Experience · Morocco

Camel trekking to a Sahara camp

From Merzouga, camel caravans sway into the Erg Chebbi dunes at golden hour, arriving at a berber camp as the sand turns copper.

Best forAdventure seekers · Couples · Photographers
In October30°C · barely any rain
Ideal stayOne night in the desert
Approx. flying time~12h 25m from Los Angeles

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Camel trekking to a Sahara camp, Morocco

Happens around Merzouga, Morocco — nearest airport Errachidia (ERH), about 101km away.

CurrencyMADMoroccan dirham
LanguageArabic and French
Local time10:341h behind the UK
PlugsType C / EBring an adapter
Drive on theRightOpposite to the UK
Dialling code+212

The experience

The ride itself is short and slow, an hour or so on a camel from the edge of Merzouga into the Erg Chebbi dunes, timed so you arrive as the sand turns orange. What follows is the actual experience: dinner around a fire at a tented camp, drumming afterwards, and a night sky with almost nothing between you and it. Sleeping out is the part people remember.

Merzouga is a long way from anywhere, usually two days from Marrakesh over the Atlas by way of the Dades or Todra gorges, or a shorter run down from Fez. One night at the camp is standard and quite enough. Spring and autumn are comfortable, while summer regularly passes 45 degrees and winter nights fall close to freezing.

Ideal stay: One night in the desert
The vibe: Silent, orange, gently theatrical

From our guides

The adventure is the setting, not the exertion: sunset from a dune crest, tagine by firelight, drums, and a night sky with no competition for hundreds of miles. Sleeping under it, cocooned in blankets against the desert cold, recalibrates something.

Featured in Ten adventures you can do without any training

Make a trip of it

Erg Chebbi dunes

A field of orange sand dunes rising to around 150 metres, the largest and most photographed erg in Morocco and the reason everyone comes.
Sunset from a dune crest

The walk up is much harder than it looks in soft sand. Go barefoot, allow twenty minutes and start well before the light goes.
Night at the camp

Berber tents, a tagine cooked on site, drums after dinner and no light pollution for hundreds of kilometres in any direction.
Sunrise over the sand

Get up for it. The light before six is better than the evening and the dunes are almost entirely empty at that hour.
Dades and Todra gorges

The route in from Marrakesh runs through red rock gorges and kasbah villages that are worth building into the drive rather than rushing.

Getting there

Fly to
Errachidia (ERH)

Nearest airport to Merzouga, about 101km away as the crow flies.
Then
To Merzouga

Around two and a half hours by car from Errachidia (ERH), south through the Ziz valley and Erfoud to Merzouga. Most visitors instead arrive on the long drive or overnight bus from Marrakech or Fes.
On the ground
Getting around

Camps are out in the Erg Chebbi dunes and are reached by camel at golden hour, an hour or so from the village, or by four-wheel drive if you would rather not ride. Camps almost always arrange the transfer as part of the stay.

Public transport: Long-distance coaches run to Merzouga from the main cities, and beyond the village everything is arranged by your camp.

Flights

Los Angeles Merzouga, Morocco

Flying from

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Roughly 12h 25m in the air from Los Angeles (LAX), estimated from the distance — check for a direct route. Pick a month to see every available flight with live prices.

Check dates and prices

Pick your departure date, then your return.

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Flight times are estimates; prices open on Google Flights.

When to go

Daytime highs run from about 18°C in January to 42°C in July. Rain is rare in any month.

The year at a glance — pick a month for detail

October30° · rain 1 dayWarm and dry.

Monthly figures averaged from daily records for 2020–2024 at this location (ERA5 reanalysis). Highlighted months are warm and mostly dry — February to May and October and November.

Where to base yourself

Kasbah-style guesthouses and small hotels in the villages, plus desert camps in the dunes ranging from basic to genuinely luxurious. A few larger hotels at Erfoud.

Best base overall
Merzouga

The village at the foot of Erg Chebbi, where every camel trek and desert camp is arranged and where you leave the car. It is a one-street place built around the dunes, with little else to do.
Find stays in Merzouga
Best for couples
Erg Chebbi desert camps

Tented camps out in the dunes themselves, from simple berber tents to elaborate ones with proper beds and bathrooms. You are entirely dependent on the camp for food and transport.
Find stays in Erg Chebbi desert camps
Quietest
Hassilabied

A small oasis village just north of Merzouga, with family-run guesthouses and the dunes right behind. Facilities are minimal and evenings are very dark and very silent.
Find stays in Hassilabied
Best value
Rissani and Erfoud

Larger towns forty minutes back towards the main road, with cheaper hotels, a famous Sunday souk and fossil workshops. You lose the dune-on-the-doorstep experience.
Find stays in Rissani and Erfoud

Worth knowing before you book: Camps are usually booked as a package including the camel ride and transfer, so confirm exactly what is included. High summer is brutally hot and many camps close or move.

Search everything else in Merzouga by budget. These are indicative budget bands in GBP per night for two people, not live quotes or guarantees of hotel type. Check your dates, guests, taxes and final price on Booking.com.

Or see everything in Merzouga

Good to know

Pack this: A warm layer for the night, a scarf against wind-blown sand and a torch. Desert nights are far colder than most people expect.
Timing: Avoid July and August. Daytime heat makes the dunes genuinely dangerous and the camps thoroughly uncomfortable.
Camel welfare: Choose operators who keep rides short and rest their animals. A brief trek at a cooler hour is the humane version of this.
Luggage: Camps take an overnight bag only. Larger cases stay behind at the hotel or riad on the edge of the dunes.
Cash: Carry dirham. There are cash machines in Rissani and Erfoud, but nothing at all once you are out at the camps.