Draa Valley
Travel Guide
The Great South
Nothing North of the Atlas prepares you for ‘Le Grand Sud’. The Great South, a vast expanse of desert and mountains, there is hardly a road in this region that cannot be described as spectacular. It is a filmmakers dream, with wide valleys studded with palm packed oases, red mud castles, appearing to emerge directly out of the earth‘s crust, and jagged mountains stretching across every vista.
Travelling southeast from Marrakech over the Atlas Mountains toward the palm oasis town of Ouarzazate, on the main route between the mountains to the north and the Sahara to the south, is to travel through a gateway into a mild adventure. To the discovery of another Morocco, one of peace, charm and simplicity with immense landscapes and desert-scapes.
The Atlas, River Deep, Mountain High
Life in the south centres around the three great ‘wadis’ (riverbeds) The Draa, The Dades and The Ziz. These rivers have created stunning landscapes, carving majestic and dramatic gorges and canyons out of the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains and support the beautiful and towering date palm groves and ancient agricultural communities, established around the many Kasbahs.
These ochre red-walled villages are still inhabited today, although many are slowly crumbling, an ageing process that appears only to enhance their mystical quality.
Date Palm Oases
The great palm groves between the towns of Agdz to Zagora stretching out as far as the eye can see down the valley are broken only by high thick red earth walls that shelter small green plots with wheat and fruit trees bearing figs pomegranates and apricots, accounting for the regions wealth.
Biblical Berber Villages
This is a Morocco where hundreds of ancient Kasbahs and fortified villages punctuate the palm groves and a landscape consisting of Berber villages, mountaintop cafes with panoramic views and where brightly coloured patterned carpets and blankets washed in the river, dry in the sun on terraced hillsides and alongside river beds.
The Erg Lihoudi & Erg Chigaga Dune Sets
Into The Lihoudi Dunes And Chigaga Dunes.
Importantly, The Draa valley comprises two of the great entrance routes into the Sahara. Heading south from Ouarzazate, takes you to the town of Zagora and beyond to the Lihoudi dunes. Heading due South from Zagora, takes you to the town of M’hamid, the last small oasis village, prior to entering the Sahara and to the Chigaga dunes.
The River Valleys of the Southern region embrace and support in their own unique way, spectacular and dramatic landscapes prior to arriving at the Sahara. As you journey it will certainly not enter your mind to raise the question “Are we there yet”?
For there literally is something beautiful on the horizon around every Moroccan twist, bend and corner!
Our Award-Winning Service
My now wife is Moroccan, and we wanted to organize a pre-wedding trip for our friends and my family members who wanted to take in the sights before our wedding in Marrakech. The group quickly ballooned beyond our wildest expectations with 63 people wanting to join in! We had made arrangements with a different tour company who mysteriously cancelled on us several months after we thought everything was all set. We scrambled at short notice to find another tour company and are so happy we found Mor'hara. I will never forget! I cannot recommend this company enough for large or small group travel.
Steven M - Morocco / USA
My sister and I had talked about visiting Morocco for several years. How lucky we were that she found Mor'hara Morocco Tours. Our 10-day trip was planned in detail with assistance from Liz and from the first day that we were picked up at the airport by Hassan we set sail on a fabulous journey through Morocco. Camel riding into the desert, traversing the Atlas Mountains, shopping in Marrakech, tasting all kinds of exotic foods, interacting with local people and their children - day after day of wonderfully exciting activities. Hassan was the ideal guide- informative, funny, engaging. This adventure was truly the trip of a lifetime.
Gerri L - USA
The experience Morhara Morocco Tours provided us was "simply" unforgettable. Perfect from all service perspectives (logistics, 4x4 vehicles, amazing accommodations and in the camp, cultural content, routes, spectacular food, personnel, flexibility and security) and more importantly to me, everything was handled with care, love and passion by Hassan, our guide and leader of the tour. Hassan was great, generous and seemed to be driven by the ambition to make this tour an outstanding event for all us. We are deeply thankful and happy with your services.
Marcelo L - Brazil
I don't even know where to start! Hassan was an incredible guide, translator, driver, coordinator during our entire time in Morocco. We were female travelers and felt very safe with Hassan and had a great time from start to finish. The desert tour was unforgettable. We learned how to cook tajine, rode camels, climbed sand dunes, saw beautiful Kasbahs, went off-roading, and glamped like pros! We had a wonderful, surreal experience and I would 100% recommend Hassan and Liz's company. Our trip exceeded my expectations and it was all thanks to Hassan and Liz at Morhara.
Jennifer W - USA
I contacted Morhara due to their great reviews and I couldn't be happier with my decision. We had a once in a lifetime experience. The trip was well paced and included the flexibility you need travelling with young children. A lot of the success of the trip was due to our lovely driver Hafid, my children and my husband and I all loved him! In turn his love for his country, especially the Sahara, was infectious and we truly felt like we saw the real Morocco. We can't wait to come back when the children are older, Morocco is such a beautiful, friendly country.
Cleo W - UK
As a group of 5, we spent wonderful 11 days in Southern Morocco. From the very first contact, we were pleased with the personalized contact and arrangements of our private tour and then... we arrived in Morocco and it was even better! Hassan who was guiding us proved to be extremely friendly, helpful and informative and made us feel relaxed and comfortable during the whole journey. If you are looking for a first-class service and personalized, friendly assistance while in Morocco I can clearly recommend you get in touch with Liz and Hassan of Mor'hara Tours. Thank you both for all your efforts and fantastic holiday we had on and off the 'beaten' visitor track!
Jacek A - Poland
My husband and I just got back from our holiday in Morocco, and we had the best time, thanks to Mor'hara. During the planning process, Liz and Hassan (owners) are extremely responsive and provided comprehensive information. Now that we have travelled with them, I am even more supportive of their business and we greatly enjoyed our time with Hafid, our driver. I would highly recommend traveling with Hafid and Mor'hara. Even though we only interacted with Liz and Hassan via e-mail, I feel like part of the family. Thank you team Mor'hara for the amazing experience and memories!
Akikio I - USA
This is the company to hire if you want an authentic and unforgettable experience in Morocco. Hassan will go out of his way to make you fall in love with Morocco. Our experience in the Sahara was exceptional. We never once felt lost or out of place as Hassan made sure to make us feel like Morocco was our home too. We didn't feel like we were over paying, and every recommendation came with genuine intention for us to have a once in a lifetime experience in Morocco. I wish we had more time to see the entire country with this tour company.
Parastoo B - USA
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