Day Trips From Marrakech: Six Private Excursions Compared

The six day trips

Each trip is private: an air-conditioned vehicle and an English- or Spanish-speaking driver for your party, with pickup and drop-off at your accommodation. You set the start time and the stops.

Agafay Desert

Half day or evening, about 40 km each way

A stony desert plateau below the High Atlas, reached in under an hour. Usually done as a late afternoon with a camel or quad ride and dinner at a camp. It is rock, not sand dunes.

Essaouira

Full day, about 190 km each way

A walled Atlantic port with a working fishing harbour, sea ramparts and a relaxed medina. Expect close to three hours of driving in each direction and a cooler, windier day than in Marrakech.

Imlil and the High Atlas

Full day, about 65 km each way

A mountain village at about 1,740 m, the trailhead for Mount Toubkal. A day of walking between Amazigh villages and walnut terraces, with lunch in a family home or guesthouse.

Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou

Long full day, about 190 km each way

Over the Tizi n'Tichka pass to the UNESCO-listed ksar of Ait Ben Haddou and the film studios of Ouarzazate. The mountain road is slow, so this is the longest day trip on the list.

Ourika Valley

Half or full day, about 60 km each way

The closest green valley to the city, following a river up to the village of Setti Fatma and its waterfalls. An easy day that suits families; it is busy at weekends in summer.

Ouzoud Waterfalls

Full day, about 150 km each way

The highest waterfalls in Morocco, dropping about 110 m into a gorge. You walk down through olive trees to the pools at the bottom, where small rafts cross and Barbary macaques are common.

How the day trips compare

The nearest three leave time for a late start and a long lunch. The farthest three are full days with five to eight hours in the vehicle.

Agafay Desert: the half-day option

Agafay is a late afternoon and evening on a stony plateau about 40 minutes from the city, usually with a quad ride, a camel ride at sunset and dinner at a camp. It is the only trip here that leaves your morning free.

• What you do. Ride a quad bike on the rocky tracks, then a camel as the light fades, with the High Atlas on the horizon. Lalla Takerkoust lake is close by.
• How the day runs. There are two versions. The shorter one is the quad and camel rides, then back to Marrakech. The longer one adds mint tea and dinner at a camp, with local musicians, and a drive home after dark.
• Who it suits. Travellers short of time, families with older children, and anyone who wants an evening outside the medina.
• The drawback. It is rock and bare hills, not sand. If the picture in your head is tall dunes, this is the wrong trip, and no day trip from Marrakech will give you that. Quad tracks are dusty, so bring a scarf.

Ourika Valley: the easy mountain day

The Ourika Valley is a short drive into the High Atlas foothills along a river, ending at the village of Setti Fatma at about 1,500 m. It is the gentlest full day on the list and noticeably cooler than Marrakech in summer.

• What you do. Stop at a women's argan oil cooperative to see the nuts cracked and pressed by hand, drink mint tea in a family home in the valley, then walk at Setti Fatma and eat lunch beside the river.
• How the day runs. About an hour of driving each way. The stops on the way up fill the morning, the waterfalls and lunch fill the middle of the day, and you are back in the city by early evening.
• Who it suits. Families, anyone who wants a slow day, and travellers escaping the heat.
• The drawback. The path to the waterfalls is rocky and steep in places, so the falls themselves are not for everyone. The valley is crowded at weekends in summer, and cooperative visits end in a shop. You are free to buy nothing.

Imlil and the High Atlas: the walking day

Imlil is a mountain village at about 1,740 m, around 65 km and ninety minutes south of Marrakech, and the day is spent on foot. It is the trailhead for Mount Toubkal, at 4,167 m the highest peak in North Africa, but a day trip stays in the valley below it.

• What you do. Meet a local guide in the village and follow a mule track up the Mizane valley through walnut orchards and terraced fields. Many walks continue to the stone village of Aremd, which has clear views of Toubkal, and stop for a home-cooked lunch with a local family.
• How the day runs. An early start, a drive up through the Asni valley with a viewpoint stop or two, a walk of a few hours with lunch in the middle, and free time in the village before the drive back.
• Who it suits. Walkers, and anyone who wants mountain air and village life more than monuments. If walking uphill is hard for you, a mule can carry you.
• The drawback. Paths are stony and uneven, and you are at altitude, so it is tiring if you are not used to walking. In winter it is cold and there can be snow. Proper shoes are essential.

Ouzoud Waterfalls: water, shade and monkeys

Ouzoud is the highest waterfall in Morocco, dropping about 110 m in three tiers into a green gorge, roughly 150 km from Marrakech. The visit is a walk down to the pools, a look from below and lunch on a terrace facing the falls.

