In a nutshell
- There are three desert landscapes in Morocco perfect for a desert tour: Erg Chebbi, Erg Chegaga, and the Agafay Desert.
- Our top pick is a Morocco desert tour to Erg Chebbi — it sits in the heart of the Sahara and is Morocco’s most popular desert landscape, with dunes up to 200 meters high.
- You can either work the desert safari into a road trip itinerary or book a fully guided tour — usually departing from Marrakech. Our pick: 3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Erg Chebbi
- In this article, we cover everything you need to know for your Morocco desert tour — plus dedicated guides for all three desert landscapes with even more detail and firsthand tips.
Which Desert in Morocco Is Ideal for Your Desert Tour?
A Morocco desert tour is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. It was one of our vacation highlights and one of the coolest activities in Morocco. You won’t regret it!
There are three desert regions in Morocco that we can recommend for an awesome desert tour in Morocco.
#1 Our Recommendation: Erg Chebbi Desert near Merzouga
Perfect if it’s your first time in Morocco. This is where you’ll find Morocco’s largest sand dunes and you’ll experience the real desert feeling in the Sahara. The desert is also super easy to get to. You need at least three full days if you’re starting from Marrakech.
3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Erg Chebbi
#2 For Adventurers: Erg Chegaga Desert near Zagora and M’hamid
Great if you’ve already visited the Erg Chebbi desert or really want to get off the beaten tourist track. The sand dunes are slightly smaller and the drive is longer, but also more adventurous. From Marrakech you need at least two full days.
2-day guided desert tour to the Zagora Desert
#3 For Short-Term Visitors: Agafay Desert near Marrakech
Perfect if you’re doing a city trip to Marrakech, have only a little time, and want to get a taste of desert air for a day. Just know that there are no giant sand dunes here — it’s more of a rocky, gravelly desert.
5-hour Agafay desert tour with dinner
The Three Morocco Deserts on a Map
To give you a clear overview of where the three deserts in Morocco are located, we’ve marked them on a map. You can also see at a glance how far each one is from Marrakech.
How to Plan Your Morocco Desert Tour: On Your Own or With a Tour?
You have two options for your Morocco desert tour: on your own or with a guided tour. How you end up doing the desert safari really depends on what your other plans for your Morocco vacation look like.
For Road Trippers: A Morocco Desert Tour on Your Own
If you’re planning a road trip through Morocco — or even just through the south, including the Atlas Mountains — we recommend doing the desert tour on your own. You can simply book accommodation in the desert region of your choice and take it from there.
You drive your rental car to the nearest desert town, then head into the desert by jeep or camel. Most accommodations can arrange this for you directly.
In the dedicated sections for each of the three deserts below, we’ll explain exactly how to organize your Morocco desert tour on your own.
Our tips on driving in Morocco
For City Travelers: A Guided Morocco Desert Tour
If you’re only doing a city trip but still want to take a desert tour as a great day trip or excursion, we recommend booking a guided tour. The best starting point is always a city trip to Marrakech or, if you want to visit the Erg Chebbi, also Fès.
We recommend booking your guided Morocco desert tour online a few days in advance. Further below, we also recommend great tours to each of the deserts.
With a guided desert tour from Marrakech or Fès, once you’ve booked, there’s virtually nothing left for you to organize — totally stress-free!
Depending on which desert you want to visit, you’ll need different amounts of time. The Agafay Desert works as a day trip, for Erg Chegaga you need at least two days, and for Erg Chebbi at least three days.
Heads up: On a guided group desert tour to the Erg Chegaga, you won’t actually see the tall sand dunes — there simply isn’t enough time for that. You’ll stay in the so-called Zagora Desert, which is more of a rocky desert. We’ll explain more about this further below.
How Much Does a Desert Tour Cost?
How much your Morocco desert trip will ultimately cost is highly individual. It depends on how long you want to stay, whether you’re incorporating it into a road trip, or whether you’re booking a guided tour.
You can also add fun extras in the desert, like a quad tour or a camel ride at sunset. But all of that costs extra.
To give you at least a rough idea of the costs, here are some average prices using the Erg Chebbi desert as our example — it’s the most affordable option.
