Marrakesh & Grand Tour of the Sahara Desert – 5 Days
- Private vehicle & driver — Pick-up at your riad, pace set by you
- Local licensed guide — Licensed guide nº2898 · since 2011
- Book on WhatsApp — Reply within 1 hour · no payment at this stage
- A closed loop from Marrakech — no flight changes, no backtracking feel
- The Dadès valley outbound, the Draa valley home — two different souths
- Sunset camel trek and ensuite camp night at the Erg Chebbi
This private 5-day circuit from Marrakech costs from €750 per person — your own vehicle, driver and licensed guide, never in a group. The route reaches Dades, Erg Chebbi and Aït Ben Haddou; hotels and a night at a Sahara camp are included.
Five days that loop out of Marrakech, touch the great Erg Chebbi, and come home by a different face of the same mountains — the compact grand tour of the south. Unlike the one-way crossings, this route needs no second airport and no repositioning: your riad can keep the big suitcase while the desert gets you.
The circle is the point. Going out, you take the kasbah road through the Dadès at golden hour; coming back, the Draa palm ribbon and Aït Ben Haddou in morning light. Two different souths, one loop — and in the middle, the night the whole trip is built around: camels at dusk and an ensuite camp in the dunes.
Private vehicle and driver-guide throughout; every stage adjustable, because that is what private means.
- A closed loop from Marrakech — no flight changes, no backtracking feel
- The Dadès valley outbound, the Draa valley home — two different souths
- Sunset camel trek and ensuite camp night at the Erg Chebbi
- Todra Gorge canyon walk and the fossil workshops of Erfoud
- Aït Ben Haddou at the quiet morning hour
Photos from the tour
Itinerary
Open a day to see the detail: transport, accommodation, meals and activity time.
Day 1 Marrakech, the Red City
The loop begins where it will end: Marrakech. Depending on your arrival hour, the first day is a guided introduction to the Red City — the Koutoubia gardens, the Bahia Palace, a first decoding of the souk labyrinth — or simply a rooftop evening watching Jemaa el-Fna ignite. Either way, the mountains are already visible from the terraces, and tomorrow you cross them.
Day 2 Over the High Atlas to the Dadès
Up and over: the Tizi n'Tichka lifts you to 2,260 m in a ladder of hairpins, each viewpoint higher and windier than the last. Beyond the pass the world turns ochre — Ouarzazate for lunch and a look at its kasbah, then the valley of the Dadès, where mudbrick fortresses queue along the river and the rock glows red at dusk. Night in a kasbah-style hotel above the valley.
Day 3 Fossils, desert towns and the Erg Chebbi
Eastward through the Todra Gorge for the classic walk between 300-metre walls, then out into fossil country — the workshops around Erfoud cut and polish 350-million-year-old sea floors into table tops. By late afternoon the tarmac ends at Merzouga and the day delivers its promise: a camel caravan into the Erg Chebbi at golden hour, dinner under lanterns, drums at the fire, and a ceiling of stars.
Day 4 Palm groves, film sets and Aït Ben Haddou
Sunrise from the crest is non-negotiable — set the alarm, climb the sand, thank yourself later. The return road west swaps gorges for palms: the oasis line toward the Draa, kasbahs at attention, film country around Ouarzazate. The day closes at Aït Ben Haddou with the evening light on its towers and a night within sight of the UNESCO ksar.
Day 5 Return to Marrakech
Aït Ben Haddou first thing, before the day-trip wave — a guided climb through the earthen lanes to the granary viewpoint, the whole pre-Sahara below. Then the Tichka one last time, mint tea at the belvederes, and Marrakech by mid-afternoon: drop-off at your riad or the airport, sand in your cuffs, loop closed.
Five days is the honest minimum for a Marrakech loop that reaches the real Erg Chebbi — two of the days are proper road days, spent on the most beautiful tarmac in Morocco. October to April is prime; summer runs on dawn starts. The loop also reverses if a date constraint asks for it.
Included in your tour
- Private air-conditioned 4×4 or minivan with English/French-speaking driver-guide — 5 days
- Pickup at Marrakech airport or your hotel
- Night 1: Marrakech riad — half-board
- Night 2: kasbah hotel, Dades Gorges — half-board
- Night 3: luxury ensuite desert camp — half-board
- Night 4: kasbah hotel, Ait Ben Haddou — half-board
- Guided visit of the Aït Ben Haddou ksar (UNESCO)
- Camel trek in the dunes
- Drop-off at your Marrakech hotel or at the airport
Not included
- International flights
- Lunches and beverages
- Entrance fees to monuments and historical sites (optional — pay directly)
- Tips for guide and driver
- Personal expenses
- Travel insurance (recommended)
Questions travellers ask
What is a desert camp actually like?+
Our standard is the luxury ensuite camp: a proper bed with linen, a private bathroom with hot shower, rugs, lanterns, dinner served at camp and music by the fire. It is under canvas and off-grid — but closer to a small hotel in the dunes than to camping.
How long is the camel ride, and is it hard?+
About an hour into the dunes at sunset, at walking pace with a handler leading — no experience needed, and children love it. If camels are not for you, a 4×4 transfer to the same camp takes minutes; just tell us.
How cold does the desert get at night?+
Colder than anyone expects: near freezing on December–February nights, and a sharp drop after sunset in any season. Camps provide thick blankets; you provide a warm layer and something for your head.
Erg Chebbi or Zagora — which desert should I choose?+
Erg Chebbi (Merzouga) is the great dune sea — 150-metre dunes and the classic Sahara picture — but it is a long drive. Zagora's dunes are smaller and a day closer to Marrakech, ideal for 2-day tasters and young children. Our tour pages say clearly which one each route visits.
More answers in the “The desert experience” chapter of our Travel FAQ →
