Most trips choose one desert. This one gives you both: the remote dunes of Erg Chigaga, reached by 4×4 from M’hamid, and the tall golden dunes of Erg Chebbi at Merzouga, linked by the old southern road through N’kob and Alnif. The return runs through the Todra and Dades gorges and Ait Benhaddou.
Accommodation: selected hotels and kasbahs, and two nights in Berber desert camps (one at each desert). Guidance and transport: a multilingual local guide-driver in an air-conditioned vehicle, with a 4×4 for the Erg Chigaga tracks.
Pickup from your riad or hotel in Marrakech · Drop-off back in Marrakech
Around 8:00 AM (we confirm the exact time with you before the trip)
A full loop of the south with several 5 to 7 hour driving days. The two deserts feel very different: Erg Chigaga is quiet and remote, Merzouga has higher dunes and more to do around them.
Route: Marrakech → Tizi n’Tichka → Ait Benhaddou → Ouarzazate → Agdz → Zagora
Night: hotel or kasbah in Zagora · Meals: dinner
Approx. 360 km · 7–8 h driving
Over the High Atlas to Ait Benhaddou, then through Ouarzazate and down the Draa Valley to Zagora.
Route: Zagora → Tamegroute → M’hamid → 4×4 track → Erg Chigaga
Night: Berber desert camp at Erg Chigaga · Meals: dinner
Approx. 160 km · 4–5 h, last part off-road driving
Tamegroute’s potters, then M’hamid and the 4×4 crossing to Erg Chigaga for a sunset camel ride and a night at camp.
Route: Erg Chigaga → M’hamid → Zagora
Night: hotel or kasbah in Zagora · Meals: dinner
Approx. 155 km · about 4 h, first part off-road driving
Sunrise in the dunes and a slow morning, then the 4×4 back to M’hamid and a relaxed afternoon in the Zagora palm groves.
Route: Zagora → Tansikht → N’kob → Tazzarine → Alnif → Rissani → Merzouga
Night: Berber desert camp in Merzouga · Meals: dinner
Approx. 330 km · about 6 h driving
East along the old southern road below the Jbel Saghro: N’kob and its many kasbahs, the fossil village of Alnif and the market town of Rissani.
At Merzouga you ride a camel into the Erg Chebbi dunes for sunset and a second night in the desert.
Route: Merzouga → Tinejdad → Tinghir → Todra Gorge → Dades Valley
Night: hotel or kasbah in the Dades Valley · Meals: dinner
Approx. 300 km · 5–6 h driving
Sunrise over Erg Chebbi, then west through the oases to Tinghir and a walk in the Todra Gorge, ending in the Dades Valley.
Route: Dades → Valley of Roses → Ouarzazate → Tizi n’Tichka → Marrakech
Night: end of tour in Marrakech · Meals: breakfast
Approx. 320 km · 6–7 h driving
Through the Valley of Roses and Ouarzazate, then over the High Atlas to Marrakech in the evening.
