It's probably the only post on this blog about a place that we visited for around 45 minutes. We'd never heard about Dades Valley before - when we saw the pinkish, twisted rock formations, little villages with houses perfectly blending with the barren landscapes and oasis full of bright green vegetation that created a sharp contrast to the red rocks, we were immediately taken aback in the most positive way.

I hope you'll like the photos below and you'll include the Dades Valley on your itinerary in Morocco. Especially that it's located on the way to the most popular sites, like the town of Ait-Benhaddou (which I'll write about soon) or the amazing golden sand dunes of the world's most famous desert - Sahara (take a look at our adventure in Sahara here).

How to get to Dades Valley

Dades Valley is located around 350 km (220 miles) from Marrakesh. There is no one point that's particularly attractive - it drags quite for a while and you can admire the wonderful landscapes from the road for a long time.

The easiest, cheapest and the most comfortable way to get to Dades Valley is to join a tour to the Sahara from Marrakesh - most of the tours will include it in their itinerary. Choosing a tour agency, compare many of the providers as sometimes they can be way overpriced (especially if you book online). In Morocco, similarly to South East Asia, locals involved in tourism business usually will do just about anything to rip you off. At least this was our experience.

To find more info about the tour and price I paid, read the post here.

As I've mentioned, the stop at Dades Valley lasted only for about 45 minutes, around the sunset and then we drove towards Todra Gorge where we stayed overnight (I will describe it in the next post about Morocco).

It was worth it anyway because the raw beauty of the area was incredible. I adore such unspoiled natural sites and it was a nice surprise that we had a chance to see it - I had seen some amazing rock formations in Cappadocia (check out my post about the famous balloon flight here) but hadn't been aware you can find such spots also in Morocco.

Some people call the rock formations "a brain" and they do look like one! The pinkish mass of twisted and tangled shapes of the rock really resembles cerebral cortex of the brain. Thanks to the time of the year in which we visited Morocco (early May), the valley was filled with lush green trees and the temperature was perfect for strolling and roaming around. Enjoy the photos although they can't compare to the real sights in the slightest!