Our 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert is the version of this trip with no rushed days. You cross the High Atlas, sleep in Ouarzazate and in the Dades Valley, and then spend two nights beside the Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga. Because the driving is split over five days, you actually stop at the kasbahs, the gorges and the oases instead of watching them through the window.
This 5 day Marrakech to Merzouga tour runs as a private trip. You travel only with your own group, in an air-conditioned vehicle, with the same driver-guide from the first morning to the last evening. In addition, the itinerary is flexible: you can add a stop, change the camp or slow down a day.
| Duration | 5 days / 4 nights |
|---|---|
| Start | Marrakech (pick-up at your hotel or riad, around 8:00 am) |
| End | Marrakech (drop-off at your hotel or riad, in the evening) |
| Desert | Erg Chebbi dunes, Merzouga (2 nights in the desert area) |
| Tour style | Private tour, customizable |
| Accommodation | 1 night Ouarzazate + 1 night Dades Valley + 2 nights Merzouga (see options) |
| Meals | 4 dinners and 4 breakfasts |
| Total distance | About 1,230 km, as a loop |
| Price | On request (see what affects the price) |
Quick answers about the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert
- Which desert? Erg Chebbi, next to Merzouga, where the dunes rise up to 150 m and run about 28 km from north to south.
- Why five days? Day 1 ends in Ouarzazate rather than in the gorges, so the first drive is about 4 h 20 instead of 6 h 30. Day 4 then stays in the desert.
- How much driving? Roughly 205 km on day 1, 134 km on day 2, 266 km on day 3, a short 4×4 loop on day 4 and 558 km on day 5.
- Where do you sleep? One night in Ouarzazate, one in the Dades Valley and two in the Merzouga area (camp, hotel, or one of each).
- Is the camel ride obligatory? No. If you prefer, a 4×4 takes you to the camp at no extra cost.
- What is not included? Lunches, drinks, entrance fees and tips.
Highlights of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert
- Crossing the High Atlas on the Tizi n’Tichka pass, where the sign at the top reads 2,260 m.
- Visiting the Telouet Kasbah, the mountain palace of the Glaoui family, on the old salt road.
- Walking through the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
- Seeing Ouarzazate, the Kasbah of Taourirt and the Atlas Film Studios.
- Following the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through the Skoura palm grove and the Kasbah of Amridil.
- Driving the Valley of Roses around Kelaat M’Gouna, where the rose harvest is celebrated every May.
- Climbing the hairpin road of the Dades Gorges, above the Monkey Fingers rocks.
- Standing inside the Todgha Gorge, which narrows to about 10 m between walls of some 160 m.
- Riding a camel into the Erg Chebbi dunes for sunset and sleeping in a desert camp.
- Spending a whole day in the Sahara: 4×4 tracks, nomad families and the Gnawa music of Khamlia.
- Returning through Rissani, the Draa Valley and Agdz, along the longest river in Morocco.
Why choose a private 5 days desert tour from Marrakech?
Four days is enough to reach Merzouga and come back. Five days is what turns the drive into a journey. Instead of two long transfers at the start, this 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert breaks the outward leg into three comfortable stages, so you arrive at the dunes rested rather than exhausted.
Because the tour is private, you also decide the pace and the comfort level. For example, you can trade a morning of driving for a walk in the Skoura palm grove, upgrade to a luxury tent with a private bathroom, or ask for a Spanish-speaking driver-guide. If you are comparing formats, read our guide to private vs group tours in Morocco.
Itinerary of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert
The plan below is our standard route. However, we adjust the stops, the hotels and the camp to your wishes. Driving distances and times come from the road itself and do not include stops.
Day 1: Marrakech – Tizi n’Tichka – Telouet Kasbah – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate
Your driver-guide picks you up at your riad or hotel at around 8:00 am. First, the road climbs into the High Atlas through Berber villages, walnut groves and red terraced fields. After about two hours you reach the Tizi n’Tichka pass; the sign at the top reads 2,260 m, although GPS measurements place the road at roughly 2,205 m.
Next, a side road drops into the Ounila valley to the Telouet Kasbah. Until 1956 this was the mountain seat of the Glaoui family, who controlled the pass and the salt mines behind it. The outside is crumbling, yet the painted ceilings and zellij rooms inside are still remarkable.
Afterwards, you follow the old caravan track down to the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1987. Caravans carrying salt, gold and dates once stopped below these earthen walls. You can walk up the lanes to the collective granary at the top, which looks out over the palm grove and the river.
Finally, a short drive brings you to Ouarzazate for dinner and the first night. Day 1 of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert therefore ends early, with daylight left for a walk around the town.
