Erg Chigaga is Morocco’s biggest and most remote dune field, reached only by 4×4 across the desert from M’hamid. This private three-day trip takes you from Marrakech over the High Atlas, past Ait Benhaddou and down the Draa Valley’s palm groves to a night among the dunes, far from the crowds of Merzouga, and back to Marrakech by Lake Iriki and Foum Zguid.
Accommodation: one night in a selected hotel or kasbah in Zagora and one night in a Berber desert camp in Erg Chigaga. Guidance and transport: a multilingual local guide-driver in an air-conditioned vehicle, with a 4×4 for the desert crossing.
Pickup from your riad or hotel in Marrakech · Drop-off back in Marrakech
Around 7:30 AM (we confirm the exact time with you before the trip)
Days 1 and 3 are long drives of roughly 7 to 9 hours, broken up with stops for photos, tea and lunch. The crossing to Erg Chigaga is on desert tracks, so expect a bumpy ride. Choose this trip if you want quieter, wilder dunes than Merzouga.
Route: Marrakech → Tizi n’Tichka → Ait Benhaddou → Ouarzazate → Agdz → Draa Valley → Zagora
Night: hotel or kasbah in Zagora · Meals: dinner
Approx. 360 km · 7–8 h driving
We pick you up in Marrakech and climb into the High Atlas over the Tizi n’Tichka pass. After the pass we stop at Ait Benhaddou, the fortified kasbah village listed by UNESCO, to walk its lanes before lunch in Ouarzazate.
In the afternoon we cross the Anti-Atlas to Agdz and follow the Draa Valley, a long ribbon of date palms and earthen villages, to Zagora for the night.
Route: Zagora → Tamegroute → M’hamid → 4×4 piste → Erg Chigaga
Night: Berber desert camp in Erg Chigaga · Meals: dinner
Approx. 160 km · 4–5 h, last part off-road driving
After breakfast we visit Tamegroute, known for its green pottery and old Koranic library, then continue to M’hamid, the last village at the end of the road.
From here a 4×4 takes us about 60 km across the open desert to Erg Chigaga. You ride a camel into the dunes for sunset, then dinner and music around the fire at camp.
Route: Erg Chigaga → Lake Iriki → Foum Zguid → Taznakht → Ouarzazate → Marrakech
Night: end of tour in Marrakech · Meals: breakfast
Approx. 460 km · 8–9 h driving
Wake early for sunrise over the dunes. After breakfast the 4×4 crosses the dry bed of Lake Iriki to Foum Zguid, where the tarmac starts again.
We drive back through Taznakht, a carpet-weaving village, and over the High Atlas to Marrakech, arriving in the evening.
