Marrakech Day Trip

A Marrakech day trip is one of the best ways to explore this ancient city founded in 1070 AD. Marrakech is also one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and the capital of the Marrakech-Safi region.

Marrakech is very close to the beautiful Atlas mountains and a few hours drive from The Sahara. You’ll have plenty of things to do when you plan a Marrakech tour.

The Menara international airport in Marrakech supports direct international flights from major European cities, some cities in the Arab world, and Casablanca in Morocco. Direct flights to North America are also being planned for 2024.

Your itinerary for a Marrakech day trip depends on whether you want to visit places in the city or the surroundings. There are many destinations for history and culture lovers in the city while the surrounding places are ideal for nature and adventure. We’ll be happy to help you plan the ideal Marrakech day tour based on what you’d like to experience.

Marrakech day trip from Agadir

Agadir is a coastal town famous for its beaches, parks, and markets. It also has a Crocopark that houses 325 Nile Crocodiles. The souk (market) in Agadir is very famous and a must-see attraction. In our Marrakech day trip from Agadir, we will see all these places along with one more – a woman’s cooperative that produces authentic Argan oil.

Day trip in Marrakech

On the other hand, If you’d like to enjoy history and culture on your day trip in Marrakech, then, once again, this city built in 1070 AD has lots to offer you. You’ll enjoy visiting Al Badi Palace, Saadian Tombs, and Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech.

If you are a foodie who enjoys street food then you must sample Marrakech’s street food delicacies for they are bound to stir up your palate.

Best day trip from Marrakech

There are so many day trips you can take from Marrakech that it’s difficult to single out one of them as the best day trip from Marrakech. However, if you are looking for peace, nature, and culture then we strongly suggest the Kik plateau at a height of 1800 metres. In this trip, we will go through Berber villages, have tea with a Berber family, and see the waterfalls of Ourika. We will also enjoy beautiful aromatic organic gardens. This is a calming day trip that will soothe your soul.

Day trip from Marrakech to Sahara desert

Merzouga is about 350 miles (560 kilometres) from Marrakech and is the main doorway from Marrakech into the western Sahara. This city is a 9 plus hours drive from Marrakech. That’s 18 hours to and fro without adding the time you’d spend in the desert. The logistics make it challenging to do a day trip from Marrakech to Sahara desert in Merzouga, however, it’s an excellent destination if you are willing to spend the night in the desert and return the next day.

If you absolutely have to return on the same day, then we recommend Jbilet Desert or Affagay desert, both of which are very close to Marrakech.

Affagay Desert is not strictly part of the Sahara, so while it won’t count as a day trip from Marrakech to Sahara desert, it’s a beautiful alternative to the Sahara and close enough to Marrakech to be able to return comfortably on the same day. And it offers plenty of activities too. You can go along ancient Berber paths and try out activities such as camel back riding, quad/buggy rides, and see the beautiful African sunset. If you want to visit the actual Sahara desert from Marrakech, then you would need at least one night’s stopover to make the tour comfortable.

Day trip from Marrakech to Essaouira

Essaouira – a former Portuguese fishing village – used to be very popular among hippie trekkers in the 60s and 70s. None other than the legendary Jimi Hendrix was also inspired by Essaouira and the result was his song – “Castles Made of Sand.” All of these factors make a day trip from Marrakech to Essaouira a fascinating experience.

Marrakech Tour

The speciality about a Marrakech tour is that it provides touring opportunities for a wide variety of people with different tastes. There are destinations for mountain trekkers, history and culture enthusiasts, and adventurers who want to head out into the tranquil Sahara desert.

Marrakech tour to Atlas mountains

The town of Imlil, which is used as a base by people who want to climb the High Atlas Mountains, is only 55 miles from Marrakech. With the mountains being so close, we offer a host of different Marrakech tours to the Atlas mountains. They range from single day tours to multi day tours, from trekking to biking tours, and from cultural to adventure tours.

For example, in our 5-day mountain biking tour you will cross beautiful valleys, mountain passes, and Berber villages as you ride across the Atlas Mountains. In our 4-day Mt. M’Goun trek, you will climb summits, go through mountain passes, and see plenty of nature and local culture on the way. In the 6-day Rose Valley trek you will see the Dades valley which is famous for its innumerable rose hedges. You will also enjoy a lot of natural beauty and meet with local Berber villagers.

There are just a few examples. We have over 20 guided trips to Atlas Mountains from Marrakech for you to choose from.

Marrakech desert tour

The Sahara desert is popular among tourists from all over the world. After all, the desert has so many interesting and exotic sights and activities to offer. There are sand dunes, oases, and mirages. Tourists can also avail of do activities like camel riding, quad riding, hiking, walking on sand dunes, spending a night in a desert camp, witnessing the sunrise and sunset, etc. A Marrakech desert tour is a great way to enjoy these marvels of the desert.

Although not technically the Sahara, the Affagay Desert and the Jbilet deserts are very close to Marrakech. We offer tours to both these deserts along with multi day tours to the Sahara.

Marrakech desert tour 3 days

We have many offerings for a Marrakech desert tour for 3 days.

In our 3 day Marrakech to Fes desert tour, we will visit the Tichka pass which is at an elevation of 2260 metres, Dades valley, Draa Valley, the UNESCO world heritage site of Ait-Ben Haddou, Todra Gorge, Oarzazate, and the Atlas Mountains.

The 3 day tour from Marrakesh to Merzouga is all about the tranquillity of the Sahara desert, walking on the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi, staying overnight at a nomad tent, and visiting places like Dades, Todra Gorge, and the UNESCO world heritage site of Ait-Ben Haddou.

The 3 day tour to Erg Chigaga also includes sand dunes, but they are the larger sand dunes of Erg Chigaga. In this tour, we will also visit Ait-Ben Haddou, followed by a 16-century Tamgroute town, and, on our way back, we will travel for some time on the old Paris-Dakar rally road.

The rocky desert of Affagay is very close to Marrakech and it offers the perfect tour for combining with other activities such as quad riding, paragliding, jetskiing, etc. However, this tour is not only about adventure. It also includes beautiful scenery, breakfast with a local family, and a tour of the medina in Marrakech.

Marrakech budget tour

There are many options for Marrakech budget tours, especially if you are a nature lover. The tours mentioned below are excellent budget tours from Marrakech.

Imlil valley day trip

65 km south of Marrakech, in the Atlas mountains, is a town called Imlil. Our budget trek will begin from Imlil and go through apple and walnut orchards followed by Berber country. We will also visit a village called Arend where a part of the movie, 7 years in Tibet, was shot.

Day trip from Marrakech to Essaouira

On this budget day trip to Essaouira, we will visit a town that was very popular with the hippie trekkers in the 60s and 70s. Essaouira also inspired the legendary Jimi Hendrix’s song – “Castles Made of Sand.”

Kik plateau

In this budget Kik plateau trip, we will pass through Berber villages and enjoy tea with a Berber family. Kik plateau, which is at a height of 1800 metres, also presents us with many opportunities to see waterfalls like Ourika and enjoy aromatic organic gardens.