Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddou and the Draa Valley

On the old caravan route

This is caravan country. Goods came up from West Africa through the Draa Valley, crossed the High Atlas at the Telouet pass and reached Marrakesh. The sign at the entrance to Zagora, "Tombouctou 52 jours" (Timbuktu, 52 days), keeps the memory alive.

Along this route, villages were built of earth: kasbahs (the fortified houses of a leading family) and ksour (singular ksar, whole villages enclosed within a wall). UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which keeps the World Heritage List) chose the Ait Ben Haddou ksar as the synthesis of this pre-Saharan architecture: behind walls flanked by corner towers and entered through a staggered gate stand modest houses and others that look like small urban castles, with a mosque, a square, threshing floors, a caravanserai, two cemeteries, Muslim and Jewish, and a fortified granary at the top. The oldest buildings do not seem to predate the 17th century.

Ait Ben Haddou: how to visit

The ksar is about 30 km from Ouarzazate, in the Ounila Valley, on the southern foothills of the High Atlas. Most inhabitants now live in the modern village on the other side of the Oued Maleh, the "salt river"; a few families still live in the ksar. The visit starts by crossing the riverbed, then you climb through the lanes to the granary, where the view opens over the valley.

• How long. Two hours are enough for the ksar. Sabaro recommends spending a night, in the village or in Ouarzazate, to see it at the quiet hours.
• What time. Sunrise and sunset, when the light turns the earth golden, are the best moments.
• The road. From Marrakesh, the national road crosses the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 m, Morocco's highest road pass; Marrakesh–Ouarzazate is 194 km, about 3 h 45. A variant leaves the main road at the pass and goes down via Telouet, where the Glaoui family's kasbah, partly in ruins, keeps reception rooms with zellige (ceramic mosaic) and carved cedar ceilings, then down the Ounila Valley to Ait Ben Haddou. It makes the day longer, and fuller.

The ksar is fragile: raw earth needs constant upkeep, and UNESCO notes that its abandonment by residents leaves it exposed. CERKAS (the Centre for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of the Architectural Heritage of the Atlas and Sub-Atlas Zones), the Moroccan body in charge of the site, makes sure the original materials are respected.

Ouarzazate and Skoura, two bases

Ouarzazate is the transit town and the airport of the Deep South, a few hours' flight from Europe's main cities, direct or with one stop. It is known as the city of cinema. David Lean, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese and Alejandro González Iñárritu filmed Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Kundun and Babel here, and many films and series have passed through the Atlas Studios. The Cinema Museum and the Taourirt Kasbah are the town's two visits.

Skoura, about 40 km to the east, is a palm grove of nearly 25 km², watered by the Dades and Hajjaj rivers and an old network of channels; it is part of the Southern Morocco Oases Biosphere Reserve recognised by UNESCO. The 17th-century Amridil kasbah, one of the best preserved in the country, appeared on the old 50-dirham banknotes; part of it can be visited as a museum. The oasis is explored on foot or by bike, ideally with a guide so as not to get lost.

The two bases are quite different. Ouarzazate is a one-night stop. Skoura holds you longer: Dar Ahlam offers stays of two to five nights, with a night at its dune camp near Iriki, and L'Ma Lodge, with seven rooms in the palm grove, suits families. Skoura lies on the Dades side, opposite Ait Ben Haddou: with a base in Skoura, the ksar becomes a day trip.

Down the Draa

The Draa is Morocco's longest river. Its valley forms a ribbon of oases nearly 200 km long, followed by the N9 road from Ouarzazate to M'Hamid El Ghizlane, where the tarmac ends.

• Agdz, about 1 h 30 from Ouarzazate, is the first town in the valley. Close by, the Tamnougalt ksar, the former capital of the Mezguita Berbers, is partly in ruins.
• Zagora, about 3 hours from Ouarzazate, is the valley's town. The nearby Tinfou dune suits a desert camp for those who have only one night.
• Tamegroute, some twenty kilometres south of Zagora, has a zaouia (a religious brotherhood and its shrine) whose library holds old Koranic manuscripts, and potters who fire green-glazed ceramics.
• M'Hamid is the last village, about 5 hours' drive from Ouarzazate. The Erg Lihoudi, a small dune field 8 km to the north-east, is reached by 4x4 or by camel. Erg Chigaga, about 50 km to the west, can only be reached by 4x4; it is the more isolated of the country's great dune fields. Dar Azawad, in M'Hamid, combines a hotel with a pool and several camps in Erg Chigaga.

Routard allows two to three days for the main sites between Agdz and Zagora, and a week for hiking. Sabaro recommends at least two nights in the valley if you go as far as Erg Chigaga: one night in the palm grove, one in the dunes.

Draa or Merzouga? Both lead to the great dunes. The Draa offers the oasis road and the isolation of Erg Chigaga, at the cost of a final stretch by 4x4. Merzouga, further east, offers 150 m dunes at the end of a tarred road. On a week from Marrakesh, Sabaro recommends choosing one or the other, and allowing about ten days for both.

Seasons and calendar

Spring (March to May) and autumn (October–November) are the mild seasons. Summer is very hot: in Ouarzazate the average July high is close to 39 °C, and temperatures reach 45 °C in the Draa desert. For Erg Chigaga, the season runs from October to April; winter nights there are very cold, and flies are a nuisance in autumn, at date-harvest time.

Three events matter:

• the Marathon des Sables, a self-supported foot race in the Sahara based in Ouarzazate, from 2 to 12 April 2027;
• the International Nomads Festival in M'Hamid, every spring, in early April in recent years;
• the Rallye du Maroc, an off-road race, from 24 to 29 October 2027, on a route that changes every year.

For these dates, Sabaro recommends booking accommodation early.