- Basic desert camp with breakfast (dinner available as add-on): 25 euros for 2 people
- Luxury desert camp with breakfast and dinner: 150 euros for 2 people
- Camel ride into the desert and jeep ride back: 60 euros per person
- 1-hour quad ride in the desert: 70 euros for 2 people on one quad
Guided desert tours from Marrakech, on the other hand, start from as little as 100 euros — often significantly cheaper. The trade-off is less flexibility: you can’t, for example, choose your own desert camp.
Our Recommendation: A Desert Tour in the Erg Chebbi Desert near Merzouga
If it’s your first time in Morocco and you want to do a desert tour, we recommend heading to the Erg Chebbi desert near Merzouga, located in the far east of the country.
The Erg Chebbi desert is admittedly the most touristy Morocco desert, but not without good reason. This is where you’ll find the largest sand dunes in Morocco — up to 200 meters high. Absolutely incredible!
On top of that, the desert town of Merzouga has a genuinely great tourist infrastructure, and you can drive there easily by car on paved, well-maintained roads.
In short: the Erg Chebbi desert is the easiest and most relaxed option for a truly cool and very authentic Sahara desert tour in Morocco. From Marrakech it takes eight to ten hours to get there — but it’s really worth it!
There are countless ways to design your desert tour here. In a dedicated article, we walk you through the two simplest and best options for first-timers — one on your own, one with a guided tour.
We incorporated our Morocco desert tour into our road trip and planned everything ourselves.
But you can also do a really great 3-day tour from Marrakech. Along the way, you’ll stop at the Todra Gorge and Ait-Ben-Haddou — two seriously awesome highlights in Morocco.
In our article on the Erg Chebbi desert tour, we cover both options in detail — with all the important info and tips on how to plan and book. From personal experience!
3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Merzouga
If you’d rather head into the desert after your sightseeing in Fès, you can also book a guided desert tour to the Erg Chebbi from there. The tour from Fès takes two full days, since the drive is a bit shorter.
From Fès to Merzouga is about seven hours, and you’ll be picked up directly at your riad in Fès. Along the way, you’ll make two to three stops at beautiful spots.
2-day desert tour from Fès to Merzouga
Read our full guide to the Erg Chebbi desert tour with info and tips:
For Adventurers: A Desert Tour in the Erg Chegaga Desert near Zagora
If you’ve already visited the Erg Chebbi or really want to experience the Morocco desert off the beaten path, the Erg Chegaga is a fantastic alternative for your Morocco desert trip.
This dune area sits in southern Morocco and also has large sand dunes — though not quite as tall. The Erg Chegaga desert is surrounded by the three desert towns of Zagora, M’hamid, and Foum Zguid.
Zagora is a popular starting point for guided two-day tours departing from Marrakech. From here, though, you won’t reach the real sand dunes — you’ll stay in the smaller Zagora Desert, which is more of a rocky, gravelly landscape.
We therefore recommend planning everything yourself. For a true desert experience, you should definitely spend two nights in the Erg Chegaga.
The best base for this is M’hamid. Even from there, you’ll still need to drive two hours into the desert in a 4WD vehicle to reach the real Erg Chegaga. There’s no shortcut.
Because of the more complicated and longer journey, a desert tour in the Erg Chegaga is more expensive and sees far fewer tourists. Especially during the best time to visit Morocco, the desert experience here is even more intense and unspoiled.
In our separate article on the Erg Chegaga desert tour, we’ll tell you exactly how to plan your Sahara desert tour in Morocco on your own — including how and where to book everything.
We’ll also show you what a guided desert tour from Marrakech to the Erg Chegaga can look like, in case you’d like some inspiration!
2-day guided desert tour to the Zagora Desert
Our full guide to the Erg Chegaga desert tour with info and tips:
For Short-Term Visitors: A Desert Tour in the Agafay Desert near Marrakech
Even if you’re only in Marrakech for a few days, you don’t have to miss out on a desert experience. The Agafay Desert is a great option for short-stay visitors — it makes for an easy day trip from Marrakech.
It’s only about 40 minutes by car from the city — seriously convenient! Just keep in mind that there are no giant sand dunes in the Agafay Desert — it’s more of a rocky, gravelly landscape.
