How many days you need in the Merzouga desert
One night covers the essentials. With two, the desert stops being a stop on the way and becomes part of the trip.
One night in the Merzouga desert: the essentials
This is what most people do. You arrive in the afternoon, ride up into the dunes for the sunset, have dinner, listen to the drums by the fire, sleep, and watch the sun come up before breakfast and leaving.
It works, and for many people it is enough. But it is an intense day, especially if you have just driven ten hours from Marrakech or Fes.
Two nights: what we recommend
With two nights the trip changes. The middle day has no driving in it: a 4x4 trip around the area, quad biking, sandboarding down the dunes, or simply nothing at all, reading on the terrace of your tent.
It is also the only way to see two sunsets and two sunrises, which are never alike, and for the desert to stop being a photograph and become somewhere you have actually been. Over New Year, two nights (the 30th and 31st, or the 31st and 1st) let you spend New Year’s Eve in the desert without driving on New Year’s Day.
Three nights or more
Worth it if the area beyond the dunes interests you: the nomad families, Rissani and its market, the old mines, the lake when it holds water. Also if you are here to photograph or to watch the sky and want several nights to be sure of a good one.
Fitting it into your Morocco route
- Coming from Marrakech: count on 10-12 hours of road. Better split over two days via Ouarzazate or the Dades valley.
- Coming from Fes: 8 to 10 hours via Ifrane and Midelt.
- The neatest plan is to arrive from one city and leave towards the other, so you never repeat a road.
- If you are short on days, fly to Errachidia: from there it is about two hours to the dunes.
Questions about how many days
Is one night in the desert worth it?
Yes. One night covers the sunset camel ride, dinner, the music by the fire and the sunrise: the full arc of the experience. What it does not cover is doing excursions the following day.
What does the second night buy me?
The middle day with no driving. That leaves room for the 4x4 excursion, a quad ride, or nothing at all. And you see two sunrises, which are never alike. It is charged at the same rate as the first.
How many days do I need from Marrakech?
Three days and two nights at a minimum for it to make sense, counting 10 to 12 hours on the road each way. With only two days you spend the entire trip in the car.
What if I fly to Errachidia?
That changes the maths completely: it is about two hours from there. Two days give you a night in the desert without rushing, and three let you take it slowly.
Are three nights too many?
Only if you came purely for the dunes. If the area interests you (Rissani, the mines, the villages, the sky), or if you came to photograph, the third night earns its place.
4.9 / 5 · over 160 Google reviews
We can help you plan the route
Tell us how many days you have and where you are coming from, and we will tell you what is realistic.
+212 661 614 125 · We always reply the same day.
Keep reading
- Luxury desert camp in Merzouga: private tents in the Moroccan Sahara Tassili Luxury Desert Camp is a luxury desert camp in Merzouga, Morocco. Discover a quieter side of the Sahara, set away from the busy camp areas near Merzouga.
- Merzouga guide The questions we get on WhatsApp every week, answered properly. Written by people who live here, not copied from another website.
- How to get to Merzouga and to our camp We are in Erg Znaigui, 20 minutes from the centre of Merzouga on the N13 towards Taouz. You do not have to drive: we come and get you, and the last stretch is done by 4x4.
- Luxury tents in the Merzouga desert Ten private tents in our luxury tented camp in Morocco, from €100 to €425 a night depending on occupancy. All with their own bathroom, a hot shower and air conditioning and heating.