• What you do. Follow the marked paths down through olive trees, with viewpoints on the way. At the bottom, small rafts cross the pool for a closer look. Barbary macaques live in the trees along the path.
• How the day runs. About 2.5 to 3 hours each way through olive groves and villages. Arriving in the late morning is good for light, when rainbows often form in the spray. Allow two to three hours at the falls including lunch.
• Who it suits. Families with children old enough for the steps, photographers, and anyone who wants green scenery after the city.
• The drawback. There are many steps down and the same number back up, and they are slippery when wet. The flow is lower late in a dry summer. The macaques are wild, so keep food out of sight and do not feed them.

Essaouira: a day on the Atlantic

Essaouira is a walled port on the Atlantic with a UNESCO-listed medina, sea ramparts lined with old cannons, a working fishing harbour and a long sandy beach. It is the most varied of the six days and also one of the longest in the car.

• What you do. On the way, stop where goats climb the argan trees and at a women's argan cooperative. In town the time is your own: the ramparts, the harbour where the boats unload, the souks with their thuya wood carving, the art galleries, and a fish lunch.
• How the day runs. A morning pickup, close to three hours on the road with stops, four or five hours in Essaouira, then a late afternoon drive that brings you back in the early evening.
• Who it suits. Travellers who want sea air and a calmer medina than Marrakech, and anyone visiting in the hot months.
• The drawback. About six hours of the day are spent driving. The town is known for its wind, which is pleasant in July and cold in January, and the beach is better for walking than for swimming.

Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou: the longest day

This trip crosses the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at about 2,260 m, to the film studios of Ouarzazate and the UNESCO-listed ksar of Ait Ben Haddou. It has the best scenery of the six and the most hours in the vehicle.

• What you do. Stop at viewpoints on the pass, walk through standing film sets at the Atlas studios in Ouarzazate, then climb the lanes of Ait Ben Haddou, a fortified village of rammed earth on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech.
• How the day runs. An early pickup, a slow climb over the mountains with photo stops, the two visits either side of lunch, and the same road home, arriving in the early evening.
• Who it suits. Film fans, photographers, and travellers who will not be taking a desert tour and so have no other chance to see the ksar.
• The drawback. Seven to eight hours in the car on a road with many bends. It is a poor choice if you get carsick, and every desert tour from Marrakech passes both places anyway.

Which day trip fits how you travel?

Choose by how long you are willing to sit in a car, then by landscape. The table gives a first and second choice for the most common situations.

Practical notes for any day trip

You set the start time with us when you book. The longer trips usually leave around 8 in the morning so the driving is done in daylight, and Agafay leaves in the afternoon.

• Pickup. At your riad or hotel. In the medina, where cars cannot reach every door, the driver meets you at the nearest gate or square.
• Cash. Lunch, drinks, entrance fees and tips are paid on the day. Carry dirhams in small notes, since village cafés and local guides rarely take cards.
• Shoes. Closed shoes with grip for Imlil, Ourika and Ouzoud. Sandals are fine for Essaouira.
• Layers. The mountains and the coast are cooler than Marrakech, sometimes by a wide margin. Bring a jacket outside summer, and a windproof layer for Essaouira.
• Sun. Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen for Agafay and Ait Ben Haddou, where there is little shade.
• Water and snacks. Useful on the longer drives, especially with children.
• Local guides. At Imlil a walking guide leads the route. At Setti Fatma and Ouzoud, local guides offer their services at the start of the path. Agree a price before setting off.

For clothing by season, see what to wear in Morocco.

What a day trip costs

Day trips are priced per group on request. There is no fixed rate because the price depends on how many people travel, the vehicle that suits the group and anything added, such as a quad ride in Agafay or a walking guide in Imlil.

Send us the trip, the date and your group size for a price. As with the longer tours, nothing is paid before you have agreed the plan.

When should you choose an overnight tour instead?

Choose an overnight tour for the Sahara, and consider one for Ait Ben Haddou and Essaouira. The sand dunes at Merzouga are about 560 km from Marrakech, so they need three days at the least.

• For sand dunes: take a Morocco desert tour. The 3-day tour from Marrakech to Merzouga passes Ait Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate on the way, so you would not need that day trip as well.
• For Ait Ben Haddou without the rush: the 4-day and 5-day loops sleep in Ouarzazate, which turns a seven-hour round trip into a relaxed stage of a longer route.
• For Essaouira: stay a night if you can. Our 14-day tour does, and the 15-day tour stays two nights with a free day.
• For the Ourika Valley as part of a longer trip: tours of 12 days and more include it as a day out from Marrakech.
• For a week in the south: the 7-day tour from Marrakech joins the city, the mountains and the desert in one loop.