You’ll still get a real taste of desert life here. You can ride camels, do a quad tour, and even take a dip in a pool right in the middle of the desert. The Agafay is the only desert in Morocco where camps have pools.
Since you probably won’t have a rental car on a shorter city trip, we simply recommend booking a tour online from Marrakech to the Agafay Desert.
In our separate article, we’ll tell you everything about a guided desert tour from Marrakech to the Agafay Desert.
We’ll also cover how to plan your visit on your own — for example, if you want to include the Agafay Desert in your road trip. Besides a day trip, you can also easily spend the night there.
5-hour Agafay desert tour with quad, camel ride & dinner
Our full guide to the Agafay Desert tour with info and tips:
Packing List for Your Morocco Desert Tour
Weather and temperatures in the Moroccan desert can be very different from the rest of the country. That’s why we’ve put together a short packing list for your Morocco desert tour.
These are all things you’ll want to bring in addition to the standard items for your Morocco trip.
- An extra backpack to pack your clothes for one to two nights in the desert. You often can’t bring your large suitcase into the desert camp — you’ll leave it at the base camp.
- A head covering: cap, hat, or scarf.
- Sunglasses
- A neck scarf to protect against wind and sand on your Sahara desert tour
- A thick sweater or fleece jacket
- Long, comfortable pants for camel riding
- Comfortable, sturdy sandals — sand gets into sneakers and stays there forever
- Long pajamas in case it gets cold at night in the desert camp
- Thick socks
- Beanie and gloves in winter
- A rain jacket, just in case
- Sunscreen
- A small towel and/or wet wipes
- Toilet paper and/or tissues if you’re staying at a basic camp
- Portable charger (power bank)
- Camera and/or phone — make sure to pack it in a sandproof case!
- Flashlight / headlamp
- Motion sickness tablets in case the camel or car ride gets too bumpy
- Enough water or a refillable bottle (depending on whether it’s included in the tour)
- A plastic bag for trash
Conclusion: Morocco Desert Tour
For us, a desert tour is an absolute highlight in Morocco — something we’d genuinely recommend to everyone.
Deciding which desert to visit is well worth a little thought. And planning is really straightforward — whether you do everything on your own or book a guided tour from Marrakech.
Our top pick is the Erg Chebbi desert. Yes, it’s the most touristy desert landscape in Morocco — but also the most affordable and the easiest to reach.
We would absolutely include it in our road trip again. On the way there and back, you can explore the Atlas Mountains and make stops at the Todra Gorge, the Dades Gorge, Ait-Ben-Haddou, and Setti Fatma.
If you’re not doing a road trip and just want a taste of the Sahara alongside the sights in Marrakech, we’d go with the guided desert tour to the Erg Chebbi.
Set aside the full three days for the tour into the Sahara — you won’t regret it. The Agafay Desert is closer, but experiencing the Sahara at least once is truly a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Even with the long drive, the guided tour is super relaxed and varied. Most of the time you’ll even be picked up directly from your riad in Marrakech.
We only recommend the Erg Chegaga desert if you’ve already done the Erg Chebbi — or if you have plenty of time in Morocco and are craving even more adventure.
Frequently Asked Questions and General Info About the Morocco Desert Tour
Which desert in Morocco should you visit?
There are three desert landscapes in Morocco that you can visit on a desert tour: Erg Chebbi, Erg Chegaga, and the Agafay Desert.
Where is the most beautiful desert in Morocco?
We think the Sahara Desert in Morocco is the most stunning. Honestly, it’s hard to choose between Erg Chebbi and Erg Chegaga — both have their pros and cons.
In both desert landscapes you’ll find tall, sweeping sand dunes. We think that’s truly breathtaking!
How much time do you need for a Sahara desert tour in Morocco?
For a Morocco Sahara tour, you should plan for at least two full days and one night. Your experience will definitely be better if you have more than one night.
For the Erg Chebbi Desert on your own, you’ll need at least two nights including travel time from Marrakech to Merzouga — otherwise it’ll be way too rushed. One night in the desert plus one night on the way there is enough. The same applies to a guided desert tour from Marrakech.
