2-Day Desert Tour from Ouarzazate to Zagora

About This Tour

2 days - 1 night · Ouarzazate

When you have two days rather than three, Zagora is the answer. The dunes are smaller than Erg Chebbi but the drive is a third of the distance, which means you spend your time in the desert instead of getting to it.

The route south from Ouarzazate crosses the Tizi n'Tinifift pass into the Draa valley, then follows the largest palm grove in Morocco for more than a hundred kilometres. It is one of the best drives in the country and, unlike the Merzouga run, it is comfortable in a single morning.

Tour Highlights

The best of this journey

Photo Gallery

2-Day Desert Tour from Ouarzazate to Zagora

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Tour Itinerary

Day by day, 2 days

• Iti1

  Day 1: Ouarzazate → Agdz → Draa Valley → Zagora → desert camp

  We pick you up around 8:30 am and drive south over the Tizi n'Tinifift pass, which crosses the Anti-Atlas and drops into the Draa valley at Agdz. From there the road follows the river through an almost unbroken belt of date palms, with old ksars set back against the rock on either side.

  We stop at Tamegroute to see the cobalt-green pottery kilns and the library of Koranic manuscripts, then continue to Zagora and on to the dunes at Tinfou. Camels take you into the sand for sunset, followed by dinner and a night in a desert camp.

  The desert takes the second half of the day: a camel ride into the dunes timed for the light, with the sand turning from gold to deep orange as the sun drops.

  Dinner is at camp under a sky with no light pollution at all, usually with drums around the fire, and the night is spent in a tent before the sunrise back over the dunes.

  Sunrise over the dunes comes early but nobody regrets it: the light arrives before the heat, and the sand is still cold underfoot.

  The camp is far enough from any town that the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye on a clear night.

  Accommodation: Tawada Desert Camp, Erg Chebbi — or similar Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
• Iti2

  Day 2: Sunrise → Zagora → Draa Valley → Ouarzazate

  Sunrise over the dunes, breakfast at the camp, and a camel ride or 4x4 transfer back to the vehicle.

  We return north through the Draa valley with stops for photographs and mint tea, and reach Ouarzazate in the early afternoon — early enough to visit Ait Ben Haddou on the way if you would like to add it.

  Departure: End of the tour

What the Price Includes

Everything covered in the price

If this itinerary does not quite match what you had in mind, tell us your ideas and we will rebuild it around them.

Tour Map

Ouarzazate

Why Book This Tour

What makes it worth the time

The shortest real Sahara trip from Ouarzazate: a camel trek, a night in a camp under the stars, and back the next day.

Know Before You Go

Practical travel notes

• Pricing is per group rather than per person, so the cost per head falls as your party grows — tell us how many you are and we will quote.
• Every tour is private. The itinerary below is the shape of the trip, not a fixed timetable, and your driver will adapt it to how your day is going.
• Bring layers. Days are warm and desert nights are cold in every season, and mountain passes are colder again.
• Comfortable closed shoes matter more than anything else you pack, especially for the dunes and the gorges.
• Tell us at the time of booking about dietary needs, allergies, mobility limits or anything medical, so we can plan around it properly.
• Zagora's dunes are lower than Erg Chebbi. If tall sand is the point of your trip, take the three-day Merzouga route instead and we will tell you so honestly.