A four-day private trip from Marrakech to the Erg Chigaga dunes: two days walking beside camels between M’Hamid and Erg Chigaga, three nights in desert camps, and a private 4×4 with driver for the road days. You leave Marrakech at 7 am on day 1 and are back at your hotel on the evening of day 4.
| Duration | 4 days / 3 nights |
| Start and end | Marrakech, pick-up at your riad or hotel at 7 am on day 1 |
| Walking days | Day 2 and day 3, on foot beside the camels with a guide and camel driver |
| Nights | M’Hamid camp, Douib camp, Erg Chigaga camp |
| Road days | Day 1 (Marrakech to M’Hamid, about 430 km) and day 4 (Erg Chigaga to Marrakech via Foum Zguid, about 400 km), private 4×4 |
| Group | Private, from 2 people |
| Price | From 250 € per person (5 people or more); 480 € per person for 2 |
Day 1, Marrakech to M’Hamid by 4×4. Over the Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260 m) to the kasbahs of Tamdakht and Aït Benhaddou, then lunch in Ouarzazate. In the afternoon you follow the Draa valley through Agdz, with a stop in Tamegroute for the Koranic library, the underground kasbah and the pottery workshops if you wish. Dinner and the first night are at the camp in M’Hamid, with music around the fire.
Day 2, first walking day. You set off at 8 am with the camels, your guide and the camel driver. Lunch is in the Ras Nkhal palm grove. In the afternoon you cross small dunes to the camp at Douib, where you sleep.
Day 3, walking, then the big dunes. A second morning on foot with the camels, lunch and a rest, then a 4×4 transfer of about one hour to Erg Chigaga. You climb the main dune for sunset and spend the night at the Erg Chigaga camp.
Day 4, back to Marrakech. The 4×4 crosses the dry bed of Lake Iriqui between Erg Chigaga and the Draa, then joins the road at Foum Zguid. Stops in Taznakht (carpet cooperatives) and along the way before arriving at your hotel in Marrakech in the evening.
The day-by-day programme below has the full details of each stage.
You walk for most of the morning and part of the afternoon on days 2 and 3, on flat stony ground and small dunes. No climbing or technical terrain, but you need to be comfortable walking several hours in the sun. The camps are simple: tents with mattresses and blankets, shared facilities, no electricity beyond what the camp generates for the evening. The large dunes come on day 3; days 1 and 2 are about the Draa valley and the open desert around M’Hamid.
October to April is the walking season. Days are warm and nights can drop close to 0 °C in December and January, so bring a warm layer. May and September are possible with early starts. We do not run the walking days in June, July and August, when daytime temperatures pass 45 °C.
* Prices are per person for a private trip. Travelling alone? Ask us for a quote.
The trip met our expectations.
We really appreciated the guidance of Yahia, our driver, who made communication and coordination easy with his discreet and thoughtful approach.
He’s also an excellent driver, both on the dirt roads and in the mountains!
We had the most wonderful Christmas in the desert, thanks to Abidim and his great planning. It was our daughters birthday on Christmas Eve when we arrived and he even organised a surprise birthday cake with candles and he and the chefs sang her Happy Birthday! The next day Christmas morning the camels arrived at the Bivouac Sous Les Etoiles and we set off. Our guide and cook Ahmed and Said were super friendly and charming as well as providing delicious meals three times a day. We all played games round the fire at night in the desert camp (out in the dunes). Then back to the Bivouac for the last night where there was live music and more delicious Tagine. Also Abidim is such an interesting guy who has a wonderful outlook on life and is most philosophical. It was interesting finding out about desert and Moroccan customs and lifestyle. Would highly recommend booking through his company. Wish we had gone to Erg Chigaga - maybe next time....
We have thoroughly enjoyed our three day trek. Every aspect of our tour has either met or exceeded our expectations. The food and accommodation has been both traditional and enjoyable. Each person we have met has been genuinely kind and goes out of their way to be hospitable making sure our every need was met.
Dealing with the agency was very easy and the organisation exceptional.
Both our driver and guide have been more than generous with their time, energy, skills, knowledge and kindness. They have been very easy to get along with and have truly contributed to our exceptional overall experience.
We thank Private Desert Tours for the memories that will last a lifetime and would recommend highly this tour to anyone.
We took a 4 day guided tour with Abidine and it was a fabulous experience. Right from the start, Abdoul/ yousef were flexible when it came to customising our itinerary and including all the details we wanted.
We had Hamid as our guide and driver. We spent 4 days with him on the road and it was a fabulous experience, seeing Morocco with all the local insights.
Everyone was so thoughtful and attentive, including the staff / owners at the various accommodations we stayed at.
Can’t recommend this enough. This tour was a big part of our trip being memorable. Thank you 🙏 Abidine for everything.
We had an absolutely fabulous time and would like to thank you for arranging everything for us.
The clear highlight of the trip was the days we spent in the desert. We really wanted to create an "adventure" feeling for our trip, especially for our kids (5 and 8yrs). Since we live in an Alps in France surrounded by snow for 4 months of the year, I'm sure you can imagine that a visit to the desert was something truly different - just the ticket for an adventure! With a good balance between traveling in the land cruiser and the camels, along with the good quality of the camps, it all added up to be to a great time ... and the experiences of climbing the dunes at Chegaga will stay with us for a long time!!
