Desert trips from Marrakech: Which desert should you choose?

The closest desert to Marrakech is Agafay, a stony landscape just outside the city that you can see in a single outing. If what you picture is a sea of sand dunes, you have to go further: Zagora in two days, Merzouga and Erg Chebbi in three to five, or the more remote Erg Chigaga in four.

The deserts near Marrakech, compared

Four deserts are within reach of Marrakech, and the right one depends mostly on how many days you have and whether you want real sand dunes. Here they are side by side, from the nearest to the furthest.

Dune heights: Wikipedia, Erg Chebbi and Erg Chigaga. Durations and nights: our own itineraries.

Agafay: the closest desert to Marrakech, without dunes

Agafay is the only desert you can visit from Marrakech without spending a night away. It lies just outside the city and is a rocky desert of bare hills and dry plateau, with the High Atlas in the background. There are no sand dunes at all, which is the first thing to know if you are choosing between deserts.

A typical visit ends with the sunset: a minibus picks you up in central Marrakech, you ride a camel for an hour across the plateau, try a quad on the rocky tracks and watch the light drop over the hills. A dinner under a Berber tent or a night in a tent can be added. Our practical guide to the Agafay Desert covers the details, from the best season to what to wear, and the outing itself is our Agafay day trip with camel ride and quad.

Zagora and the Draa Valley: a two-day desert trip

Zagora is the nearest place to Marrakech where you can sleep in the desert, and it fits into two days. The town sits in the valley of the Draa, Morocco’s longest river at about 1,100 km, at the end of a long ribbon of palm groves and earth-built villages.

• Day 1 driveAbout 350 km
• PassTizi n’Tichka, 2,260 m
• Camel rideOne hour, 5 km from Zagora
• NightTent at the camp, full board

The first day crosses the High Atlas, stops at Aït Ben Haddou for a guided walk of about an hour, then follows the Draa Valley south. Five kilometres from Zagora you ride a camel for an hour, watch the sunset and spend the night in a tent at the camp. The second day starts in the Zagora palm grove and returns to Marrakech through Ouarzazate.

Be clear about the landscape before you book. The area around the camp is a desert edge: depending on the season you will find some sand dunes, but much of the ground is stony, closer in character to Agafay than to Erg Chebbi. Larger dune fields exist further south in the valley, towards M’Hamid. What Zagora gives you in exchange is the Draa itself, its oases and kasbahs, and a real night in the desert in only two days. That is the plan of our 2-day Draa Valley and Zagora desert trip from Marrakech.

Merzouga and Erg Chebbi: the classic Sahara dunes

If you want the tall golden dunes most people imagine when they think of the Sahara, go to Merzouga. The village lies on the western edge of Erg Chebbi, a sea of dunes about 28 km long and 5 to 7 km wide, with dunes rising up to about 150 m above the surrounding stony plain. It sits on the far western edge of the Sahara.

Getting from Marrakech to Merzouga takes two days by road on our itineraries: about 320 km to the Dades Valley on the first day, then about 260 km to Merzouga on the second. On arrival you ride a camel into the dunes for around an hour and a half, stop on a crest for the sunset, and spend the night in a private superior-category tent in a camp among the dunes. Sandboarding is included, and you wake up early for the sunrise over the sand.

3, 4 or 5 days?

All three versions reach the dunes on the second evening. The difference is how you come back.

• 3 daysBack to Marrakech in one long day: about 560 km, 9 hours on the road
• 4 daysReturn split in two, with a night in Ouarzazate
• 5 daysA full extra day around Merzouga before the two-day return

The 3-day Merzouga desert tour from Marrakech suits travellers who are short on time and fine with a long last day. The 4-day Merzouga desert tour is the one we suggest to most people: the return goes through the Rissani market and the Draa Valley, with a night in Ouarzazate, and the last day visits Aït Ben Haddou and Telouet with no more than about 200 km of driving. With the 5-day Merzouga desert tour, you spend a whole day around the dunes: the Tissardmine oasis, a nomad family, the Mfiss mines and Gnawa music in Khamlia.

