There are really few places on earth that can be compared to the incredible landscape of the Sahara desert. Did you know that the Sahara is almost as big as the United States of America?
Heading to the desert was the highlight of our trip to Morocco. Here, you’ll find the things to know before adventuring yourself in a Sahara trip!
YOU CAN’T GO ON A 1 DAY TRIP TO THE SAHARA
You need to keep in mind that getting to any Sahara spot in Morocco will take a long time.
From Marrakech, the drive to Merzouga will take you 9h, and to Zagora 6h.
From Fes, driving to Merzouga is a 7h drive, and to Zagora 9h.
The best options available to you are to plan your trip by yourself renting a car, or to go with a tour.
GETTING TO THE SAHARA
You’ll find hundreds of tour operators offering desert tours ranging from 1 to 3 nights, for every budget.
There are private tours, where you will be just you and your tour guide, or group tours where you’ll share a mini van with around 15 people.
Tours mostly start from Fes or Marakech. All of them offer a round tour starting from Marrakech and ending up in Fes (or the opposite way) or tour starting and ending up in the same city.
As we were doing a big loop on our Morocco trip, the way from Marrakech to Fes made the most sense for our itinerary. So we decided to book a 3 days, 2 nights tour starting in Marrakech and ending up in Fes. Unfortunately we didn’t find one, so we just booked a tour ending up back to Marrakech, knowing that we will leave the tour in Merzouga. Once there, we found our own way back to Fes with a shared taxi.
MARRAKECH TO MERZOUGA
If you don’t choose the tour starting and ending up in Fes, you will drive along the road Marrakech – Merzouga. It’s plenty of places to visit on the way and really worth a stop.
◦ Aït Benhaddou: This is a really small village where only 8 families are living in.
The village has also been the setting of famous films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, and Gladiator.
Moreover, it has been recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site since 1987
◦ Dades Gorges: There, you’ll find the most scenic road in Morocco. This is a wonderful piece of road to drive on.
◦ Ifrane: Located in the middle Atlas Mountains, it’s known for its alpine-style architecture and forests.
Few kilometers away from the town, you can find several waterfalls.
◦ Atlas Mountains: It’s a mountain chain that stretches across North Africa through Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.
◦ Azrou: Home to hundreds of monkeys!
THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE BOOKING YOUR TOUR
◦ Read carefully what is included in the tour : nights, dinners, lunches, breakfasts, taxis, entry fees, petrol, camel ride ….)
◦ Don’t be afraid to negotiate the price!
◦ Bring your own water and try to buy it before to go, not where the tour will stop : you’ll pay double price.
◦ Usually lunch isn’t included, so on your way the driver will stop in the most expensive restaurant.
Our advice : just walk around 5 minutes and you’ll find the same food for half price, you DON’T have to eat where they stop.
◦ Don’t have much high expectations, especially if you decide to book a cheap tour to save money : keep it real in mind.
They will sell you the tour as the best thing you will experience with a nice tent and a fantastic camp fire with music and drums…it’s 50/50.
We talked with other people who had a really good experience in the Sahara, and others who just got something no worth the money.
◦ Bring enough cash with you: there is only one ATM in Merzouga and we haven’t seen many on the way!
BEST TIME TO GO
You need to know that temperatures range in the desert is really variable. It doesn’t matter which season is it, temperatures at night usually go down 0°C while on the day it can go over 40°C.
So if you decide to spend some night in the desert, take appropriate clothes to keep you warm. Don’t forget neither a scarf for the day to cover your head from the sun, and the sand.
Mid-season (April, May, October, September) is probably the best time to go. The summer months (June to September) are unbearably hot, while in the winter (January, December) temperatures are freezing.
OUR EXPERIENCE
When we booked our tour we were really excited about the idea to spend a night in the middle of the desert. And we couldn’t expect more about the sky! It was the most beautiful sky we’ve ever seen in our life, thousands of stars upon our head. We spent a good part of the night stargazing, trying to spot as many shooting stars as we could.
However, our campground wasn’t really what we were expecting for…
We had a tent without pillow & bed sheets, and we had to cover ourselves with only 1 small blanket when the temperatures drops under 0°C at night. The tent had no light neither.
We had no camp fire or music, as it was written on the confirmation email.
There wasn’t shared toilet, and we were really surprised about this. Before to book our tour, we did some online researches about the kind of campground you can find in the desert, and all of them were equipped with shared toilets!
We had no plate to eat, but the food was good!
Last but not least, we arrived at our campground when the sun was down, so we couldn’t enjoy the sunset…and we had to leave to next morning at 5am, so we couldn’t enjoy the sunrise.
EXPERIENCE THE DESERT ON YOUR OWN
As mentioned at the beginning, we left our tour in Merzouga to enjoy as much as we could the Sahara.
We decided to stop 3 days more and booked 2 nights in an hotel in the little village of Hassilabied just before Merzouga. Here the dunes are much less crowded, comparing with Merzouga, but there are still a lots of quads! The landscape is breathtaking; you can climb high dunes and enjoy sunrise and sunset.
So we’ve been by ourselves exploring this part of the Erg Chebbi dunes, and it was an amazing experience. Being alone in the middle of those sand dunes felt like pure freedom and it was a real peaceful moment.
If you are planning on going alone in the desert, get a landmark, keep it in mind and don’t ever lose it. Ours was the biggest dune just in front of our hotel. We just walked always straight for about 30 minutes and found a spot where we could finally enjoy a sunset.
WHICH DUNES SHOULD YOU VISIT?
There are 2 different parts of the Sahara :
◦ Merzouga : The Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga are the most touristic and busy dunes of the Sahara. It’s located just off the road, so it makes it really easy to access. This village is full of hotels, restaurants, tourists, and tours operators.
◦ Zagora: The Erg Chigaga dunes in Zagora are the most peaceful and quiet dunes of the Sahara. It’s located in the southern part of Morocco, and you need 9h driving from Marrakech. It’s a more dry stone desert, so don’t expect magnificent sand dunes all around you.
You need a 4×4 to reach it as you need to drive around 60km off road.
The Agafay desert is located 30 kilometers in the South of Marrakech. It’s a good option if you don’t have much time during your travel, but you still want to visit the Moroccan desert. This is not a Saharan-style sandy desert; Afagay is a rocky desert.
A visit to the Sahara is a memorable lifetime experience, and probably once-in-a-life time opportunity. Enjoy your travel, be adventurous and create memories!
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