Atlas Film Studios
Standing sets from decades of desert films. Worth a stop if you like cinema; easy to skip if you would rather reach Dades earlier.
Southern Morocco · Draa-Tafilalet
Ouarzazate
Where the Atlas ends and the desert south begins.
Why travellers come
Visiting Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate sits just beyond the southern side of the High Atlas, at the junction of the Draa and Dades valleys. Every Marrakech-to-Sahara route passes through it on day one.
It is a practical town rather than a pretty one, but it is the film capital of Morocco and the gateway to the kasbah country that follows — the landscape changes completely here, from mountain to red plateau and palm oasis.
Ouarzazate is the natural lunch and film-studio stop between Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades Valley, and the place where the scenery turns properly Saharan.
Travel information
- From Marrakech
- Around 4 hours over the Tizi n'Tichka pass
- To Dades Valley
- About 2 hours east through Skoura
- Typical stop
- 1 to 2 hours on day one of a Sahara circuit
- Landscape
- High desert plateau, kasbahs and palm oases
Main attractions
What to see in Ouarzazate
The places worth your time, and roughly how they fit into a day on the road.
Taourirt Kasbah
A large earthen kasbah on the old caravan road, with restored reception rooms and rooftop views over the old quarter.
Fint Oasis
A green palm valley a short drive out of town, and a quiet contrast to the stony plateau around it.
Skoura palm grove
East of town on the road to Dades, dense with palms and old kasbahs including Amerhidil.
Best experiences
- A walk through Taourirt Kasbah
- Lunch between Ait Ben Haddou and Dades
- Film-set photography at the Atlas studios
- Sunset over the Skoura palm grove
Tours that go there
Private tours including Ouarzazate
Each route below is private, flexible and led by our own driver-guides.
