The catalogue · 9 private trips
Every tour below is privately operated by our Marrakech team — Sahara expeditions, Atlas treks, imperial-city routes and same-day coastal escapes. Reshape any of them: change dates, swap the riad, add a day. Real prices, written quotes in 24 hours.
9 private trips
Merzouga · Erg Chebbi
The classic overnight: a sunset camel caravan over the orange dunes of Erg Chebbi, dinner and music at a Berber camp, then a quiet sunrise climb before riding back out.
Marrakech → Erg Chebbi
The definitive Sahara round-trip from Marrakech: the Tizi n'Tichka pass, the kasbah of Aït Ben Haddou, the Dades and Todra gorges, and a camel sunset and overnight camp at Erg Chebbi.
M'Hamid → Erg Chigaga
Skip the crowds for Erg Chigaga — the tallest, most remote dunes in Morocco, reached by a true off-road 4x4 crossing from the desert outpost of M'Hamid.
Merzouga · Erg Chebbi
A guided quad-bike run along the edge of Erg Chebbi — across firm sand tracks, past desert villages and the black volcanic plain, with full briefing and gear.
Merzouga · Erg Chebbi
A gentle pre-dawn camel caravan into the dunes of Erg Chebbi to watch the sun rise over the sand, returning to Merzouga in time for breakfast.
Merzouga · Erg Chebbi
An overnight at a luxury tented camp in the heart of Erg Chebbi — en-suite bathrooms, proper beds, fine dining under the stars, with camel sunset and quad-bike add-ons.
Marrakech → Zagora
The fastest desert overnight from Marrakech: over the Atlas to Aït Ben Haddou and down the Draa Valley to the dunes near Zagora, with a camel trek and a night at camp.
Merzouga · Erg Chebbi
A guided sandboarding session on the tall dunes of Erg Chebbi — boards, instruction and a 4x4 shuttle to the best slopes, timed for the cool of late afternoon.
Marrakech → Draa Valley → Chigaga
Follow the Draa Valley — Morocco's longest river and palm oasis — through kasbahs and date groves to the remote dunes of Erg Chigaga, with two nights of desert camping.
Frequently asked
Erg Chebbi at Merzouga is a long way from Marrakech — most travellers do it as a three-day, two-night loop, since the drive over the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka pass and the Dadès and Todra gorges takes the better part of a day each way. Erg Chigaga, reached via Zagora and M'Hamid, is closer to Marrakech and is often done as a shorter trip. A single overnight in the dunes is possible if you fly or are already in the south, but two nights gives a far less rushed pace.
Merzouga and Erg Chebbi are commonly reached from Fes as well as Marrakech. From Fes the road runs south through Ifrane, the cedar forests near Azrou and the Ziz valley, and it is typically a full day's drive. Many itineraries run one-way between Fes and Marrakech with the desert in the middle, so you don't have to double back.
Spring (roughly March to May) and autumn (September to November) are generally the most comfortable, with warm days and cool nights. High summer brings very strong heat in the desert, so many travellers avoid the peak of July and August or limit time outdoors to early morning and evening. Winter days are pleasant but desert nights can be cold, so warm layers matter.
A typical experience is a camel ride into the dunes in the late afternoon to reach a camp before sunset, dinner and music around a fire, a night in a tent, and an early climb up a dune for sunrise. Camps range from simple to more comfortable set-ups with private tents and beds. The camel portion is usually short; you can also reach many camps by 4x4 if you prefer not to ride.
Both are large dune fields ('erg' means a sea of sand dunes). Erg Chebbi, by Merzouga, has the tallest, most photographed dunes and is the easier to reach, with the village right at the sand's edge. Erg Chigaga, beyond M'Hamid in the south, is larger, wilder and more remote, requiring a longer 4x4 approach over rough piste — a good choice if you want fewer people and a deeper-desert feel.