3-Day Erg Chegaga Desert Tour from Marrakech

5/5 · 161 votes

Duration: 3 days / 2 nights
Departure: Marrakech to Erg Chegaga tours
Type: Private, tailor-made

3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Erg Chegaga

3-day desert tour from Marrakech to Erg Chegaga: a private, tailor-made trip with your own driver and a flexible itinerary.

Erg Chegaga is the wildest and most remote desert in Morocco. To get there you leave the tarmac and follow tracks from M’Hamid. So this tour is ideal if you want big dunes and few tourists.

Day 1: Marrakech – High Atlas – Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Agdz – Zagora

We pick you up at your hotel. First, we cross the High Atlas over the Tizi n’Tichka, at 2,260 metres. Then we visit Ait Ben Haddou, one of the best-preserved kasbahs in North Africa. Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator were filmed here. Next, we take a panoramic tour of Ouarzazate, the “Hollywood of Africa”.

After that, we follow the oasis road over the Tizi n’Tinifift pass. Its landscape looks like the moon. Later we drive through the Draa Valley, with about 200 km of palm groves. In the afternoon we reach Zagora and its famous “Timbuktu, 52 days” sign. Dinner and night in a riad.

Day 2: Zagora – Tamegroute – M’Hamid – Erg Chegaga

In the morning we visit Tamegroute and its old Koranic library. We also see the potters and the underground kasbah. Then we continue to the Tagounite oasis. We have lunch in M’Hamid. Next, we leave the tarmac and take the track to the Chegaga dunes. There we watch the sunset from the top of a dune. Dinner and night in a tent.

Day 3: Erg Chegaga – Lake Iriki – Foum Zguid – Taznakht – Ouarzazate – Marrakech

We have breakfast among the dunes after sunrise. Then we cross Lake Iriki, which only holds water at certain times of year. This track was part of the old Paris-Dakar Rally. After that, we reach Foum Zguid, a former military post. Next, we pass Taznakht, famous for its rugs. Finally, we return to Marrakech via Ouarzazate.