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2-day desert tour from Ouarzazate – overview:
This desert tour from Ouarzazate takes you to the closest Saharan dunes – Erg Lihoudi near M’hamid. You start the tour by crossing part of the Anti-Atlas Mountains range, barren and spectacular with its rock formations.
You travel via Agdez and the ancient Kasbah Tamnougalte; the oldest in the Dra’a Valley. It is full of palm groves, adobe housing and green oases – like having travelled back in time.
Overlooked by watch towers, you follow the ancient route of the caravans which came from the other side of the Sahara. Highlights include pottery workshops of green glaze, the Qoranic Library in Tamegroute village with its exquisite manuscripts, a camel ride, dinner under the Milky Way and nomad music around a campfire.
Your luxury private tent allows you to reflect on the day’s adventures before drifting off to sleep in the calm and magic of these dunes. In truth, the silence and majesty of the Erg Lihoudi dunes outside Mhamid El Ghizlane (Mhamid the gazelle) are overwhelming.
Ouarzazate to M’hamid desert tour 2 days – highlights:
- Travelling over the Anti-Atlas Mountains and the famous Tizi-n-Tinfifte via Berber villages
- Exploring the immense palm groves and ancient fortified Kasbahs of the Dra’a Valley
- Experiencing a camel ride in the Erg Lihoudi dunes to admire the spectacular sunset
- Wandering the dunes, trying sandboarding, enjoying an evening of nomad music round a campfire
- Dinner under the starlit Saharan sky and a night a luxurious private tent set in the dunes
- The green glaze pottery workshops and ancient Qoranic Library in the village of Tamegroute
What is included in this Ouarzazate desert excursion:
- Transport in a private air-conditioned vehicle; 4×4 Toyota Prado TX or deluxe van and fuel
- Experienced local English/French/Spanish/Italian-speaking Berber and nomad driver-guide
- Overnight in a luxury desert camp with a private toilet and shower, comfortable beds, carpets, lamps and traditional Moroccan handmade furnishings
- All meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner – with vegetarian and vegan options available
- A camel ride with a guide. And if you wish to do some sandboarding, just speak to the camp staff!
- Option to go to and return from the camp by 4×4
- Luggage service to the camp and all accommodation
- Berber drumming and music
- Free time to explore the sites such as Dra’a Valley, Kasbah Tamnougalte, for walks, photos, and tea/coffee breaks
- The opportunity to ask the driver to stop when and where you wish
- Entrance fees and local guide
- Tea, coffee, and mineral water in the desert
What is not included:
- Drinks
- Tips
- Extras
Good to know about a Sahara desert tour from Ouarzazate:
- You can customise this Ouarzazate to Erg Lihoudi desert to accommodate your points of interest
- Activities such as a full day’s trekking or an extra day can be added to this tour from Ouarzazate
- To go to the Merzouga desert, please visit the Majestic Desert Tour from Ouarzazate to Merzouga 2 days
- Looking to visit the desert, ride camels & enjoy lunch in nomad tents on a single day? If so, consider our day trip to Tinfou Dunes
- You can always consult your driver about skipping some places to spend more time elsewhere
- Here is a downloadable packing list to help plan for your Moroccan desert tour
- We require a 30% deposit of the total price to book the car, while the balance is payable to the driver or to us in the office in Ouarzazate
- We accept payment through PayPal, bank transfers in Europe, by credit card, or cash (USD, Euro, GBP, or MAD)
- We offer a 25% discount for all children under 12, while, in any one family, one child below 3 can travel free of charge
- These prices are liable to fluctuation according to the current exchange rate
- Our prices can be subject to an increase over the busy season, and, in particular, the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period
Ouarzazate Desert Tour to M’hamid – itinerary:
1st day: Ouarzazate – M’hamid El Ghizlane
Your morning departure at 08.30 takes you south over the Tizi-n-Tinfifte pass in the Anti-Atlas Mountains to Agdez. Descending from the pass, you will be immediately aware of the expanse of the oasis below. These palm groves continue all along the Dra’a Valley; thousands in fact, producing an amazing 44 varieties of dates. The date harvest begins as early as September and lasts a couple of months, so during that period you can purchase the freshest ones here. You continue the drive away from the main road along the ancient caravan route.
Later you will arrive at the village of Tinsouline, where you can drive a short way off-road to the fascinating rock carvings of animals, long extinct in Morocco. These carvings at Foum Chenna are about 4000 years old. Next comes Zagora, the largest town in the whole area and where we shall stop for lunch. As you leave the town, you can look back from a small pass to marvel at the extent of the Zagora oasis.
In the afternoon we drive further south still, to M’hamid, the very gate to the desert and the end of the paved road. This is where the Sahara starts. Here a camel ride leads to the camp to enjoy an unforgettable sunset. After dinner, nomad music enhances the exoticness of the desert as you listen around a campfire. Overhead the stars twinkle down on you and you feel you can pull them out of the sky. A star-gazers app on your phone will help identify them.
You have dinner and spend the night at a luxury desert camp with a private bathroom, king-sized beds, beautiful Moroccan furnishings and lamps tastefully arranged to enhance your enjoyment of the silence and beauty of the dunes.
In the summer months, it can sometimes become very hot in Erg Lihoudi, and we would advise you to consider going to the Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga instead.
2nd day: M’hamid El Ghizlane – Ouarzazate
Rising early, you can catch the beautiful sunrise in the Sahara Desert, and watch how the colour of the dunes and the play of shadows slowly change. After breakfast, there will still be time for a long walk in the dunes before leaving the camp.
After breakfast, you will rejoin the paved road and drive north to Tamegroute village. Here, you will visit the local pottery cooperatives, renowned for their distinctive green glaze pottery seen throughout the south and in Marrakech. It is fascinating to explore these workshops and learn how local clay is crafted into unique products, showcasing the region’s artisanal heritage.
This village also has a small medina of covered desert streets and an ancient Quranic library with exquisite hand-written Arabic texts, which you could visit.
From here, the road continues north to the Kasbah Tamnougalte, located just outside Agdez. This is one of the oldest Kasbahs in southern Morocco and the oldest in the Dra’a Valley. While some parts of the Kasbah are still inhabited, others, such as the Jewish quarter, are now crumbling and abandoned, reflecting its long and storied history.
Back on the paved road, you cross the Anti-Atlas Mountains to arrive in Ouarzazate by the end of the afternoon. Your driver will transfer you to your hotel marking the end of your Saharan adventure.
Map of Ouarzazate to Erg Lihoudi desert trip:
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