A Sahara desert tour from Marrakech takes at least three days. The big dunes at Erg Chebbi, near Merzouga, are about 560 kilometers away, across the High Atlas, and the drive is nine to ten hours without stops. I do not put my guests through that in one day, and I never drive the mountain road at night. So the first night is always in Boumalne Dades, about halfway, and the desert comes on the second day.
I plan these trips from Fes and have been doing so since 2012. This page covers the three-day and four-day versions, every stop on the road and how long we spend there, the night at the camp, and what it costs. It also answers the questions people ask me before they book, including the ones where the honest answer is no.
Three days or four: which I recommend
Most people ask for three days. For an American couple, I recommend four.
On the three-day trip you sleep one night in Boumalne Dades and one night at the desert camp, then drive out of the desert on the third day. It works, and it is how most people see the Sahara. But the third day is long, especially if you are going back to Marrakech, and the desert itself gets one afternoon and one sunrise.
| Day | Route | On the road | Sleep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marrakech → Tizi n'Tichka → Aït Ben Haddou → Ouarzazate → Boumalne Dades | about 6 hours with stops | Hotel, Boumalne Dades |
| 2 | Boumalne Dades → Todra Gorge → Merzouga, Jeep to the camp | about 6 hours with stops | Desert camp, Erg Chebbi |
| 3 | Merzouga → back to Marrakech, or on to Fes | about 9 hours to Marrakech, about 7 to Fes | — |
The four-day trip adds a night in a hotel at Merzouga before the camp. You arrive from Dades, rest, and the next day is yours: the villages around Merzouga, the musicians at Khamlia, the dunes in daylight, and then the camp in the late afternoon. The driving is the same, but it is spread out, and you are not getting back in the car the morning after you reach the dunes.
| Day | Route | On the road | Sleep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marrakech → Tizi n'Tichka → Aït Ben Haddou → Ouarzazate → Boumalne Dades | about 6 hours with stops | Hotel, Boumalne Dades |
| 2 | Boumalne Dades → Todra Gorge → Merzouga | about 6 hours with stops | Hotel, Merzouga |
| 3 | A day around Merzouga, then the Jeep to the camp in the late afternoon | short local drives | Desert camp, Erg Chebbi |
| 4 | Merzouga → back to Marrakech, or on to Fes | about 9 hours to Marrakech, about 7 to Fes | — |
Every trip is private and planned around you, so these are the versions I suggest, not fixed packages. The trip can also run to five days if you want more time on the way.
Why I never drive to Merzouga in one day
Some companies will drive you from Marrakech to the dunes in a single day. Without sightseeing it is nine to ten hours, over a mountain pass with long stretches of bends. You arrive exhausted, see very little on the way, and the road is not one I want to drive in the dark. Splitting it at Boumalne Dades turns two hard days into two good ones, with the best stops of the trip in daylight.
The stops on the road, and how long each one takes
This is the first day, and roughly how we spend it. The timings are the ones I plan around, and we stretch or shorten them to suit you.
- Tizi n'Tichka pass, 5 to 10 minutes. The highest road pass in the High Atlas. We stop for photos of the mountains and the bends you have just climbed.
- Aït Ben Haddou, about an hour. The fortified earth village used as a location for many films and series. There is time to walk up through it. A local guide here is optional and paid separately.
- Lunch, about half an hour, usually near Aït Ben Haddou or Ouarzazate.
- Ouarzazate. We pass through. If you want to visit the Atlas Film Studios, we stop for about an hour.
- Rose Valley at Kelaat M'Gouna, about 10 minutes, if you would like to see the rose products the valley is known for and how they are made.
The first day ends in Boumalne Dades, with dinner at the hotel. On the second morning we drive to the Todra Gorge, where the road runs between rock walls a few hundred meters high. We usually spend 20 to 30 minutes there, up to an hour with a larger group, then continue to Merzouga.
The night at the camp
At Merzouga your luggage goes into a Jeep and you drive about 20 to 25 minutes into the dunes to the camp. You arrive to mint tea. Then comes the camel ride, about an hour, out from the camp and back, timed for sunset. Dinner is at the camp, and afterwards there is usually drumming around the fire. On a clear night, the stars are the part people talk about afterwards.
The tents we use have a proper bed and a private shower and toilet inside. Sandboarding on the dunes is free. Quad biking is available at Merzouga but is not part of the prices on this page. I have written a full page on what the desert camps are really like, bathroom included, and another on what the camel ride involves.
Can you do a Sahara day trip from Marrakech?
Not to the real Sahara dunes. They are too far, and anyone who sells it as a day trip is selling you a day in a car. If you only have one day, I suggest the Agafay desert, about 45 minutes from Marrakech. It is a rocky desert, not sand dunes, but it gives you open desert landscape and an evening out of the city without the long drive.
What is the best 2-day desert tour from Marrakech?
If you have two days and do not want to spend most of them on the road, go to Zagora rather than Merzouga. It is much closer, and it is a good option when time is short. Be clear about what you are getting: Zagora does not have massive sand dunes like Erg Chebbi at Merzouga. If the big golden dunes are the reason you are going, find a third day.
Erg Chebbi or Erg Chigaga?
You will see both names. For a first visit to the Sahara, I recommend Erg Chebbi at Merzouga, and that is where my partner camps are. It has the high dunes, the camps, the sunsets and sunrises, and the camel rides, sandboarding and quad biking that most people come for. Erg Chigaga, near M'Hamid, is wilder and harder to reach, and it is not where I take people seeing the desert for the first time.
Back to Marrakech, or on to Fes?