- Driving distance: about 205 km
- Driving time: about 4 hours 20 minutes
- Overnight: hotel or riad in Ouarzazate
- Meals: dinner
Day 2: Ouarzazate – Kasbah Taourirt – Skoura – Valley of Roses – Dades Gorges
After breakfast, you start with Ouarzazate itself. The Kasbah of Taourirt, another Glaoui residence, stands at the entrance of the old town, and the Atlas Film Studios are a short drive away. Films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven were shot around this town, which is why people call it the Hollywood of Morocco.
Then the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs begins. In the palm grove of Skoura you visit the Kasbah of Amridil, whose ksar dates from the 17th century and whose mansion was built in the 19th; it appeared for years on the old 50-dirham banknote, and the Nasiri family still lives in part of it. Nearby, water still runs through khettara channels dug under the gardens.
Later, the road reaches Kelaat M’Gouna and the Valley of Roses. Damask roses grow in hedges between the fields here, and the town holds its rose festival for a week every May. You can stop at a distillery for rose water before continuing.
Finally, you turn north at Boumalne Dades and climb into the Dades Gorges. In the late afternoon you reach the famous hairpin bends and the eroded cliffs known as the Monkey Fingers, right beside your hotel.
- Driving distance: about 134 km
- Driving time: about 2 hours 40 minutes
- Overnight: hotel or kasbah in the Dades Valley
- Meals: breakfast and dinner
Day 2 is the shortest driving day of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert, so there is time for every stop.
Day 3: Dades Valley – Tinghir – Todgha Gorge – Erfoud – Merzouga (camel trek)
This morning you drive east to Tinghir, where a viewpoint looks down on a palm grove that stretches for kilometres along the river. Just above the town lies the Todgha Gorge. In its narrowest section the canyon closes to about 10 m between smooth walls of some 160 m, and elsewhere the cliffs reach 400 m; you walk along the river bed while climbers work on the rock above.
Afterwards, the road crosses wide stony plains through Tinejdad and Jorf, where rows of khettara wells mark the underground channels of the Ziz. Then comes Erfoud, a town of dates and fossils: the black marble cut in its workshops is full of orthoceras and other marine fossils from the Devonian, roughly 400 million years old.
In the late afternoon you arrive in Merzouga, at the foot of Erg Chebbi. A camel is waiting, and the trek into the dunes takes about an hour, timed so that you reach the camp for the sunset. In the evening, dinner is served under the tents, followed by Berber drums around the fire and a sky with very little light pollution.
- Driving distance: about 266 km
- Driving time: about 4 hours 20 minutes
- Camel ride: about 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes to the camp
- Overnight: desert camp in Erg Chebbi (standard or luxury)
- Meals: breakfast and dinner
Day 4: Erg Chebbi – nomad families – Khamlia and Gnawa music – Dayet Srji
Wake up early and climb the dune behind the camp for sunrise. After breakfast, a 4×4 takes you around the erg on the tracks the caravans used. The circuit passes the black volcanic hills, the abandoned galena mines of Mfis and the wells that nomad families depend on.
You then stop under a nomad tent for mint tea, and your guide translates while the family explains how they move with the pasture. Afterwards comes Khamlia, a village of about 390 people some 7 km south of Merzouga. Its families descend from sub-Saharan people brought north along the trans-Saharan routes, and their Gnawa music, played on the guembri and metal qraqeb, was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage in 2019.
In the afternoon you drive out to Dayet Srji, the seasonal lake west of the dunes. After good rains it fills and attracts flamingos and other migrating birds; in a dry year it is a white salt flat. Back at the dunes, the rest of the day is free for sandboarding, tea on a terrace or simply watching the sand change colour.
- Driving distance: about 60 km, mostly by 4×4
- Activity time: about 4 hours, plus free time
- Overnight: desert camp or hotel near the dunes
- Meals: breakfast and dinner
Day 4 is the calm day of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert: no long transfer, and you sleep in the same area.
Day 5: Merzouga – Rissani – Alnif – N’Kob – Agdz – Draa Valley – Ouarzazate – Marrakech
Today is the long one, so breakfast is early. The return follows a different road from the way out, which is the reason this tour works as a loop. First you pass Rissani, the market town of the Tafilalt; one kilometre north lie the ruins of Sijilmasa, founded in 757 and, for centuries, the northern gate of the gold and salt trade with West Africa.
After that the road runs west along the foot of Jbel Saghro, through Alnif and Tazzarine to N’Kob, a village known for its kasbahs and almond trees. At Tansikht you join the Draa Valley, the longest river in Morocco at about 1,100 km, and follow the palm groves down to Agdz.
