Morocco part 2: Into the Desert

We booked on a 3 day tour out of Marrakesh, heading South through the Atlas Mountains, towards the border with Algeria and the famous Sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. On the way we stop to see mud cities built hundreds of years ago (Aït Benhaddou), a green oasis in the desert (Tinghir), an impressive Gorge (The Todgha Gorges), before getting to the main attraction, around 560km away from Marrakesh, riding camels through the amazing sand dunes at Merzouga.
Unfortunately the tour was quite rushed, and apparently they are all like that as no matter who you book with you get chucked on with the same groups, but the sites themselves were still very impressive. If I could do it again I would try and rent a car and do it myself taking a week instead of 3 days. Still, some awesome site.
00:00 - Leaving Marrakesh
02:10 - Aït Benhaddou
06:41 - On the bus to Atlas Movie Studios
07:35 - A rushed peek at Ouarzazate
08:38 - On the bus to our hotel
10:30 - The Brain Atlas or Monkey Fingers
11:55 - Tinghir, Garden of Eden
12:59 - To the Berber house and carpets
14:00 - Heading to the Todgha Gorge
15:25 - Final drive into the desert
16:25 - Merzouga and the Camel ride!
20:18 - A night in the Desert
22:00 - Sunrise camel ride and back to Marrakesh
25:10 - Photo Montage

[@J.G.V.610]

Nice area, the bad thing is that it is too touristy...
Your thing is to rent a vehicle and go on your own, three days is very little time to enjoy everything the area offers.
560 km in Morocco are many kilometers.

[@TyrhoneTubbs]

100% agree! If I was to do it again for sure it would be solo. The tour was like herding cattle, we still saw some cool stuff but we would have happily taken a week to see what we did, and then all the stuff I know we missed being rushed around. Next time!

[@jgvarea]

Greetings..
Beautiful country that should not be missed, but better without tourist tours, better to rent a vehicle, between cities there are many Riads, Hotels, Restaurants, etc.
On organized trips, you only see super tourist areas and there is hardly time to enjoy everything the country offers.
Those 3-day tours are very heavy, Merzouga/Zagora is more than 550 km from Marrakech and takes more than 8 hours (separate stops).
A beating for the body..

[@TyrhoneTubbs]

Yeah for sure knowing what I know now I would just have picked a couple things and gone on our own, the tour is way to rushed to fully appreciate the sites.

[@martinasimkova1882]

Hello, do you remember the name of agency you booked the tour with?

[@TyrhoneTubbs]

Hi, we booked through our hotel, but basically they all use the same companies and when the tour starts they just throw you on any bus that has space. I really wouldn't suggest the tour we went on (not the agency the actual tour), because they really rush you and you don't get to fully enjoy it. Try and get to the spots on your own if you can and spend an evening at the various spots, time allowing of course.