Guide · Tours compared

Morocco Sahara desert tour: the tours from Marrakech compared

Most desert trips from Marrakech share one shape: two long driving days around a night in the dunes. Here is how the round trips, the private-tent tours, the Fes trips and Zagora differ.

Check availabilityfrom $137 · free cancellation

Editorial team, marrakech-to-merzouga.comUpdated October 24, 20266 min read21 sources

Bookable here: the tour 3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Merzouga 4.9 (22,054 reviews) 3 daysBreakfasts and dinners includedHotel or riad pickup in Marrakech from$137per person Check availabilityFree to cancel until one day before

The short version

01Our pick: The 3-day Merzouga round trip rated 4.87 by 22,054 guests, from $137.
02Lowest price here: A 3-day tour with a private tent, from $80.
03Ending in Fes: One-way 3-day trips finish in Fes instead of Marrakech.
04Only two days: Zagora trips return to Marrakech on day 2.
05Always check: Lunch is not included on our pick or on the Zagora safari.

What a desert tour from Marrakech really involves

Every trip from Marrakech to the Sahara begins with a mountain crossing over the High Atlas. The pass on the main road, Tichka, is 2,267 m high, and the arid land south and southeast of the range is the northwestern edge of the desert.¹ ² The big sand sea that most tours aim for is Erg Chebbi, near Merzouga in the southeast of the country, close to the Algerian border.³

That distance shapes the product. The common format is a 3-day round trip: a long drive out with one hotel night on the way, a camel ride into the dunes at sunset, a night in a desert camp, sunrise on the sand and a long drive back. The tour this site recommends lists a hotel night in an air-conditioned room and a camp night in Erg Chebbi among its inclusions.

Before you compare prices, decide which of three things you want: the full Erg Chebbi experience and a return to Marrakech, a trip that carries on to Fes so you never drive the same road twice, or a shorter taste of the desert in the Draa valley at Zagora. The rest is detail, and the detail sits in each listing: the tent, the meals, the guide languages and the cancellation window.

From booking to dunes

How a booked trip unfolds

When you book

Choose your camp option

The camp you sleep in depends on the option booked.
Evening before

Pickup message

Time and place arrive between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM by WhatsApp.
On the road

Over the Atlas

The road crosses the High Atlas by the Tichka pass, 2,267 m high.¹
At sunset

Camel ride to camp

A camel ride or 4x4 transfer takes you to the camp.
Last morning

Sunrise and the drive back

A sunrise ride, breakfast, then the return to your riad.

Round trips to Merzouga, side by side

The round trip we recommend has far more reviews than any other trip on this page: 22,054 at an average of 4.87, with guide, transportation and value for money each rated 4.9. It includes hotel or riad pickup, a driver-guide, breakfasts and dinners, a camel ride or a 4x4 transfer, sandboarding and Berber drumming, and it starts from $137.

A second widely booked trip is a 3-day safari with food, rated 4.68 from 14,306 reviews and starting from $120. Its record is unusually precise: it leaves at 7:00 AM on day 1, returns around 8:00 PM on day 3, puts the first night in a hotel in the Kelaa M'Gouna area and lists a camel trek of 45 minutes. Lunch is included only with its second option.

Further down the list are round trips with fewer reviews but similar ratings, such as a tour via Merzouga rated 4.87 from 2,203 reviews and a camel-and-meals trip rated 4.64 from 6,429 reviews. They all go to the same dunes. What separates them is mostly the camp, whether lunch is in the price and how well the reviews hold up across thousands of trips.

Demand

Reviews per tour

reviews

Review counts as GetYourGuide lists them for each tour; a count shows how often a tour has run, not how good it is.

Side by side

Seven desert tours from Marrakech

Tour	Days	Ends in	Reviews	Price
Merzouga round trip	3	Marrakech	22,054	from $137
Safari with food	3	Marrakech	14,306	from $120
Camel & meals trip	3	Marrakech	6,429	from $100
Private-tent tour	3	Marrakech	2,411	from $80
Desert tour to Fes	3	Fes	3,478	from $138
Zagora & Ait Ben Haddou	2	Marrakech	2,234	from $73
Zagora safari with camp	2	Marrakech	1,173	from $81

Each row takes its days, end point and review count from the GetYourGuide listing; the figures in the last column are from-prices only.

