A camel caravan crossing a dune ridge at golden hour under scattered clouds

Couple questions: Romantic places

Is Ouarzazate enough desert for a short honeymoon?

It gives you kasbah country, not dunes. Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou are about 4 hours from Marrakech over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with mud-brick fortresses, palm oases and good night skies. For a night in the sand dunes, Merzouga is about 5 more hours east. With little time, the Agafay desert near Marrakech is the easier alternative.

Ask us your question

Answered by the Morocco Honeymoons team. Checked October 2026.

The short answer

The Erg Chebbi dunes after sunset, a sharp ridge in the foreground and a rose and violet sky — Erg Chebbi after sunset, MerzougaPhoto: Mike Prince, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized and colour-graded)

In more detail

Ouarzazate sits where the Draa and Dades rivers meet, on the far side of the High Atlas. Our comparison describes a landscape of mud-brick kasbahs, date-palm oases and ochre cliffs, with Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO-listed ksar, about 30 km away. A day there and a night in the area is rewarding in its own right.

What it does not have is the dune sea. Erg Chebbi at Merzouga is about 360 km further east, around 5 hours along the road through Skoura, the Dades and the Todra gorge. That is why the classic southern route links the two over three days rather than treating Ouarzazate as the desert itself.

Rolling dunes in low golden light, their crests lit and their hollows in shadow — Golden hour on the Merzouga dunes, Erg ChebbiPhoto: Mustang Joe, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)

So the honest answer depends on what you picture. If it is kasbahs, palm groves and a sky full of stars, Ouarzazate or a night in the Skoura palmery works well. If it is camels and dunes at sunrise, plan for Merzouga, or take the short drive to the Agafay for a stone-desert camp close to Marrakech.