Dades Valley

The Dades is where desert tours should sleep if they have more than two days. The valley is agricultural and theatrical at once: roses around El Kelaa, monkey-finger rocks, kasbah hotels on terraces.

A night here breaks the Marrakech–Merzouga push into human pieces. We use it constantly, and guests remember the evening walk as much as the dunes.

When to visit the Dades Valley

Spring is magical, with almond blossom and, in May, the rose harvest and rose festival around Kelaat M’Gouna. Autumn brings golden poplars and walnut trees. Summer is warm but fresher than the desert, and winter nights are cold, so kasbah hotels light fires.

Getting to the Dades Valley

The Dades lies about five to six hours from Marrakech via Tizi n’Tichka and Ouarzazate, which makes it the natural first night on the road to Merzouga. The famous switchback road above Aït Oudinar and the rock formations known as the monkey fingers are short drives from most hotels. An evening walk along the river among fields and earth villages is one of the quiet highlights of a desert tour.

Authoritative background: Visit Morocco page for Ouarzazate, Zagora and Tinghir (Visit Morocco — Ouarzazate, Zagora and Tinghir).

Morocco desert tours