the gate of the desert — four hours from Marrakech over the Tizi n'Tichka pass (2,260 m), with the UNESCO kasbah of Aït Ben Haddou half an hour before it. Every one of our southern circuits passes through; the shortest, a private day trip, starts at €23 per person.
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 at dawn or dusk, before the buses and after them
- Kasbah Taourirt, the Glaoui stronghold in the middle of town
- Atlas Film Studios — the desert's improbable movie factory
- Fint Oasis, a palm ribbon hidden in black rock 20 minutes south
- The road itself: the Tizi n'Tichka is one of Africa's great drives
Planning Ouarzazate & Aït Ben Haddou
- About 4h from Marrakech across the High Atlas — the drive is the first attraction
- Doable as a long day trip; better as the first night of a desert circuit
- Motion-sensitive travellers should sit up front for the pass — tell your driver
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
