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Overview

This Merzouga desert tour from Marrakech is a 2-day Sahara desert tour from Marrakech via the Dades Valley and the Erg Chebbi dunes — a fast Marrakech to Sahara desert tour and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You will ride camels over the dunes and watch sunset and sunrise from a Berber camp deep in the Sahara.

Highlights

High Atlas, Dades Valley and Merzouga Return via Agdz to Marrakech Private driver-guide Authentic experience Authentic experience

Day-by-day itinerary

Day 1

Marrakech, High Atlas, Dades Valley, Merzouga — camel ride and night in a desert camp

Explore the Sahara on a tour from Marrakech with Local Morocco Tours, your private tour company to the Erg Chebbi desert. Our driver will greet you at your hotel. We then head into the High Atlas Mountains and cross the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres, on the way to the UNESCO-listed kasbah of Aït Benhaddou. We tour the kasbah with a local guide before continuing to Ouarzazate, well known for its film studios, and then follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through Skoura and the Dades Valley. We pause at the Todra Gorge before driving through Tinghir and Erfoud to reach Merzouga. From there, a camel ride of about an hour and a half takes us across the Erg Chebbi dunes to a Berber camp. After dinner, we enjoy Berber music under the stars and watch the sun set over the dunes. Overnight in a desert camp.

Day 2

Merzouga to Marrakech via Agdz and the Atlas Mountains

After watching the sunrise over the Sahara and enjoying a camel ride back from the dunes, we leave Merzouga and head to Marrakech, passing through several Berber villages along the way, including Alnif, Tazarine and N'kob. We continue via Ouarzazate and over the Atlas Mountains, returning to your accommodation in Marrakech. At Local Morocco Tours, we will do everything we can to tailor a holiday in Morocco that is perfect for you, your family, your friends or your group.

What's included

  • Transfers from/to the airport/hotels
  • Private transportation in a spacious, air-conditioned vehicle
  • Experienced local tour guide
  • All dinners and breakfasts
  • One night in a Sahara desert camp
  • Desert guide and camel trek

Not included

  • Lunches and soft drinks
  • Admission fees and gratuities

Guide languages

English, Spanish, French, and more languages are available upon request.

Departure

We can leave whenever you choose, although we normally leave at 9 a.m.

Route map

Departing from Marrakech

A two-day tour from Marrakech to Merzouga is the quickest way to touch the Sahara on a tight schedule. Departing early from your Marrakech hotel, your private driver-guide crosses the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260m), stops at Ait Benhaddou for a guided walk through the UNESCO-listed ksar, and continues east through Ouarzazate and the Skoura palm grove before reaching the rose dunes of Erg Chebbi by late afternoon.

Because the journey from Marrakech to Merzouga takes seven to eight hours, the itinerary is structured so that you arrive with enough time for a camel trek at sunset, an overnight in a private desert camp, and a short dawn walk in the dunes before breakfast. The return on Day 2 follows the same road north, with a possible stop at the Todra Gorge or Draa Valley depending on time.

Two days is the minimum to experience Erg Chebbi properly — the sunset light and the silence of a Saharan night are the whole point. For a more relaxed pace with time to explore the dunes, the 3-day tour from Marrakech is recommended. Request a quote to confirm your dates.

4.9 / 5 on Google★★★★★ 20 reviews
Licensed local guideMinistry licence MA76175
Reply within 24 hoursReal people, not a call centre
Private tours onlyYour own guide & vehicle
Local experts since 2012Marrakech-based team
No hidden feesTransparent, all-in quotes
Mohamed Chajia, licensed Morocco tour guide (licence MA76175)

Meet your guide

Mohamed Chajia

✓ Licensed guide · MA76175

Hi, I’m a legally certified tour guide in Morocco. I organise all kinds of holidays across the country — High Atlas trekking, desert and coastal treks, cycling tours, imperial-city tours, plus hand-picked hotels, camps and guest houses. I’ll build this trip around your pace and the things you actually care about.

Private guide in MarrakechAlso guides Fez, Merzouga, Ouarzazate, Chefchaouen, Agadir, Essaouira, Casablanca, Rabat, AtlasLanguages: Arabic · English · French · Spanish

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