OZU /MOROCCO /MARRAKECH /GUIDE
Day trips from Marrakech
10 h route3 stopsBest: The Atlas in spring, snow above and green belowUpdated July 2026
Marrakech sits at a crossroads, which is why the things around it look nothing like one another: the High Atlas mountains ninety minutes away, the Atlantic two and a half hours off, and beyond the mountains, the edge of the desert.
The easiest and most rewarding is the Ourika valley, in the Atlas: leave in the morning, back for dinner. Essaouira needs a full day but changes worlds entirely. And Aït Benhaddou, Hollywood’s ksar, is a punishing long day plenty of people do anyway.
The route, stop by stop
3 STOPS- 01
The Ourika Valley (High Atlas)
Ninety minutes south, the road climbs into the High Atlas and the landscape changes completely: a green valley with a river, adobe Berber villages clinging to the slope, and restaurants with their tables literally set in the water.
The classic walk climbs to the seven waterfalls of Setti Fatma: the first is easy, the rest need legs. In winter there’s snow up top and in spring the valley blooms.
It’s the best antidote to the city’s heat.
- 02
Essaouira
Two and a half hours west and you’re on the Atlantic: a walled Portuguese city, white and blue, with 18th-century ramparts over the ocean, gulls everywhere and a constant wind that has made it famous among kitesurfers.
It’s the opposite of Marrakech: cool, calm, unhurried, and with the best fish in the country, chosen at the port and grilled on the spot.
It was the Phoenicians’ Mogador and the hippie refuge of the 1960s, Hendrix was here, and gnawa music still plays in its streets.
- 03
Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate
Crossing the Atlas over the Tichka pass (above 2,200 metres, with hairpins for hours) brings you to the far side of the mountains, at the desert’s edge, where Aït Benhaddou stands: an entire ksar of adobe houses stacked on a hillside, a World Heritage Site.
You’ve seen it without knowing: Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Game of Thrones were shot here, and Ouarzazate with its studios is next door.
It’s a very long day, four hours each way, so come prepared, or sleep there.
Frequently asked
What day trip should I do from Marrakech?
The Ourika valley, in the High Atlas, if you only have half a day: ninety minutes away, with rivers, Berber villages and waterfalls, and the perfect antidote to the heat. Essaouira, on the Atlantic, if you have a full day.
Can you visit the desert from Marrakech in a day?
To the Merzouga dunes, no: they’re about ten hours away by road and need at least two nights. What is doable in a day is crossing the Atlas to Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate, at the edge of the pre-desert, though it’s four hours each way.
Is Essaouira worth it from Marrakech?
Very, if you have a full day: two and a half hours by bus and you change worlds. A walled Atlantic port, wind, gulls, the best fish in the country and no hassle at all. It’s the exact opposite of Marrakech.