Photographing Morocco
9-Day Morocco Photography Tour from Marrakech
Nine days built around the light instead of the distance
- 9 days · 8 nights
- Marrakech → Marrakech
- About 23 hours over 9 days, all of it scheduled around light rather than opening times. driving
Photography is how I got to know this country. I bought a camera, started driving to places because someone said the view was good, and ended up learning Morocco by looking for pictures in it. This route is the one I'd design for myself. It moves when the light is useless and stops when it isn't, which means short driving days, long stays, and going back to the same place twice because the second morning is better. The middle of the day is for eating and sleeping — that's not laziness, it's the only sensible response to overhead sun. It is not a workshop and I'm not going to teach you exposure. What you get is someone who knows which side of the valley to be on at six in the morning, and who will happily sit in a van for an hour waiting for a cloud to move.
Why I run it this wayI shoot as well as drive, so the schedule is built around light rather than opening hours. I'll tell you where to stand and when to be there, then get out of your way and let you work.
The things worth stopping for
- Every day planned backwards from sunrise and the last hour
- Dawn at Ait Ben Haddou before the first coach arrives
- Two nights at Erg Chebbi, so the dunes get shot twice
- Rissani market for people and colour, on a market morning
- The middle of each day written off on purpose
Where this trip takes you
Straight lines between stops, not the exact roads — the driving is the winding version of this.
How the trip goes
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Day 1: Marrakech at blue hour
Driving: NoneArrive, drop bags, and be on a rooftop before the sun goes. Jemaa el-Fna from above as the lamps come on and the smoke starts, then down into it once it's properly dark. An easy first evening that still gets you something.
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Day 2: The medina before it wakes
Driving: NoneOut at first light while the alleys are empty and the light is coming in sideways — the dyers' souk, Ben Youssef, the quiet streets behind them. Back to the riad through the middle of the day because there's nothing worth shooting in it. Out again to the Palmeraie for the last hour.
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Day 3: Over the pass, into the kasbah light
Driving: About 5 hoursEarly enough that the Tizi n'Tichka is still low-lit when we cross. Telouet in the middle of the day, where it doesn't matter — the painted rooms are all window light anyway. Ait Ben Haddou for golden hour, and the sky once it's dark.
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Day 4: Dawn at the ksar, then the back road
Driving: About 3 hoursUp before the coaches for the kasbah with nobody in it. The Ounila valley north — red rock, river, villages that see no traffic — and Skoura's palm groves as the sun drops.
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Day 5: Rose Valley and the gorges
Driving: About 3 hoursFirst light in the Rose Valley, the Dades switchbacks from the viewpoint above them, and Todra at midday, which is the one place where overhead sun helps: the walls throw the light back down.
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Day 6: Into the dunes
Driving: About 3 hoursEast to Merzouga with time to spare, out to camp for the last hour on the sand, and then the sky once the moon is down. Tripod weather.
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Day 7: The dunes twice
Driving: NoneSunrise on the big dune, then the whole middle of the day off — sleep, back up the cards, sit in the shade. Out again as it turns, and a second night at the camp. Two goes at the same dunes in different light is the reason this route is nine days and not eight.
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Day 8: Rissani, and the kasbahs west
Driving: About 5 hoursMarket morning at Rissani — people, colour, noise, and nothing arranged for a camera. Then west through Nkob and its kasbah towers to Ouarzazate.
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Day 9: Telouet, and the last light
Driving: About 4 hoursThe old road over Telouet instead of the highway, back into Marrakech with the afternoon left. One more hour in the medina as it goes gold, if you've still got frames in you.
I'll email you this itinerary — every day, what's included, what it costs — so you can think it over and share it.
One email with the itinerary. No account, and I don't pass your address to anyone — see the privacy policy.
What's included
Included
- Private air-conditioned van with me driving
- 8 nights including 2 at a desert camp
- Breakfast each morning, dinner at the camp
- All timings planned around sunrise, last light and the night sky
- Local fixers where portrait access needs arranging
- Rooftop and vantage-point fees
- Fuel, tolls and parking
- Marrakech pickup and drop-off
Not included
- Flights and visas
- Travel insurance
- Camera equipment
- Lunches and dinners unless listed
- Entrance fees to monuments and museums
- Model fees beyond those arranged
- Tips
Read more about where you'll be
A closer look
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Every route bends: more time somewhere, a different start, a night added. Send your dates and I'll plan it around you.