Private day tour to Ouarzazate & Ait Benhaddou
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What's included
- Guided Tour with local Guide
- Pick up to Hotel or Riad
- Transport fuel driver air-conditioned 4WD vehicle or mini van
- Breakfast and daily
- Drinks and personal items
- Lunch
We take the mountain route which takes us over the highest drivable pass in North Africa at Tizi-n-Tichka (2260m). You’ll discover an important region characterized by the beauty of its diverse landscape. Our first visit will be to the Glaoui Palace, Kasbah Telouet, from the outside it appears to be a ruin, but inside you will see magnificent craftsmanship in the zellig tilework and carved woodwork. Next we bring you to the UNESCO World Heritage site: the Ait Benhaddou Kasbah, a town full of symbolic kasbahs where many movies like Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia and the Prince of Persia were filmed. The narrow streets wind up to the top of this fortification where 8 or 9 Berber families still live. From the top you can see for miles around on all sides and the views below of all the kasbahs is quite spectacular. Our next visit is to the Taourirt and Tifoultoute kasbahs, residences of the Old Glaoui Pacha of Marrakech. After lunch we will go back to Marrakech.
- Day 1
Marrakech - Ait Ben Haddou
A stroll the Unesco-protected kasbah, Ait Ben Haddou that still resembles its days in the 11th century, a visit to Taourirt Kasbah and ” Ouallywood” movie studios in Ouarzazate
Pick up in the morning and head towards the Atlas Mountains, to cross Tizi-n-Tichka around 2260 meters altitude. There the snow perseveres almost all over the year. An outstanding landscape on a road that winds the Atlas Berber villages. The trip continues towards Aït Benhaddou site, picturesque village one of Morocco’s most remarkable ksour or fortified village. It is is situat 32 km from Ouarzazate in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. It has been declare Unesco World Heritage since 1987.
AĂŻt Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region use for shooting Hollywood films. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles use it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt.
It’s a spectacular site and has stunning views surrounding it, you will enjoy taking photos to remember it. We suggest a stroll behind the Kasbah to see the ksars, individual plain earth houses still inhabited by Berber families. Most of these families now live at the other side of the river. Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara.
Your guide will tell you the history of Aït Benhaddou and the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech. Lunch will be on a terrace to enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal. After lunch, departure towards the main Berber city in Morocco: Ouarzazate. Well known for its desertic landscape, dramatic mountains, by breathtaking valleys. Visit kasbah Taourirt.. Before returning to Marrakech, visit the Atlas Film Studios. David Lean filmed Lawrence of Arabia in the early 1960’s. International blockbusters shot here in recent years include: Cleopatra, Scorsese’s Kundun, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Oliver Stone’s Alexander The Great, and more recently they shot the series Games of Thrones.
The tour ends here and you will head back to Marrakech with the feeling that you have experienced a day rich in Berber history.
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