Morocco Desert Tours from Marrakech & Fes: Private Sahara Trips

Which Morocco desert tour should you choose?

Start from where you are and where you want to finish: a loop back to Marrakech, a one-way route between Marrakech and Fes, or a round trip from Fes.

Every tour below is private: your group only, in your own vehicle, with the same driver-guide from the first day to the last. The table lists each route by start and end, its length, the nights you spend in the desert and the starting price.

The night "at the camp" is in a private tent in the dunes, with dinner and breakfast. Where a route has a second night by the dunes, it is either another night at the same camp or a night at a hotel at the edge of Erg Chebbi, as noted.

Merzouga, Erg Chigaga or Zagora: which desert?

Merzouga for the big Erg Chebbi dunes on a paved road, Erg Chigaga for remote dunes reached by 4x4, and Zagora for a short trip to the stony desert without high dunes.

Erg Chebbi, next to the village of Merzouga, is the dune field most people picture when they think of the Sahara in Morocco. The dunes rise to about 150 metres, camels wait at the edge of the sand, and the camps range from simple to luxury tents with their own bathroom. It is two days' drive from Marrakech by the Dades Valley, or one long day from Fes.

Erg Chigaga lies beyond M'Hamid, where the tarmac ends in the Draa Valley. The last 60 km or so are sand tracks, so only a 4x4 gets there, and the camps sit far from any village. Our Erg Chigaga desert tour gives it 5 days with two nights in the dunes and returns across the dry Lake Iriqui.

Zagora is the closest desert town to Marrakech, about 360 km and 7 hours away. The camel ride there crosses the hamada, the rocky desert of the Draa Valley, not tall dunes. Choose the Zagora desert tour if you have only two days; choose Merzouga if seeing big dunes is the point of the trip.

How many days do you need for a desert tour from Marrakech?

Three days to sleep in the Erg Chebbi dunes and get back to Marrakech; four or five days for a full day in the desert.

Merzouga is about 580 km from Marrakech, on the far side of the High Atlas, so the drive is split over two days. On the 3-day Sahara desert tour from Marrakech, day 1 crosses the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 m to Aït Benhaddou and the Dades Valley (about 330 km, 6.5 hours). Day 2 follows the Todra Gorge to Merzouga (about 250 km, 4.5 hours) in time for the camel ride at sunset and the night at the camp. Day 3 starts with sunrise over the dunes and is the long drive back, about 590 km and 9 to 10 hours through the Draa Valley.

With a fourth day you do not have to drive back. The Marrakech to Fes desert tour spends two nights at the same camp and a whole day around the dunes, then ends in Fes. With five days you can reach the remote Erg Chigaga dunes.

The big dunes are too far for a day trip. For an evening in the desert near the city, the Agafay desert camel ride and sunset dinner goes to a stone desert 45 minutes from Marrakech.

Marrakech to Fes desert tour: 3 or 4 days?

Both cross the High Atlas, sleep in the Erg Chebbi dunes and end in Fes; the 4-day tour adds a full day around Merzouga and a second night at the camp.

The route is about 1,040 km either way: Marrakech to the Dades Valley, the Todra Gorge to Merzouga, then north through the Ziz Valley and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas to Fes (about 459 km, 7.5 hours on the last day).

The 4-day Marrakech to Fes desert tour from $540 spends the extra day in the desert: Gnaoua music in Khamlia, the black stone desert by 4x4 and sandboarding, with two nights at the same camp and a stop at the Telouet Kasbah on day 1. The 3-day version from $430 covers the same road with one night at the camp and longer days in the car.

The same choice exists the other way. The Fes to Marrakech desert tour takes 3 days from $430; the 4-day Fes to Marrakech route from $540 adds a night at a hotel by the dunes and a full day around Erg Chebbi.

Desert tours from Fes

Merzouga is one long day from Fes, so two days is the shortest desert trip and three days gives you a full day in the dunes.

From Fes the road crosses the Middle Atlas at Ifrane and follows the Ziz Valley south to Erg Chebbi: about 459 km and 7.5 hours each way. The 2-day desert tour from Fes from $280 rides out to the camp at sunset and drives back the next day. The 3-day round trip from $370 spends the middle day around the dunes by 4x4 and on a camel.

If you are travelling on to Marrakech, the one-way routes above cost a little more than the round trip, but they save the drive back north. Day trips and city tours from Fes are on tours from Fes.

What is included in a private desert tour?

Your own vehicle with fuel and an English-speaking driver-guide, the hotels and camp on the route with dinner and breakfast, and the camel ride at sunset.

Several routes come in two accommodation tiers on the same road: Standard, with comfortable hotels and a camp with private tents, and Luxury, with boutique riads and kasbahs and a tent with its own bathroom. The vehicle, the driver-guide and the visits are the same in both, and each tour page names the hotels and camp it uses. See luxury Morocco tours for the Luxury stays.

Lunches, drinks, optional entrance fees and tips are not included. Prices are per person for two travellers sharing and fall for larger groups: on multi-day tours, about 10% less each for 3 to 4 travellers and 25% less for 5 to 6. Every tour page shows its own table, and Morocco tour prices compares all our routes.

What is a night in a Sahara desert camp like?

You ride a camel or a 4x4 into the dunes for sunset, eat dinner at the camp, sleep in a private tent and wake up for sunrise over the sand.

The camel ride from the edge of Erg Chebbi to the camp takes about an hour, or 90 minutes, timed for sunset. If you prefer not to ride, the camp can be reached by 4x4. After dinner there is often music around a fire, and with no town lights the sky is full of stars. In the morning you watch the sun rise over the dunes before heading back to the edge of the sand and the road.

Our guide to the Sahara desert in Morocco explains the camps, what to pack for a cold desert night and how the two big dune seas compare.

When is the best time for a Morocco desert tour?

March and April, and October and November.

These months have warm days and mild nights in the desert. From June to August the Sahara passes 40°C, so the camps stay open but the camel rides move to dawn and dusk. From December to February the days are clear and pleasant, but nights at the camp drop close to freezing, so bring a warm layer. Month-by-month advice is in the best time to visit Morocco.

Longer Morocco tours that include the Sahara

With a week or more, the desert becomes one part of a route that also covers the imperial cities.

The 7 days Morocco tour from Marrakech from $1,090 loops through the High Atlas and the Sahara. The 6 days tour from Tangier to Marrakech from $940 and the 8 days tour from Casablanca to Marrakech from $1,240 add Chefchaouen and Fes before the dunes. Families travelling with children can take the slower 8 days family tour from $1,150. All 7 to 14-day routes are on 7+ day Morocco tours.