Full-Day Trip from Marrakech to Atlas Mountains and The Ancient Ait Ben Haddou

The pick from our Riad was prompt as promised at 7 AM. There was only one other family in our van besides us. It can be a long day because of the 4 hour journey especially through the Atlas mountains. Breakfast was good at the restaurant we stopped in the morning that was part of this package. Our tour guide, Ismail kept it lively giving information about Morocco. Seeing the movie sets in Ouarzazate and the historical site of Ait Ben Haddou made the long drive worth it. The restaurant recommended by our guide for lunch was reasonable and clean. We were dropped off at our Riad by 8:45 PM. Overall, it was as great day trip from Marrakech and something that should be seen while visiting Morocco.

Highlights our guide Abdul had a great positive outlook on life and was super observant picking out things you could easily have missed like hidden palaces, cows riding on top of trucks and the sand castles of Ait Ben Haddou tour of Ouarzazate casbah views of the beautiful Atlas Mountains as we rode up and over them no random stops in random gift shops owned by friends breakfast with second helpings and again nice views from the mountains kept well hydrated by our guides and taking toilet breaks not an issue door to door pick up drop off language wasnt an issue, perfect English spoken great communication to arrange pick up time Friendly and light hearted Abdul and our expert driver made a 3 hour winding drive up and over the beautiful Atlas Mountains to the world heritage sand castles of Ait Ben Haddou and real casbah/ fake movie sets of Ouarzazate a relaxing and enjoyable experience! My pick up was well communicated well in advance and set for 06:20 and I was back by 9pm after a packed day

It was a long day by seeing the Castle and the movie museum in Ouarzazate. Both were very interest and our guide was wonderful, fun and very well spoken. I learned more about the area then I knew going in. The Air Ben Haddou was stunning. I loved walking around the grounds and taking in the views. The lunch stop was a delicious traditional meal and did not cost to much.

We had a fabulous time and our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and pointed out lots of really interesting sites as we were travelling. Experiencing snow in the mountains was amazing. The trip was really comfortable in a small group.

Big high 5 for our Guide/driver Abdul. Pick up at 6am, drop off 8pm. Always courteous, friendly. Super driving skills, snow storm and bad visibility over the pass. Then taking over in Ait Ben Haddou as tourguide and accompanying the ladies back to someone shops. Huge knowledge about Morocco and never a dull moment. Shokran and all the best

We had a wonderful and adventurous day - we were fortunate enough to see rain, snow and sun all in one day. Ait Ben Haddou is an authentic experience, beautiful, mysterious and relaxed. Abdul is very knowledgeable about sites, geology as well as the culture in ancient and modern Marokko. Enjoy!

I highly recommend this tour! I went as a solo traveler and there was only five of us total in the group which kept logistics easy and made the tour very personal and intimate. Ouarzazate including the tour of the Cinema Museum and the Kasbah is lovely but the real gem is Ait Ben Haddou. The weather had been kind of cloudy all day and then it absolutely poured when we got to Ait Ben Haddou which is apparently very rare. However, our tour guide switched the itinerary another perk of having a small group and we went to have lunch first before trying for Ait Ben Haddou again. It was a perfect idea because the rain passed through and the skies and scenery were absolutely stunning afterwards with crystal blue skies and all the dust having been washed away. Speaking of our guide, what a treat! He was incredibly friendly and knowledgable and maintained a great rapport with all the guests for the entire day. The only thing that I would note for other travelers is that pickup time is early 6am but it makes sense given the long-drive ahead and leaving early helps to avoid the big trucks on the mountain roads. The mountain road itself is safe but long and twisty about 4 hours which can affect those prone to motion sickness. Other than that, it was a great tour and well-worth the time!

Excellent tour guide ( Ismail) , fluent in English good sense of humour. Beautiful sites worth visiting. May be should consider two days trip as it very exhausting in one day as it is 4 hours drive each way.

A wonderful trip with the amazing Ismail, our guide. A fascinating day away from the hustle and bustle of Marrakech into the serene and stunning High Atlas mountains followed by a trip to the ancient towns of Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou, so often used in the movies as a backdrop that takes you to times gone by. Highly recommended.

We couldn't make this trip as snow bounds roads prevented access through the Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate. However, Abdul called us the evening before and we ventured instead to the old coastal town of Essourria, where Aziz gave us a good insight into the history of the Portuguese defences, the fishing port and amazingly, old Jewish, Muslim and catholic houses right next to each other. This doesn't help with this advertised trip but the alternative was also arranged with Abdul of Morocco Inspiring Tours whom I give 5 stars for organisation, politeness and knowledge when asked. On our next and last day, we had nothing arranged so Abdul drove us round Marrakech, taking us to the 2 Palaces, the Saadien Tombs, the YSL museum and the Jardins Majorelle, before taking us directly to the airport. Service doesn't really get better than that. Apologies that the first 3 photos I post here relate to a previous trip.