Day2 and Day3 of the Desert tour takes us from Merzouga to Marrakech.
It is a long drive, about 9 hours without stops. Most tours break this up for 2 days with short stops at Torda Gorge, Dades Gorge (overnight), Ouarzazate and Ait Benhaddou.
I’ve seen some 3 days Marrakech to Merzouga round trip tours that do the 9 hour drive back straight on day3 after camping in the desert. It will be a tough long day. And I’m glad we did not go with that option and instead did the one way only.
For us with one night in Dades Gorge –
Day 2 is Merzouga to Dades Gorge about 300KM, driving time 4-5 hours
Day3 is Dades Gorge to Marrakech about 350KM, driving time 6-7 hours (over the high atlas mountain)
Oasis of Tinghir
Panaroma view of the Tinghir Oasis, just a 5-10 mins stop for the view and to stretch the legs.
Torda Gorge
A 15 mins walk through Torda Gorge, our guide dropped us off at one entrance and picked us up at the other end.
Dades Gorge
Pattes Des Singes rock formation
A quick stop to view the rock formation
Gole Di Dadès
The switchback roads at Dades gorge.
Our guide drove us up to the top of the switchback after enjoying the view from the top, he asked if we wanted to drive back down or if we would like to walk down. Of course, we choose to walk. Our hotel for the night Hotel Babylon Dades is at the bottom of the switchback. After a long day of sitting in the car, we all felt this was the best part of the day.
Hotel Babylon Dades
We were served welcome tea on the terrace with a nice view of the gorge (but everyone was more eager to get connected to wifi. Unfortunately, according to the hotel staff, due to the rain the prior day wifi was really bad). The hotel was built against the cliff and is beautifully decorated. We also had a little private terrace from our room with nice view. Dinner at the hotel was great as well.
Ouarzazate
This is one of the bigger city we passed through. Ouarzazate is famous for it’s many film studios. We did a quick stop outside of Atlas Studio just the take a picture and stretch our legs, but did not go into the studio (it was an option if we wanted to).
Ait Benhaddou
A UNESCO world heritage site, the Ksar of Ait Benhaddou (fortified village), a lot of films were filmed here, including Gladiator and Game of Thrones.
High Atlas Mountain
Driving over the high atlas mountain to Marrakech, from Ait Benhaddou our tour guide took us via a smaller/more scenic route (P1506) and it was a beautiful drive.
Tizi n’Tichka panoramic views
Another crazy switchback road
After the viewpoint we stopped for late lunch then it’s driving all the way to Marrakech, we arrived in Marrakech around 6pm, ending the 3 days desert tour.
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