Three different trips

Round trip, private tent or 2 days

From Marrakech: 3-Day Merzouga and Sahara Desert Tour

Most reviewed

Merzouga round trip

Back to Marrakech on day 3

Rating: 4.87
Meals: Breakfasts, dinners
Price: from $137

See the tour

Marrakech: 3 Day Luxury Merzouga Tour With Private tent Inc

Lowest price

Private-tent tour

Boumalne Dades, then the dunes

Rating: 4.71
Night 1: Boumalne Dades
Price: from $80

See the tour

From Marrakech: 2 Days Desert trip back to Fes or Marrakech

Fastest

Merzouga in 2 days

Back to Marrakech or on to Fes

Rating: 4.73
Pickup: Around 5 to 6 AM
Price: from $112

See the tour

Decision helper

Which desert trip suits you?

Start from the thing you care about most

I want the safest bet on reviews I want the lowest starting price I am travelling on to Fes I only have two days I want lunch in the price

Merzouga round trip

22,054 reviews at 4.87, with guide and transport rated 4.9.

Private-tent tour

From $80 for 3 days, with a private tent.

Desert tour to Fes

It ends around 8:00 PM on day 3 at your hotel in Fes.

A Zagora trip

Out at 7:00 AM, back around 6:00 PM the next day.

Food safari, option 2

Lunches are included only with that option.

The image shows a dune field known as Erg Chebbi, located in southeastern Morocco, near the border with Algeria and northeast of the Little Atlas mountain range.

NASA Earth ObservatorySource 3

Standard tent, private tent or luxury camp

Camps around Erg Chebbi come in grades, and the listings name them. The tour we recommend lets you pick your desert camp by option, and its notes are honest about winter: from November to February nights fall to 0 °C to 5 °C, standard tents have warm blankets but no heating, and luxury tents are heated.

If you are looking for a luxury Sahara desert tour from Marrakech at a modest price, the listing with the lowest from-price in this comparison is a 3-day tour that includes a private tent, from $80, rated 4.71 from 2,411 reviews. The food safari names its luxury camp as option 3, with a private bathroom and a hot shower.

In these listings, luxury means a private bathroom and, on some, heating or air conditioning. The one-way tour to Fes spells out the difference cleanly: standard tents share bathrooms, luxury tents have their own. If you travel in winter or care about a shower after the dunes, the upgrade is the one option worth paying for.

Map

From Marrakech over the Atlas to the dunes

First the whole road with Fes and Zagora, then the two gorges at Boumalne and Tinghir, then the oasis towns and the sand sea of Erg Chebbi.

Map of southern Morocco from Marrakech over the Tichka pass to Ouarzazate, the Dades valley, Tinghir, Errachidia and Merzouga, with Zagora, Midelt and Fes — The road south

Map of Kalaat M'Gouna, Boumalne Dades and the Dades Gorges, and of Tinghir with the Todra Gorge — Dades and Todra

Map of the Tafilalt towns Erfoud and Rissani, the village of Merzouga and the dunes of Erg Chebbi near the Algerian border — Erg Chebbi