About half of my guests come back to Marrakech. The other half finish in Fes, which saves the long drive back over the Atlas and puts you in the city I would send you to next anyway. If Fes is on your list, the one-way trip is the better use of your time. If you are starting in Fes instead, our desert tours from Fes run the other way.
Is the long drive worth it, and who should not do it?
I think it is worth it. The road is part of the trip: the High Atlas, Aït Ben Haddou, the valleys and gorges, and a landscape that changes completely between Marrakech and the dunes.
It is not the right trip for everyone, though. There are long days in the car and a night at a desert camp. If you have serious mobility or joint problems, a heart or breathing condition such as asthma, diabetes that needs careful management, or you are pregnant, talk to me and to your doctor before you book. I would rather plan something shorter that you enjoy.
When to go
I do not recommend July or August. The heat in the desert makes it hard to enjoy. Spring and autumn are the easiest seasons.
In winter, snow can close the Tizi n'Tichka pass, mostly around late December, early January and late February. In my experience it happens two or three times a year, and the authorities usually clear the road quickly. We check the road and the weather one or two days before you leave. If snow, heavy rain or flooding makes the road unsafe, we change the route or move the date. We never set off without knowing the road is safe.
Private or shared?
Shared desert tours from Marrakech cost a lot less, and for some travelers they are the right choice. What changes is control. On a shared tour everyone follows the group schedule: the stops, the meal times and the restaurants are fixed, and some itineraries include shopping stops you did not choose.
On a private trip the vehicle is yours, nobody else is in it, and the stops are your choice: longer at Aït Ben Haddou, a coffee where the view is good, lunch when you are hungry. We choose comfortable hotels and good camps, and your driver speaks English and explains what you are seeing. For most people the Sahara is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and I would rather it felt that way.
What American travelers ask me before booking
American guests ask more questions about the camp than anyone else, and they are good questions. Is the tent heated? Is there a queen-size bed? A shower and a private bathroom? Where exactly is the camp? Is it safe? Can we do quad biking?
The short answers: yes to heating, a proper bed and a private bathroom in the tents we use; the camps are in the Erg Chebbi dunes, a short Jeep ride from Merzouga; and quad biking can be arranged there.
The other question is tipping. For the camel handler I suggest 100 to 200 dirhams per person, about $10 to $20, given to him directly. For the waiters and the musicians at the camp, a small tip is welcome but up to you.
The day the passports stayed in Marrakech
We picked up a couple from their riad in the Marrakech medina one morning and were almost halfway to Boumalne Dades when they checked their bags and realized their passports were still in the room. They were very worried, and they had every reason to be.
We called the riad manager, who found the passports in the room they had left that morning. Then we arranged for someone to bring them from Marrakech to Boumalne Dades, and they had them by the next morning. The trip carried on as planned. Things go wrong on every kind of trip. What matters is having someone local who can fix them.
Families and older travelers
For families with children, and for older travelers, the main thing I change is the driving. I usually suggest four days instead of three, so no day is too long and there is time to rest at Merzouga before the camp.
What it costs
Private trips, per person, for two people traveling together in the quiet season, with our standard hotels and camp:
- Three days, back to Marrakech: from $450 per person
- Four days, back to Marrakech: from $650 per person
- Three days, ending in Fes: from $500 per person
Included: the private vehicle and driver, fuel, the hotel in Boumalne Dades (and at Merzouga on the four-day trip), the night at the desert camp, the camel ride, breakfasts, and dinner in Boumalne Dades and at the camp.
Not included: the local guide at Aït Ben Haddou, entrance fees, lunches and drinks, quad biking, and tips.
The price changes with the number of people, the season and the standard of hotel and camp you want. Tell me your dates and I will give you a real figure rather than a range.
Booking works the same way as all our trips: a 30% deposit holds the hotels, the camp and the vehicle, and the balance is paid in cash when you arrive. If you cancel at least 31 days before arrival, the deposit is refunded in full.
Plan your Sahara trip from Marrakech
Tell me when you are coming, how many days you have and whether you want to finish in Marrakech or Fes, and I will tell you which version fits, including if the answer is a different month.
Plan your desert trip from Marrakech
Common questions
Can you go to the Sahara Desert from Marrakech?
Yes. The big dunes at Erg Chebbi, near Merzouga, are about 560 kilometers from Marrakech, around nine to ten hours of driving without stops. That is why a Sahara trip from Marrakech takes at least three days. We break the drive with a first night in Boumalne Dades and never cross the mountains at night.
How much is a Sahara desert tour from Marrakech?
Our private tours start from $450 per person for three days and from $650 per person for four days, back to Marrakech, for two people in the quiet season with our standard hotels and camp. A three-day trip that ends in Fes starts from $500 per person. The price includes the private vehicle and driver, two hotel or camp nights on the three-day trip, the camel ride, breakfasts, and dinner in Boumalne Dades and at the camp.
Can you do a day trip to the Sahara from Marrakech?
Not to the real Sahara dunes. They are too far for a day. If you only have one day, the Agafay desert is about 45 minutes from Marrakech. It is a rocky desert, not sand dunes, but it gives you open desert landscape close to the city.
What is the best 2-day desert tour from Marrakech?
With only two days I suggest Zagora rather than Merzouga. It is much closer, so you spend less of your time in the car. Zagora does not have massive sand dunes like Erg Chebbi, so if seeing the big Sahara dunes is the point of your trip, give it three or four days and go to Merzouga.
Is the Sahara Desert worth visiting from Marrakech?
I think so, and the drive is part of the reason: the High Atlas, Aït Ben Haddou, the gorges and the change of landscape on the way. It is not right for everyone. Long days in the car and a night at a desert camp are hard for some travelers, so tell me about any health or mobility concerns before you book.
