A 4-day camel trek to the Erg Chigaga dunes, starting in Marrakech.
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.
Day-by-day plan of this private tour from Marrakech and back, over 4 days.
Meeting at 7 am for departure by 4x4 to M’Hamid through the Tizi n’Tichka pass, we’ll keep going to join
Tamdakhte Kasbah and Aït Benhaddou Kasbah to arrive in Ouarzazate where you’ll take the lunch..
Departing to Zagora, you’ll visit the town of Agdz, which has a panoramic view to the Draa valley. Then,
we’ll keep going along the Tanskhirt valley; we’ll arrive at the end of the track.
To M’Hamid, on the road we’ll stop in Tamegroute to visit (if there are interested persons) the Koranic
library, the underground Kasbah and the pottery workshops.
We’ll keep driving to the desert. When we’ll arrive at the M’Hamid bivouac, we’ll have time to take your
place and to diner. The evening will be spent around the fire with Sahraoui folklore. The night will be
spent under nomad tents
Overnight: Desert camp at the dunes near M'hamid
We’ll go for a hike with the camels, escort by your guide and your camel driver.
The lunch will be spent at the palm grove (Ras Nkhal) in order to leave it on the afternoon, we’ll walk on
little dunes to a lovely place where we’ll set up the camp to spend the night (Douib).
Overnight: Desert camp at the dunes near M'hamid
On the morning, always on foot with the camels, you’ll have plenty of time to admire the desert with its
majestic simplicity, to spend time in spectacular landscapes. After the lunch, you’ll have some time
to rest.
On the afternoon, you’ll join quickly, in 1 hour, the Chigaga grand dunes by 4x4 in order to have the time
to climb the dune and witness the sunset on the golden dunes waves.
The evening and the night will be spent at Chigaga bivouac.
Overnight: Desert camp at Erg Chigaga
We’ll depart to Marrakech by track between Erg Chigaga and the dry bed of Draa through the Lake Iriqui
(vast surface of sand). Then, we’ll keep driving on the road through Foum-Zguid to Taznakht, the carpet
cooperative town. Next, heading for Marrakech, many breaks will be done between Taznakht and
Marrakech before we’ll arrive at the hotel.
Price per person for your own private tour. The larger your group, the less each person pays.
1–2 people
€470
per person
100% Private Tour3–4 people
€423
per person
100% Private Tour5–6 people
€400
per person
100% Private TourMore than 6 people
€385
per person
100% Private TourWhat the price of this tour covers, and what you pay for separately.
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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It is a private tour. Only your own party travels in the vehicle with your driver-guide, there are no fixed departure dates, and no other travelers join along the way. Every tour on this site runs this way.
It takes 4 days. Pickup on day 1 is at your hotel, riad or the airport in Marrakech. On the last day you are dropped back at your hotel or the airport in Marrakech. Our driver meets you at the pickup point between the departure time and 30 minutes after it.
The price is per person and depends on the size of your group: EUR 470 for 1 or 2 people, EUR 423 for 3 or 4, EUR 400 for 5 or 6, and EUR 385 for 7 or more. A solo traveller pays the 2-person price and children count as full travellers. A 30% deposit confirms the booking; send us your dates and we confirm within 24 hours.
Cancel more than 50 days before the departure date and you get a full refund. Cancellations less than 50 days before departure, and no-shows, are not refunded. Tickets for events or attractions and airport transfers are non-refundable. The full booking terms are on our Terms and Conditions page.
This is a camel trek. You ride and walk in the dunes for several hours each day and sleep in nomad camps, so you need to be comfortable outdoors and walking on sand for a few hours. No riding experience is required. Tell us about any mobility, dietary or medical needs in writing before you confirm and we plan the days around them.
Yes. The day-by-day plan on this page is a starting point. You can add a night, swap a stop, change the pace or combine it with another route; we confirm the changes and the price in writing before you book.
| 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 €385 per person (more than 6 people); €470 per person for 2 |
5 days / 4 nights
5-day private tour from M'Hamid El Ghizlane.
2 days / 1 night
2-day private tour from M'Hamid El Ghizlane via Erg Chigaga.
6 days / 5 nights
6-day private tour from M'Hamid El Ghizlane.