1
Marrakech
Start and end of the round trip; its medina, founded in 1070-72, has been a World Heritage site since 1985.⁴ ⁵
In Google Maps ↗
2
Tizi n'Tichka
The High Atlas pass on the road to Ouarzazate, 2,267 m high.¹ ⁶
In Google Maps ↗
3
Ait Ben Haddou
An earthen ksar on the southern slopes of the High Atlas, a World Heritage site since 1987.⁷ ⁸
In Google Maps ↗
4
Ouarzazate
An oasis and road junction on the Saharan side of the High Atlas, near where its river joins the Draa.⁹ ⁶
In Google Maps ↗
5
Boumalne Dades
The private-tent tour from Marrakech stops here for its first night; the Dades runs 350 km south to the Draa.¹⁰
In Google Maps ↗
6
Tinghir
The private-tent tour lists 40 minutes in Tinghir and 20 minutes at the Todra River.
In Google Maps ↗
7
Errachidia
The WMO climate station behind this site's month-by-month figures, at 1,037 m.¹¹
In Google Maps ↗
8
Merzouga
The village beside the dunes, where a large aquifer feeds palm groves and fields.¹²
In Google Maps ↗
9
Zagora
An oasis on the Draa and the goal of the 2-day desert trips from Marrakech.¹³
In Google Maps ↗
10
Fes
Where the one-way desert tours end; its medina has been a World Heritage site since 1981.¹⁴
In Google Maps ↗
11
Midelt
The lunch stop on the last day of two one-way tours to Fes.
In Google Maps ↗
12
Kalaat M'Gouna
A 20-minute break on the private-tent tour; the food-included safari sleeps in this area on night one.
In Google Maps ↗
13
Dades Gorges
The gorges of the Dades River, a popular tourist destination.¹⁵
In Google Maps ↗
14
Todra Gorge
The Fes to Marrakech luxury-camp tour lists 1 hour at the Todra River.
In Google Maps ↗
15
Erfoud
One of the fortified villages of Tafilalt, the largest Saharan oasis of Morocco.¹⁶ ¹⁷
In Google Maps ↗
16
Rissani
A Tafilalt village; the oasis's old capital Sijilmassa was founded in 757 CE.¹⁷ ¹⁸
In Google Maps ↗
17
Erg Chebbi
Star dunes, some over 100 m high, that formed more than 13,000 years ago.¹⁹ ²⁰
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Before you book a desert trip

Read the listing

Which camp or tent your option includes
Whether lunch and drinks are extra
Guide languages and private options
The free cancellation window

Plan the first morning

Watch WhatsApp the evening before for the pickup time
Leave big luggage in the vehicle
Carry cash for meals and tips

Cost calculator

Price a desert trip for your group

Enter your group size to compare four shared trips.

Merzouga round trip3 daysfrom $137 Private-tent tour3 daysfrom $80 Desert tour to Fes3 days, one-wayfrom $138 Zagora trip2 daysfrom $73

People 2

Total from$274

pp from $137

Check availabilityfree cancellation

The sum multiplies each trip's GetYourGuide from-price by the size of your party and converts it at the day's ECB rate; checkout shows the final figure.

Video

The truth about the 3-day Sahara desert tour from Marrakesh: budget vs reality

The video starts loading once you tap play.

Shared group or a private trip

Most of these tours run as shared small-bus trips where you meet other travellers at pickup. Several also sell a private version. The tour we recommend lists a private group as available, and so do the one-way trip to Fes and the 2-day Zagora tour.

A private Sahara desert tour from Marrakech makes sense for families and small circles of friends, for anyone who wants to stop at will on the long drives or needs a vehicle that waits while they linger at a viewpoint. It does not change the dunes themselves. Ask what the private option changes, from the vehicle to the tent, before you pay for it.

Prices on this page are the starting prices GetYourGuide shows, and private options are often priced differently, so open the listing and check the figure for your date and group. The calculator on this page multiplies each starting price by your group size, which gives a fair first comparison for shared trips.

One-way to Fes, or two days to Zagora

If Fes is your next stop, a one-way desert tour saves you the drive back over the Atlas. The Fes trip compared here starts at 7:00 AM on day 1 and ends around 8:00 PM on day 3 in Fes, passing Erfoud and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas on the last day. It is rated 4.84 from 3,478 reviews and starts from $138.

Zagora is the shorter alternative. A 2-day trip leaves at 7:00 AM and is back in Marrakech around 6:00 PM the next day, with one night in a standard or luxury camp near Zagora. Zagora sits on the Draa, an important oasis on Morocco's longest river.¹³ ²¹ The sand there is not Erg Chebbi, which is the trade you make for saving a day.

Both choices are covered in detail on their own pages. As a rule of thumb, the extra day to Merzouga buys you the high dunes, and the one-way trip to Fes buys you a new city at the end instead of the same road home.

Reading the ratings behind the numbers

A rating out of five hides a lot. Look at the breakdown when a listing shows one. The tour we recommend earns 4.9 in all three categories, guide, transport and value, which matters on a trip where you spend many hours in one vehicle with one driver-guide. The food safari scores 4.8 for its guides and 4.7 for transport and value.