Then you climb the Tizi n’Tinififft pass, at roughly 1,700 m, and drop back to Ouarzazate. Finally, the Tizi n’Tichka carries you over the High Atlas once more, and you reach your hotel in Marrakech in the evening.
- Driving distance: about 558 km
- Driving time: about 8 hours 40 minutes
- Overnight: not included (end of the tour in Marrakech)
- Meals: breakfast
The Road of a Thousand Kasbahs: what you are actually driving
Why so many kasbahs?
A kasbah is a fortified earthen house with corner towers, built for one extended family; a ksar is a whole village behind one wall. Between Ouarzazate and the Tafilalt, every oasis needed both, because the road carried gold, salt, dates and slaves, and the caravans had to be protected. As a result, the 300 km you drive on days 2 and 3 pass hundreds of them.
Telouet and the Glaoui
Telouet controlled the pass between Marrakech and the south, so whoever held it taxed the traffic. The Glaoui family built their palace there and, thanks to the salt mines and the caravan tolls, ruled much of southern Morocco until 1956. Today the kasbah is half ruined outside and still painted inside.
Skoura, the oasis of kasbahs
Skoura is a palm grove rather than a town: gardens under palms, irrigated through khettara, with earthen kasbahs scattered among them. Amridil is the best known, although Ait Ben Moro and Ait Abou stand nearby. On the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert you cross this oasis slowly, on day 2.
Khamlia and the memory of the caravans
The Gnawa families of Khamlia descend from people who came north with those same caravans. Their music, with a three-string guembri and iron castanets, is the clearest living trace of the trans-Saharan trade anywhere on this route.
Gallery of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert
What is included in the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert
Included
- Pick-up and drop-off at your hotel or riad in Marrakech.
- Private air-conditioned vehicle with fuel and tolls.
- English-speaking driver-guide (Spanish, French or Arabic on request).
- 1 night in a hotel or riad in Ouarzazate.
- 1 night in a hotel or kasbah in the Dades Valley.
- 2 nights in the Merzouga area: desert camp, hotel, or one of each.
- Camel trek in Erg Chebbi (one camel per person).
- 4×4 excursion around the dunes, with the nomad family visit and Khamlia.
- 4 dinners and 4 breakfasts.
Not included
- Lunches and drinks.
- Entrance fees and local guides (for example Telouet, Ait Ben Haddou, Amridil or the Atlas Film Studios).
- Extra activities such as sandboarding, quad or buggy rides.
- Tips and personal expenses.
- Travel insurance and flights.
Map of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert
In detail, the loop is: Marrakech → Tizi n’Tichka → Telouet → Ait Ben Haddou → Ouarzazate → Skoura → Kelaat M’Gouna → Dades Gorges → Tinghir → Todgha Gorge → Erfoud → Merzouga (2 nights, with Khamlia and Dayet Srji) → Rissani → Alnif → N’Kob → Agdz → Ouarzazate → Marrakech.
Accommodation options
Every option of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert uses the same route, vehicle and driver-guide. Only the level of comfort changes. We confirm the exact hotel and camp names when you book, according to availability on your dates.
| Option | Night 1: Ouarzazate | Night 2: Dades Valley | Nights 3 and 4: Merzouga |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Hotel or riad in the town centre, private room with bathroom | Guesthouse or kasbah hotel near the gorges | Berber tent and a simple hotel by the dunes |
| Superior | Riad with a courtyard and pool | Kasbah hotel with views over the valley | Comfort tent with private bathroom, plus a hotel with a pool |
| Luxury | Boutique hotel or high-end kasbah | Boutique kasbah with terrace | Two nights in a luxury tent with private bathroom, or one night in the camp and one in a desert hotel |
5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert price
The price is on request, because every private tour is quoted for your own group. In practice, four things change it:
- Group size: the price per person falls as more people share the vehicle.
- Accommodation level: standard, superior or luxury.
- Season: Christmas, New Year and Easter are the busiest periods.
- Extras: local guides, entrance fees, sandboarding, quad or buggy rides.
Send us your dates and the number of travellers through our contact page, and we reply with a clear quote and no hidden costs.
How to book this 5 day Marrakech to Merzouga tour
Booking the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert takes three short messages, and we answer the same day.
- Send your travel dates, number of people and preferred accommodation level through the contact form, by email at favoritesmoroccotours@gmail.com or on WhatsApp (+212 786 278 943).
- We reply with a personalised itinerary and a price.
- You confirm the tour. Payment by PayPal is accepted.
- Your driver-guide picks you up at your riad or hotel in Marrakech on the first morning.
Favorites Morocco Tours vs other Marrakech desert tour companies
Many agencies sell a five-day trip that is really a four-day trip with an extra night added on the way home. Ours adds the night at the start, in Ouarzazate, which is where it actually helps: the first day drops from about 6 h 30 of driving to 4 h 20, and you still keep two nights at the dunes.