Ending in Fes instead of Marrakech

If your trip continues north, you do not need to come back to Marrakech at all. The 3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Fes via Merzouga follows the same first two days, then drives about 480 km north through the Ziz Valley, the cedar forest of Azrou and Ifrane, and drops you at your accommodation in Fes.

Erg Chigaga: remote dunes beyond M’Hamid

Erg Chigaga is the choice for travellers who want big dunes and fewer roads. It lies about 56 km southwest of M’Hamid, at the end of the Draa Valley, and some of its dunes rise more than 50 m above the surrounding land. The camps are reached by about two hours of 4×4 track from M’Hamid.

On our itinerary the trip takes four days. You follow the Draa Valley through Agdz, the Tamnougalt kasbah, Zagora and Tamegroute, known for its old Quranic library and green pottery, then leave the tarmac at M’Hamid. At the camp you ride a camel in the dunes for about an hour, and you can sleep in your private tent or out under the stars. The way back is different: a 4×4 track to Foum Zguid across Lake Iriqui, about three hours with photo stops, then a night at Aït Ben Haddou and a last day through Telouet. It is all in our 4-day Erg Chigaga desert tour from Marrakech.

What you see on the way: Aït Ben Haddou, Dades and Todra

On Marrakech desert trips of two days or more, the road is half the trip. All of them start by crossing the High Atlas over the Tizi n’Tichka pass, at 2,260 m, and most include a guided visit of Aït Ben Haddou, the earth-built ksar listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The Merzouga trips then follow what is often called the road of a thousand kasbahs: the Skoura palm grove, the Valley of Roses where Damask roses are grown, and the Dades Valley, where you spend the first night. On the second morning you walk for a short while at the bottom of the Todra Gorge, a canyon with sheer rock walls popular with climbers. The Zagora and Erg Chigaga trips go south instead, through Ouarzazate and the oases of the Draa Valley. So the desert you choose also decides which part of the south you see.

How many days do you really need?

Count one day for Agafay, two for a first night in the desert, and at least three for the big dunes of the Sahara. Here is what each extra day buys you.

1. 1 dayAgafayStony desert, camel ride and sunset, back in Marrakech the same evening.
2. 2 daysZagora and the Draa ValleyA night in a desert camp, with some dunes depending on the season.
3. 3 daysMerzouga, fastErg Chebbi dunes, with a long 9-hour drive back on the last day.
4. 4 daysMerzouga at an easier pace, or Erg ChigagaThe balance we recommend for most travellers.
5. 5 daysMerzouga with a full day around the dunesOasis, nomads and Gnawa music in Khamlia.

If you can, avoid squeezing the Sahara into three days. The two days of driving to reach Merzouga are beautiful, but doing the 560 km back in one go leaves little room to stop along the way.

Best time of year for a desert trip

The most comfortable months for the desert are October to April. Errachidia, the main town north of Merzouga, has long climate records and gives a good idea of the conditions in the south.

Data: Errachidia, 1991 to 2020, via Wikipedia. Figures rounded; top value is the average high, bottom value the average low.

From June to September, average highs in Errachidia run from 32.9 °C to 39.5 °C, and July and August are the hottest months. A summer desert trip is possible, but the middle of the day is for shade and the dunes are for early morning and evening. From October to April, highs stay between about 16 °C and 27 °C, ideal for walking in the sand.

Winter has its own surprise: the nights. In January the average low in Errachidia is about 2 °C, so a night in a desert camp between December and February calls for warm clothes, even after a sunny day.

Walking the desert instead of driving

For those who would rather cross the desert on foot, there is a slower way: a walking trek in the lower Draa Valley, with camels and camel drivers carrying the water, food and luggage. After a day’s drive from Marrakech to the Nesrat palm grove, about 410 km, you walk between palm groves, stony hamada and dunes, with nights in bivouacs among the dunes of Tidri, Erg Sahel and Ras Errich.

Count 5 to 7 hours and 14 to 18 km of walking a day, in a group with a guide, from October to April. The trek ends at the Saharan village of Ouled Driss before the return to Marrakech. Details are on our Draa Valley desert trek from Marrakech page.

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