Volume matters as much as the average. A score built on a long record is harder to move than one built on a short one, and it tells you the operator can repeat the same day reliably. The Fes trip combines both, with 3,478 reviews and a 4.9 in each of its three categories. The private-tent tour scores 4.8 across the board from 2,411 reviews.

Then read a handful of recent reviews for the details a score cannot show: how long the drives felt, what the camp food was like, whether the camel ride was long enough and how pickup worked from a riad in the medina. Those are the parts of a desert trip that vary most between departures, and they are exactly the parts a short star rating leaves out.

What the listings leave out

Read the exclusions before the highlights. On the tour we recommend, lunch and drinks are not included, tips are not included, and the local guide inside Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou is an optional extra paid on the spot. The Zagora trip excludes lunch, drinks and small expenses in the same way.

Its notes also ask you to bring cash in euro or dirham for lunches, drinks and tips, because there are no cash machines in the desert. Plan a small cash budget per day for meals on the road and keep some smaller notes for tips at the camp.

Last, check the practical rules that decide how smoothly the first morning goes. The pickup time and place arrive by WhatsApp and GetYourGuide chat the evening before, between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM, so a working WhatsApp number matters. Large suitcases stay in the vehicle, and you take a small backpack into the dunes.

Your desert trip

Three days, one night in the dunes.

Pick a date, get collected at your riad, and cancel free up to 24 hours before.

See datesfrom $137 · free cancellation 4.9 · 22,054 reviews, verified

You ask,we answer.

Which desert tour from Marrakech has the best reviews?

The 3-day Merzouga round trip. It is rated 4.87 from 22,054 reviews, with guide, transport and value each at 4.9.

What is the cheapest 3-day tour on this page?

The private-tent tour. It starts from $80 and is rated 4.71 from 2,411 reviews; check what lunch costs on the road.

Is lunch included on desert tours from Marrakech?

Usually not. Our recommended tour includes breakfasts and dinners but leaves out lunch and drinks.

Can I book a private desert tour instead of a group?

Yes, on several listings. A private group is listed as available on our recommended tour, the Fes trip and a Zagora tour.

Do the tours end back in Marrakech?

Round trips do, one-way trips do not. The Fes tours drop you at your hotel in Fes on day 3 instead.

How late can I cancel a desert tour?

Up to 24 hours before. Our pick hands back the whole payment when you call off at least 24 hours before the start.

Is Zagora a real alternative to Merzouga?

For a short trip, yes. It takes 2 days instead of 3, with a camp near Zagora instead of the Erg Chebbi dunes.

Sources

What this text is based on

1
Encyclopaedia BritannicaHigh Atlas
↩
2
Encyclopaedia BritannicaMorocco: Relief
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3
NASA Earth ObservatorySandy Sculptures in Morocco's Erg Chebbi
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4
UNESCO World Heritage CentreMedina of Marrakesh
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5
UNESCO World Heritage CentreMedina of Marrakesh
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6
Encyclopaedia BritannicaOuarzazat
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7
UNESCO World Heritage CentreKsar of Ait-Ben-Haddou
↩
8
UNESCO World Heritage CentreKsar of Ait-Ben-Haddou
↩
9
Encyclopaedia BritannicaOuarzazat
↩
10
Encyclopaedia BritannicaDades River
↩
11
World Meteorological Organization (Climate Normals 1991-2020, archived by the US National Centers for Environmental Information)Single station data sheet: ERRACHIDIA, WMO 60210
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12
NASA Earth ObservatorySandy Sculptures in Morocco's Erg Chebbi
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13
Encyclopaedia BritannicaDraa River
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14
UNESCO World Heritage CentreMedina of Fez
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15
Encyclopaedia BritannicaDades River
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16
Encyclopaedia BritannicaTafilalt
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17
Encyclopaedia BritannicaTafilalt
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18
Encyclopaedia BritannicaTafilalt
↩
19
NASA Photojournal (NASA/JPL, Terra ASTER)Star Dunes, Morocco (PIA26287)
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20
NASA Photojournal (NASA/JPL, Terra ASTER)Star Dunes, Morocco (PIA26287)
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21
Encyclopaedia BritannicaDraa River
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