We'd especially like say that Abdou was fantastic and made a wonderfully positive contribution to our holiday. His rapport with our kids was just great and, whilst not surprisingly they got a bit bored from time to time looking at decoration and listening to the history of the Kasbahs, the fun they had with Abdou more than made up for that. Its rare that you meet someone who is so genuine and full of life and simply happy to be doing what he's doing. He was fantstastic!
Before visiting Marocco I have made some extensive research through the internet, searching for various tour guides and asking for a price offer and pictures about the accomodation and car.
I have received several answers and in the end me and my boyfriend came to the conclusion that, -at least for us- a luxury camp wouldn´t be worth the money, which in the end also was the ride decision.
What I can tell about private desert tours is that we have been happy in all regards:
Our guide was super friendly and helpful (Ismael <3 ) and willing to support us in any question or wishes
The car was very comfortable and suitable for a desert trip (4x4 which is important for desert)
Also the tour was perfect! We choose the tour "Marrakech desert trip Chigaga Dunes Riding Camel Sandboarding" and slept two nights in the desert. What is good about the tour, that it goes through Erg Chigaga (which is important, as it is the biggest desert in Marocco and includes offroad driving which is more adventurous and not included in all tours. Usually the cheaper ones are not driving through the dunes and the car is a usual mini bus that can´t do offraod driving)
Furtherone the tour included camel riding (very nice :)) and sandboarding (we weren´t really talented but probably also very nice when you now how to do it)
Finally the tour also included all meals that where suuuuper delicous (freshly prepared and better than in some luxury restaurants that we have visited in Marrakesh) and the accomodations very clean(all bed sheets fresh etc. so that even my boyfriend felt comfortable who is usually very picky in this regard :) )
As a summary I can only recommend this tour to everybody, I was definately a very remindful experience and we felt save throughout the whole trip, as our guide was a local, born in the desert and new the area very well.
The next time we would choose to spend more time the beautiful desert instead of stressful Marrakesh! :)
All the best,
Michael and Christina
I had a wonderful experience with Private Desert Tours. Everything went very smoothly, and my trip was even better than I had imagined it would be. Accompanied by a terrific guide (who really knew his way around the desert because he came from a nomad family) and two other tourists, I traveled to Erg Chegaga by 4X4 vehicle. The ride into the desert was exciting; it was fun to watch how our guide skillfully navigated the bumpy terrain. We stopped along the way at a well, where our guide provided water for some cute donkeys who were "loitering" there. We arrived at our lovely bivouac, Bivouac Sous Les Etoiles, decorated in traditional style. The lodging, in tents, was extremely clean and comfortable. Big, thick blankets kept me toasty warm at night. There was also a very clean bathroom with Western-style toilets and showers. The desert was simply enchanting; on our first afternoon there, we climbed the dunes to watch the gorgeous sunset. Such a beautiful, peaceful experience! In the evenings, we were served delicious tagines which we ate with the four other guests who were also staying at the bivouac. After dinner, we would all gather around a campfire, gazing up at the star-filled sky (we even saw a few shooting stars), and listening to the guys who worked at the camp playing music on traditional Moroccan drums. The breakfasts were delicious and offered plenty of different options. On our way back out of the desert, our guide stopped at a few scenic points to let us take some photos. I had such a wonderful time that I wished I could have stayed longer. Book a trip with Private Desert Tours; you won't be disappointed!
A wonderful experience visiting Morocco. The guide was very friendly and attentive to specific requests. Highly recommended!
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A great option for solo travellers - I had an awesome 9 day tour in December with Ismael. He adjusted my itinerary to suit my liking and also to adapt for some unpredicted weather - making... read more
Voyager829604 Amazing tour! - Our private tour from Marrakech to Fez was truly an unforgettable experience and exceeded all of our expectations. From the very beginning, everything was perfectly organized, and we felt completely... read more
fra_2809 5 day Morrocco adventure - Fantastic 5 day tour from Marrakech out to Erg Chebbi and on camel to Camp Sakura. Beutiful camp and they even had a special cake for my wifes... read more
SandnScuba private tour with Private Desert Tours was exceptional from start to finish. We traveled fr - We booked a private tour with Desert Private tours for our 20th anniversary, and it turned out to be the most unforgettable trip we’ve ever taken. The entire experience was... read more
sail d
Excellent Tour in Morocco white amazing scenery fun guide and driver we could not be more happy of choosing this agency his Driver Guide informed about all the places we visited Next time in Morocco we would do our excursion again with this Agency.
-- Andria
From Marrakesh to the desert, 3 days and 2 nights, one of them in the desert with all the expected attractions, a spetacular sun set and a super nice “crew” for dinner and music! The previous nighto we spent in an oasis on a cute and super nice hotel owned by Belgium/French couple in Skoura. Abdul was the nicest driver/guide we ever had, good mood, good with out teenager son and super informed about local culture history and attractions.
-- Alex
I was traveling with my husband and teenage son and Ali made the trip so exciting and informative. My son especially enjoyed his time in the desert sand boarding and rug boarding. We enjoyed ourselves so much at sunset we also added on the sunrise camel trip last minute without any issues to accommodate our request. If you are looking for honest, safe, know ledgable guides…this is your company to go to!
-- Eliza Tess
