Departing Marrakech
Desert Tours from Marrakech
Marrakech is the most common starting point for a Moroccan desert trip. From the city you cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass, reach Ait Ben Haddou in about four hours, and sleep in the Dades Valley before continuing to the dunes.
Marrakech is the most common starting point for a Moroccan desert trip. From the city you cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass, reach Ait Ben Haddou in about four hours, and sleep in the Dades Valley before continuing to the dunes.
Every route below is private: your own vehicle, your own driver-guide, your own pace. Choose a loop if you fly in and out of Marrakech, or a one-way crossing if you continue to Fes.
How to choose
Two days
The fastest honest way to reach Erg Chebbi and sleep in the desert if your time in Morocco is short.
Three days
The comfortable version: Atlas and kasbahs on day one, dunes on day two, and a proper look at the gorges.
Return to Marrakech or continue to Fes
A loop brings you back to your flight; a one-way crossing means you never drive the same road twice.
The routes
Marrakech Desert Tours
Private departures only — your own vehicle, your own driver-guide, your own pace.
Destinations on these routes
- Marrakech travel guide — The red city where almost every Sahara journey begins.
- Ait Ben Haddou travel guide — The earthen city on the old caravan road to Timbuktu.
- Ouarzazate travel guide — Where the Atlas ends and the desert south begins.
- Merzouga travel guide — The village at the edge of Erg Chebbi, and the reason most people come.
