The back story
The Agafay desert: stone hills and starlit camps
A rocky desert of hills just 40 km from the city, for camel rides, sunset and a night under the stars.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsJust 40 km from Marrakech, the Agafay desert is a landscape of stone hills and wide expanses rather than sand dunes, the Regional Tourism Council notes: camel rides, encounters with nomads and a starry sky, with the Atlas on the horizon.
The desert
Agafay is a stony desert of hills, not dunes; the snow on the Atlas is often in view.
The camps
Inara Camp has 19 tents and suites with two pools; Scarabeo Camp pitches its white tents against the mountains (their sites).
Go for the sunset, stay for the stars.
Our advice: desert nights can be cold; bring a warm layer even after a hot day.
Why it's on our list
- The desert
- The camps
What’s nearby
Distances from The Agafay desert: stone hills and starlit camps are approximate, measured in a straight line (as the crow flies). Times are approximate too: walking at about 80 metres a minute, cycling at about 12 km/h and driving at typical city-traffic speeds. Traffic and routes vary.
Key sights
- Marrakech Menara Airport20 kmCar or taxi 69 min
- Menara gardens22 kmCar or taxi 74 min
- Saadian Tombs24 kmCar or taxi 81 min
- Koutoubia25 kmCar or taxi 82 min
- Jardin Majorelle25 kmCar or taxi 83 min
- Bahia Palace25 kmCar or taxi 84 min
- Ben Youssef Madrasa26 kmCar or taxi 85 min
The station and the square
- Marrakech station23 kmCar or taxi 78 min
- Jemaa el-Fna25 kmCar or taxi 83 min
Location
The map comes from Google Maps, which sets its own cookies once it loads.
More in depth
The back storyMarrakech at the table: tagines, terraces and the night marketLe Marocain at La Mamounia, Al Fassia’s kitchen of women, the roof terraces of Nomad, L’mida and Le Foundouk, the brasserie of Gueliz and the smoke of Jemaa el-Fna at night: how Marrakech eats.
The back storyMoroccan FoodThe tagine, Friday couscous, pastilla, the tanjia of Marrakech, harira and the ceremony of mint tea: what to eat in Marrakech.
The back storyWhere Marrakech sleeps: palaces, riads and the gardens beyond the wallsLa Mamounia and the Royal Mansour inside the walls, riads such as El Fenn and La Maison Arabe in the lanes of the medina, and the garden resorts of the Palmeraie and the Atlas road: where to stay in Marrakech.