A desert is a special place that enchants and harmonizes. Traveling to the sandy Sahara desert in Morocco is often chosen by active travelers because the distances in the country are large and in order to get to the camp, you need to think over the route and drive a long way.
Near Marrakech is the rocky desert of Agafay, which is often visited as a more accessible alternative to exploring the landscapes of Morocco.
A desert is a special place that enchants and harmonizes. Traveling to the sandy Sahara desert in Morocco is often chosen by active travelers because the distances in the country are large and in order to get to the camp, you need to think over the route and drive a long way.
Near Marrakech is the rocky desert of Agafay, which is often visited as a more accessible alternative to exploring the landscapes of Morocco. The impressive and largest hot desert in the world occupies about 30% of the area of Africa. Primordial boundless ocean of orange-yellow sand with giant dunes and camel caravans.
In the Sahara, in Morocco, there are 2 significant areas covered with sand dunes and dunes, which are called ergs. Erg means sandy sea in Arabic. Erg Chebbi is the most popular, located next to Merzouga. From Ouarzazate, a picturesque road leads to it through gorges, oases, valleys, and ancient kasbahs. Erg Chigaga is located in the region of Souss – Massa – Draa. Approximately 100 km south of the city of Zagora. The height of the dunes here reaches up to 60 meters, but due to the relatively difficult access, this erg is much less frequently visited.
Just a 45-minute drive from Marrakech is the rocky Agafay Desert. Unlike the Sahara, there are no sand dunes here, but the views of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains and the stunning pink sunset are no less mesmerizing. The possibilities of this place are endless. Atmospheric lunch or romantic candlelight dinner, a unique wedding ceremony, trendy parties with acrobats and a DJ, a stylish photo session…
How to get to the Sahara Desert?
The best desert tour provider in Morocco will provide you with an amazing adventure on SUVs or a special “transport” of the desert, camels – dromedaries, among the sands and dunes of the largest desert in the world, the Sahara desert. You can get to one of the dunes – Erg Chebbi or Erg Shigaga from Marrakech, Ouarzazate, or Fez. Basically, tours to the Sahara desert are offered from Marrakech in the form of a two-day excursion with an overnight stay. But you need to be patient right away – after all, the path here is by no means as simple as many travelers would like.
It is better to take at least 2-3 days for such a trip, especially if you are going to a more distant and wild erg – Shigaga through the city of Zagora. But the beauty of the desert will reward you handsomely for all your efforts! You will see the boundless sands and the hot desert heat, the icy cold at night and the Milky Way over your head, the gentle sunrise over the dunes and camel caravans driven by amazing tribes of Berbers – Tuareg, whose blue scarves delight tourists …
The desert is located on the border with Algeria in the southeast of the country, and also comes close to the ocean in the south from Western Sahara. The temperature in the desert is extreme, during the day the air heats up to +60, and at night it drops to minus values. From time to time, even snow can fall in the desert during the period from December to February.
You can get to Erfoud from Fes or Marrakech – the journey will take at least 9 hours by car or bus, and this is without stops! Erfoud is the end point of an asphalt road where you can arrive in comfort. Usually from here, tourists transfer to SUVs or camels to continue their journey deep into the Sahara Desert – to Merzouga, next to which the Chebbi dune is located.
The best way to get to Erg Chigaga is from Marrakech to Ouarzazate with an overnight stop in the town of Zagora. And already from it, a couple of hours to the east, right on the border with Algeria, lies the Chigaga dune. By the way, a plane flies to Zagora from Marrakech several times a week, so if you adjust the schedule, you can get here quite comfortably. In Zagora, there are a number of luxury hotels and campsites where you can comfortably relax even after the desert…
Best time to visit the Sahara in Morocco
The best time to go on Marrakech desert tours is autumn and spring in Morocco. The temperature at night at this time is about 0 – +10 and during the day – up to +35. In winter, it is not hot in the desert during the day – only up to +25 degrees, but at night there can be sub-zero temperatures. If you come to Morocco in winter and want to visit the dunes, then it is best to stay in a comfortable hotel or kasbah at the edge of the desert. Then you can spend the night in comfortable conditions, and early in the morning or at sunset, make “outings” into the desert for several hours for camel rides or quad bike rides on the dunes.
Marrakech desert tours in Deserts of Morocco – Sahara and Agafay
In summer, it is extremely hot in the Sahara Desert – the desert heat does not allow you to comfortably travel to these places! In any case, an experienced agent or travel concierge will help you properly organize your itinerary around the country in order to take into account all these nuances of a holiday in Morocco.