Besides that, we are a local team based in Marrakech. We publish the real driving times before you book, we keep the same driver-guide for the whole trip, and there are no compulsory shopping stops. Above all, we give you the real picture before you book the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert. If you have less time, we will say so honestly and point you to the 4 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert instead.
Know before you go
- Day 5 of the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert is the long one, with about 8 h 40 of driving. Therefore we leave early, and we stop often.
- Prefer to split that last drive? We can move night 4 to Ouarzazate or Skoura; ask us when you book.
- Want to finish in Fes instead of Marrakech? Look at the 5 days tour from Marrakech to Fes.
- From December to February, snow or ice is possible on the Tizi n’Tichka, and desert nights drop close to freezing. Pack a warm layer; see what to wear in Morocco.
- In July and August the south is very hot, often above 40 °C. Spring and autumn are the best seasons: check the best time to visit Morocco.
- The Valley of Roses is at its best in April and May, while the rose festival itself runs for a week in May.
- Tell us about any allergy or diet before departure. Camps and hotels prepare vegetarian and vegan meals with notice.
- Bring cash in dirhams. ATMs exist in Ouarzazate, Boumalne Dades, Tinghir, Erfoud and Rissani, but not at the camp; see our guide to the Moroccan dirham.
- Pack a small overnight bag for the camp nights, because your main luggage stays in the vehicle.
Extra activities
These activities are optional on the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert. We book them on request, at an extra cost.
| Before or after the tour (Marrakech) | During the tour |
|---|---|
| Agafay desert quad bike and camel ride | Sandboarding in the Erg Chebbi dunes |
| Ourika Valley day trip | Quad bike or buggy ride around the dunes |
| Essaouira full-day trip | Private dinner on the dunes |
| Ouzoud waterfalls day trip | Local guide in Telouet, Ait Ben Haddou or Rissani |
| Imlil Valley day trip | Atlas Film Studios visit in Ouarzazate |
Reviews
Travellers who booked this 5 day Marrakech to Merzouga tour share their experience after each trip. Read our reviews on TripAdvisor.
Frequently asked questions
How far is Merzouga from Marrakech?
Merzouga sits about 560 km from Marrakech, which is 9 to 10 hours of driving in one go. That is exactly why this tour splits the outward journey across three days and keeps the single long drive for the return.
Is 5 days better than 4 for the Sahara?
For most travellers, yes. The 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert adds a night in Ouarzazate, so the first day is two hours shorter and you get time for Telouet, the Atlas Film Studios and the Skoura kasbahs.
Can we sleep two nights in the desert camp?
Yes. Alternatively, many travellers take one night in the camp and one in a hotel by the dunes, with a pool and a proper shower. Just tell us your preference when you book.
Do the desert camps have private bathrooms?
Standard camps have shared or private bathrooms, depending on the camp. Superior and luxury tents always have a private bathroom with a hot shower.
Can I skip the camel ride?
Of course. A 4×4 drives you to the camp instead, at no extra cost, and your luggage travels the same way.
What is the best time of year for the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert?
March to May and September to November are the most comfortable months. Winter is fine too, although nights in the desert are cold, while July and August are very hot in the south.
Is the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert suitable for families with children?
Yes, and five days suits children better than four, because only the last day involves a long drive. Tell us their ages and we adapt the seats, the pace and the camp.
What vehicle do you use?
We use a private air-conditioned vehicle sized for your group, from a Toyota Land Cruiser to a Mercedes minibus, plus a 4×4 for the desert excursion on day 4.
What should I pack for the desert?
- A warm jacket for the nights, especially between November and March.
- Sunglasses, sunscreen and a hat or a scarf.
- Comfortable shoes, plus sandals for the sand.
- A small bag for the two camp nights.
- A power bank and some cash in dirhams.
How far in advance should I book?
Two to four weeks is usually enough. However, for Christmas, New Year and Easter you should book as early as possible, because the best camps fill up first.
How do I pay?
We accept payment by PayPal, and we explain the details when you confirm your booking.
Have another question about the 5 days tour from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert?
Write to us through our contact page or on WhatsApp.
Who we are
Favorites Morocco Tours is a local travel agency based in Marrakech. We design private tours across Morocco, from the Sahara to the imperial cities. Our drivers and guides grew up on these roads, so they share the culture, the history and the small places that visitors usually miss. Learn more about us.
Popular desert tours
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Contact us
- Phone / WhatsApp: +212 786 278 943
- Email: favoritesmoroccotours@gmail.com
- Office: Marrakech, Morocco
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