For the Erg Chegaga Desert on your own, we recommend two nights in the desert so the lengthy journey from M’hamid is really worth it. You don’t necessarily need an overnight stop on the way there.
Guided tours from Marrakech near the Erg Chegaga, however, typically only include one night in the desert — so two full days is enough for those.
When is the best time to visit Morocco for a desert tour?
You can do a Morocco desert tour year-round. Temperatures are most pleasant from March to May and in September and October — in our opinion, the sweet spot for a desert trip in Morocco.
In summer (June to August), it can get seriously hot. Longer camel treks or hikes become very strenuous in that heat, and sandstorms are also more frequent — not only unpleasant, but they can also reduce visibility across the dune landscape.
In winter (November to March), daytime weather is still pleasant if you dress in layers. Nights can get quite cold, though — temperatures often drop to around 39°F (4°C). You’ll definitely want a hat, gloves, and thermal underwear, or simply a luxury desert camp with heating.
Is it dangerous in the Moroccan desert?
Generally speaking, a Morocco desert tour is not dangerous — and you don’t need to worry too much about safety in Morocco right from the start. That said, a little preparation goes a long way, and you should stick to a few basic rules.
Weather and Temperatures as a Hazard
One of the biggest risks in the desert is the weather. Temperatures can be wildly unpredictable — really hot during the day (especially in summer) and surprisingly cold at night (especially in winter).
What that means for you: Pack sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a neck scarf, and long, lightweight clothing for daytime — especially if you’re riding a camel in the blazing sun. For the night, though, you’ll need sweaters, socks, long pajamas, and — depending on the camp — a beanie too.
A second hazard is desert sand and sandstorms. Even in a light breeze, sand swirls toward your face and can get in your mouth or eyes. Always protect both really well.
Full-blown sandstorms are more serious — in extreme cases, you could sink into loosely piled desert sand.
But don’t panic — that’s truly the worst-case scenario.
Health Risks in the Desert
Diarrheal diseases and cholera are also worth being aware of, though honestly you can pick those up anywhere. A few simple rules can significantly reduce your risk.
- Don’t drink tap water. Only drink water from sealed plastic bottles bought at a supermarket.
- Use drinking water for brushing your teeth as well.
- Wash your hands before eating.
- Only eat salad or raw foods if you feel confident about the hygiene standards. When in doubt, skip it.
- Before your trip, you can also get an oral vaccine against diarrheal diseases and cholera. It’s best to discuss this with your doctor beforehand.
Exploring Alone in the Desert
For your own safety, you should not explore the really tall sand dunes on your own. That’s also why a guide accompanies you on quad tours rather than letting you roam freely.
If you head out to the dunes to stargaze or catch the sunrise, we recommend always staying close to the camp and not wandering too far alone. And definitely don’t venture into the desert by yourself.
What animals live in the Moroccan desert?
In the Moroccan desert, you may encounter wild animals such as scorpions, lizards, snakes, insects, arachnids, or even wild camels. It’s best to give them a wide berth and, if in doubt, speak to a guide or camp staff member.
On our own desert tour, we didn’t come across any of the animals mentioned above. But on trips to places like Malaysia we’ve spotted wild scorpions, and in Colombia we’ve seen snakes — and we know from experience that they don’t actually attack humans unprovoked.
Can you do a Morocco desert tour without camels?
Yes, absolutely! You can do any of the desert tours we recommend without a camel. As an alternative, you’ll be driven by jeep from Merzouga to your desert camp in the Erg Chebbi. If you’re traveling independently and planning everything yourself, it’s easy to arrange a camel-free Morocco desert tour.
Guided tours often include a short camel ride. If you’d prefer to skip it, contact the provider after booking and let them know. Tours booked through platforms like GetYourGuide can typically be canceled free of charge up to 24 hours in advance.
Just keep in mind that you may need to wait while the rest of your group heads out on the camels.
Can you ride a quad bike in the desert?
Yes! Especially in the Erg Chebbi and the Agafay Desert, quad biking is a super popular activity. On many guided tours to the Agafay Desert, a quad ride is already included.
You can always add a quad tour on-site as well.
