Ait ben haddou and Ouarzazate day trip
Description
This ait ben haddou and ouarzazate day trip, will allow you to discover another face of beauty of Morocco, as this area is considered as the gate to the desert of Morocco and the 1001 Kasbahs (berber fortress). During this ait ben haddou excursion trip you'll cross the tizi n'tichka pass, known for its curvy and sneaky turns, where you'll have a quick stop in a terrace to enjoy a cup of coffe or tea and take some good shots from above, of the berber villages and the amazing landscapes, snowy in winter and spring and full of greenery in summer and autumn. Once at the Kasbah ait Ben Haddou you can hire a guide with the whole group to discover the area and to learn better about the locals lifestyle, the guide also will show you where the game of thrones scenes has been turned, before going to Ouarzazate and discover its beauty, as you can discover the local studios and also its Kasbah called Kasbah Taourirt. Once you finish the visit, you'll hit the road to Marrakech where the trip ends
Tour Options
Itinerary
A high mountain pass, at elevation 2260m (7410 ft) above sea level with sneaky turns and curves, full of landscapes. Pictures can be taken from a Panoramic view in a loca restaurant
Fortified village surrounded by the antiatlas mountains. It looks like an old castle, and this is where it got the name of "Kasbah" or "Castle" meaning Fortress in berber local language.
You stoo in a parking spot in front of the Kasbab you can then go and enter to visit this beautiful area. Alternatively you will be able to visit the studios.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
- Hotels in old town: Pick up from front office, drop off at closest parking (due to prohibition of entering the old town at the evening) - Hotels in the new town: Pick up and drop off are from/to the front office - Hotels outside the city +8km to 12Km: pick up and drop off for 30€ as an extra to pay for all groups 1-6 and 50€ if you are 7-14 persons - Pick up generally starts 45min before the departure time around 7:00. So the departure time is 8:00 more or less
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(209)
The driver was excellent and very friendly. We had a small group (12 people total) which was more comfortable and calm. We did everything that was listed in the trip description and got enough time to visit on our own too. The scenic route was definitely a highlight too. Can highly recommend if you want to discover the south but want to avoid large groups or driving alone.
4 hour ride to the city Ben Aid Haddou. Drive itself was quite nice thanks to our driver. He stopped to let us take pictures, explained a bit about the landscape and elevation we were in. Aid Ben Haddou itself was infested by tourists. You couldnt get through sometimes due to the sheer amount of tourist. The guide in Ben Aid Haddou we had was nice in the beginning and during the tour, the moment it finished though, he disregarded any niceties and just asked us to pay for the guided tour with a dead look in his eyes. 3€ is not much in europe but definitely in Morocco, so this was quite uncomfortable.
Thank you for your feedback. We would like to clarify that the 3€ guide fee is clearly mentioned in the trip description prior to booking. The local guide is not included in our service and is entirely optional, with no obligation for guests to use or pay for it. Regarding the number of visitors in Ait Ben Haddou, as a UNESCO World Heritage site, it is indeed a very popular destination and unfortunately crowd levels are beyond our control. That said, we are very pleased to hear that you enjoyed the most important part of our service, which is the quality of the drive and the professionalism of your driver during the 4-hour journey. We truly appreciate your comments and hope to welcome you again for an even better experience.
We also ended up going to the Atlas Studios theater production area. It isn’t really something I would have wanted to do, but it was educational and cool and the whole trip was great.
This one-day trip from Marrakesh was very interesting in terms of the sightseeing and the places we visited. However, there were some issues regarding the optional activities. For example, the local tour guide at the Kasbah, who met us at the bus, informed us in the middle of the tour that we had to pay an additional fee, even though this was not mentioned at the beginning. The guided part lasted only about 10–15 minutes, and for the remaining hour we were walking around on our own. A similar misunderstanding occurred at lunchtime in Ouarzazate. The bus driver initially told us that we would depart immediately after lunch. I would have preferred to take a short tour of the city, but after lunch he changed the plan and said we would stay for another hour. Overall, the trip was good, but there were several moments when I felt that the focus was more on charging extra fees than on providing a smooth and transparent experience.
It was a long but great outing to Ait Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate (including Atlas Film Studios visit), made easier by our wonderful driver Charaf, in quite challenging weather conditions (snow in the mountains crossing). Ait Ben Haddou is wondeful and, while going up, I felt close to being a Time Bandit!
Our guide Youssef was very knowledgeable and an excellent driver. He was extremely helpful and courteous. He took time to explain many aspects of Moroccan culture which really made the whole experience enjoyable. I would thoroughly recommend this tour.
Great experience and friendly and informative guide and driver. Once in a lifetime excursion! Big fan of mountains and history and this had a lot of both.
Very good experience Discovering the kashbas route is great. Ait ben haddou superb ..very nice site and interesting studios in Ouarzazate
I would never book this trip as there was no added value to book it like this as you also can do exactly the same if you book a taxi towards it.
This was a long day but filled with history and information shared by the knowledgeable guides. Multiple bathroom stops are provided (thankfully) and it was an all over great experience. Would recommend. Communication is great through WhatsApp. Bring dirham change for the bathrooms.
