Sahara nights, Marrakech mornings.
Whether the sunset seating at Agafay is the one worth paying for. Whether three days to Merzouga beats one long day out. What a quad hour in the Palmeraie really costs. Every tour in Morocco, reviewed.
Almost every Moroccan day starts in Marrakech.
The Jemaa el-Fnaa hotels are where the quad bikes, the camel strings, the Atlas minibuses and the desert convoys all collect their passengers. Book the ones that leave early enough to matter.
What Morocco is actually famous for.
Stone desert an hour from the medina, red dunes eight hours further, a waterfall the macaques got to first, and the mountain road that climbs out of the heat. These are the days most Morocco trips are built around.
The Moroccan tours travellers actually take.
Every Morocco review →The handful of departures that carry more travellers than the rest of the country combined, and what each one gives you for the day.
1
Agafay Desert Sunset, Camel Ride, and Dinner Show
Review of Marrakech’s Agafay Desert sunset tour, with a camel ride, argan cooperative, Moroccan dinner, Berber music, and fire show.
From · $20
Read our review →
2
Ouzoud Waterfalls Guided Hike and Boat Trip
from $17
3
Agafay Desert Quad & Camel Rides with Dinner Show
from $24
4
Agafay Desert Quad Biking Tour with Dinner-Show
from $21
5
Atlas Mountains, Ourika Valley, Waterfall & Lunch
from $16
6
3-Day Merzouga and Sahara Desert Tour
from $134
7
Berber villages : Atlas Mountains Day Hike from Marrakech
from $15
8
Merzouga 3-Day Desert Safari with Food
from $122
Three Moroccan days that only work at the edges of the light.
Midday flattens this country. The three below are built around dusk, dawn and the hour after sunset, which is exactly why they book out first.
The Agafay Evening
Agafay is not sand. It is a moonscape of grey stone hills that starts about forty minutes south of Marrakech, and it exists on the itinerary because it delivers a desert night without the eight-hour drive to one. The formula is fixed: quad or camel while the light goes, then a tented camp, tagine, drums and a fire. The sunset seating is the one to hold out for.
- 1Agafay Desert Sunset, Camel Ride, and Dinner Show★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 35,119 reviews
- 2Agafay Desert Quad & Camel Rides with Dinner Show★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 27,382 reviews
- 3Agafay Desert Quad Biking Tour with Dinner-Show★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 16,569 reviews
The Erg Chebbi Run
The real dunes are at Merzouga, on the far side of the Atlas and the Draa valley, and there is no shortcut. The standard run gives it three days: Ait Benhaddou and the Todra gorge on the way out, a camel string into Erg Chebbi at dusk, a camp bed under the stars, and the long haul back to Marrakech or on to Fez. Nobody comes home wishing they had done it in one day.
- 13-Day Merzouga and Sahara Desert Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 15,308 reviews
- 2Merzouga 3-Day Desert Safari with Food★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 12,232 reviews
- 33 Days Desert Tour From Marrakech To Merzouga Dunes & Camel Trek★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 10,125 reviews
The Dawn Flight
Balloons over the Marrakech plain lift before sunrise, because that is the only hour the air is still enough. You get forty minutes over the Palmeraie and the palm-fringed villages with the Atlas snowline going pink to the south, then breakfast in a Berber tent on the ground. Baskets are small and the season is long, but the good mornings still go weeks ahead.
- 1Balloon Flight, Berber Breakfast & Certificate★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 8,164 reviews
- 2Early Morning 40-Minute Balloon Flight★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 6,533 reviews
- 3Hot Air Balloon Flight with Berber Breakfast★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,832 reviews
What a day out in Morocco costs.
Morocco costs less than most people expect, and the gap between a good day out and an expensive one is smaller still. Here is the whole catalogue at its three price points.
Medina walks, hammams, an hour on a camel in the Palmeraie, half-day quad runs and museum entries.
The full-day classics: Ourika and the Atlas with lunch, Ouzoud, Essaouira, Agafay with the dinner and the show.
Multi-day runs to Merzouga, dawn balloon flights, private drivers and the tours that keep the group under six.
The mountain road out of Marrakech is a day trip, not an expedition.
Ninety minutes of switchbacks buys a twenty-degree drop, terraced barley, walnut trees and a river you can eat beside. Ourika and Imlil are the easy versions; Ouzoud adds a 110-metre waterfall and a troop of macaques who will take your bread.
Essaouira and Agadir run on wind, not heat.
Three hours west of Marrakech the temperature drops and the trade wind picks up. Essaouira keeps a walled medina, a fleet of blue sardine boats and the argan road with goats in the trees. Agadir, further south, is the surf-and-quad end of the coast.
- 1Agadir or Taghazout: Paradise Valley Atlas Mountains Tourfrom $21
- 2Agadir/Taghazout : Quad Bike Safari Desertfrom $40
- 3Full-Day Trip to Agadirfrom $35
Fez and the blue town keep their own timetable.
All Fez tours →
Explore Fes: Unforgettable Guided Walking Tour of the Medina
Read our review →
Chefchaouen Day Trip from Fez (Shared Group Tour)
Read our review →
Book these before you land in Morocco.
Most of Morocco can be arranged from a riad courtyard the night before. These four cannot. They run on dawn air, fixed camp beds and seatings that only work once a day.
- 01Balloon Flight, Berber Breakfast & CertificateBaskets fly at first light or not at all, and each one takes a dozen people.
- 023-Day Merzouga and Sahara Desert TourA night on the dunes means a bed in a fixed camp, and the camps fill first in spring and autumn.
- 03Agafay Desert Sunset, Camel Ride, and Dinner ShowOnly the sunset seating gets the light on the hills; the later sittings eat in the dark.
- 04Moroccan Cooking Class with PickupClasses shop the souk first and cap at about a dozen places, so they close the day before.
From noon to four, Morocco moves indoors.
Marrakech runs past 40 degrees for a third of the year and the medina has no shade to spare. The answer is the same one locals use: a hammam, a tiled courtyard, a kitchen, a workshop. Everything below happens under a roof and improves when it is too hot to walk.
By place, north to south
Marrakech373 tours
Fez38 tours
Casablanca28 tours
Chefchaouen4 tours
Essaouira10 tours
Agadir45 tours
Merzouga8 tours- Every Morocco tour →
Marrakech to the dunes and back up through Fez.
The High AtlasThe newest Morocco tour reviews.
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Merzouga Desert Quad bike Adventure with Sand boarding
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Private 2-Hour Quad Ride on Forest and Dunes from Essaouira
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