4 Days Desert Tour from Marrakech to Merzouga with Luxury Camp

Four days and three nights, covering about 1,200 kilometres. You cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n’Tichka pass, stop at Ait Ben Haddou, follow the kasbah road through Skoura, the Rose Valley and the Dades Valley, climb into the Todgha Gorges, and reach the dunes of Erg Chebbi at Merzouga. The return runs through the Draa Valley and Ouarzazate.

This is a private tour, so the departure time is yours. Most travellers leave Marrakech around 8:00 in the morning, which gives an unhurried first day, but you can set an earlier or later start when you book. Your driver collects you at your riad or hotel.

The tour is half board: dinner and breakfast are included every night, at the hotel in the Dades Valley, at the desert camp in Erg Chebbi and at the hotel in Ouarzazate. Lunches are not included, so you choose the stop and the budget along the way. Expect around 8 to 12 EUR for a lunch on this route.

Yes, twice. You ride into the dunes of Erg Chebbi at sunset on day two, about an hour each way, and again at sunrise on day three. If you would rather not ride, tell your driver: you can reach the camp by 4×4 instead, at no extra cost.

A private ensuite tent with a real bed, a proper bathroom and a hot shower, set among the dunes and out of sight of the road. Dinner is served at the camp, there is Berber music around the fire afterwards, and breakfast follows in the morning. Both meals are included in the price.

Three nights in comfortable hotels and riads with private ensuite rooms: the Dades Valley on night one, the desert camp at Erg Chebbi on night two, Ouarzazate on night three. We do not name a single property in advance because availability changes through the season, and we would rather move you to an equivalent address than hold you to a name we cannot honour. The standard and the half board regime stay the same.

The price is per person and falls as the group grows, because the vehicle and the driver are shared across your own party. It runs from 910 EUR for a single traveller down to 270 EUR per person for a group of 14 to 17. The full grid, from 1 to 17 travellers, is in the price table on this page. Nobody outside your party joins the vehicle.

Both reach Merzouga. The four day version adds a third night, in Ouarzazate on the way back, which turns the last day into a drive through the Atlas rather than a long push straight to Marrakech. It also leaves more time in the Dades and Todgha valleys. If your schedule is tight, our 3 day private desert tour covers the same dunes in less time.

They are real. Day one runs about six hours on the road, day two around four, day three about six, and the last day roughly five, spread across the day with stops at the places worth stopping for. That is the honest cost of reaching the Sahara by road. A private vehicle means you break the journey where you want, rather than on a fixed coach schedule.

Yes. The tour is private, so the route is a starting point. You can add the Atlas film studios at Ouarzazate, spend longer at Ait Ben Haddou, stop at the fossil workshops near Erfoud, or skip a stop that does not interest you. Tell your driver on the day, or ask us when you book.

Yes, at every dinner and breakfast, including at the desert camp. Please tell us when you book so the kitchens are told in advance, and mention any allergy at the same time.

Yes. The vehicle is private, so you set the pace and the stops, and children usually take to the camel ride and the camp. Very young children can travel by 4×4 to the camp instead of riding. Tell us their ages when you book so the vehicle and the tent are arranged accordingly.