This article covers the itinerary that tours to the Sahara desert follow when going from Marrakesh to Merzouga, this is also known as the Ergg Chebi Desert. We will also talk about tips on what to do and what to expect from the overall tour.
We booked the tour through Get Your Guide. The activity can be booked here: 3 Day 2 Night Merzouga Desert Camp from Marrakech
Table of Contents
1. Itinerary
Note that this is the itinerary that we followed during our route which was in Winter. The schedules normally adapt for sunrise and sunset hours so it may vary depending on the season. For example, we met people that had done the tour before in April and they had to wake up at 4 A.M. in order to see the sunrise in the middle of the desert the last day.
Day 1
7:00 A.M. – Pick Up In Marrakesh
The Mini Bus will come to pick you up at your Hotel or Rihad between 7:00 -7:30 A.M. or the closest vehicle-accessible road.
10:00 A.M. – Stop At Restaurant café El Glaoui (Location)
After driving for 1 Hour and 45 min you will make a quick 15-minute stop on this cafe to get breakfast and use the restrooms
10:15 A.M. – Atlas Mountains Viewpoint (Location)
15 Minutes later you will climb up to almost 2000 meters through a curvy road to the Tizi Tishka Viewpoint where you will have 10 minutes to take pictures.
12:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. – Aït Benhaddou (Location)
After another hour and 20 minutes of driving you will arrive at the famous world heritage Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou. Where you will meet your guide, who will show you around for an hour. (The price of the guide is not included in the excursion, and it is 30 dirham per person). At the end of the guided tour, we went for lunch at Hôtel Restaurant L’Oasis D’or.
Around 3 P.M we hopped back in our Mini Van to continue our journey.
4:45 P.M. Coopérative Mille Kasbahs (Location)
After another 1h and 45 min of driving, we stopped at a Cooperative where they sold perfumes and other products from the Valley of the Roses. There was also a cafe with drinks and restrooms.
6:30 P.M Arrive at Tinghir
8:00 P.M. – Dinner
At 8:00 we went to the Hotel Restaurant to have a shared table dinner that consisted of Soup, Lamb Tajin, and Oranges for dessert. (Dinner is included but drinks are not).
9:00 PM – Free Time
Day 2
7:00 A.M. – Breakfast
The Breakfast buffet will be served at 7:00 A.M
8:00 A.M. – Drive to Ait Momin (Location)
At 8:00 A.M. you will all have to be inside the Mini Bus already for a short 25-minute drive to a valley where you will have a 1-hour guided tour through the Ait Momin village. (this guide is included on the price)
10:00 A.M. – Visit to the Rug Cooperative
You will then continue with a free demonstration of how rugs are made while enjoying a typical Berber tea. Then you will sit for 20 minutes while 2 people bring +20 rugs for the group to buy.
10:45 A.M. – 11.00 P.M. – Todgha Gorge (Location)
Visit Todgha Gorge in a rush cause you spent + 2 hours visiting irrelevant things. (If I were to go again on this tour I would ask my guide to let me wait for the group at the gorge)
12:00 P.M. Stop For Lunch
After 1 hour of driving, we stopped Belle Vue : Café & Restaurant to eat lunch for 1 hour
2:00 P.M – Stop At Souvenir Shop (Location)
4:15 P.M. – Arrive at Merzouga (Exact Location)
After arriving you will prepare all your stuff and start your camel ride around 4:30 P.M. The Ride to the camp lasts for 1 Hour.
5:30 P.M. – Sunset – Free.
Here is where you can walk around the desert, enjoy free sandboarding, or relax. (Just take into account you won’t be given your tent yet)
6:30 P.M. (Our sunset time) – Welcome
You will be given all the information about the camp. (Dinner time, Wake up time for the next day, locations of everything) and tents will be assigned while enjoying some tea and typical pastries. After that, you will have rest time up to the dinner hour.
8:00 P.M. – Dinner
At 8:00 we went to the Restaurant tent to be served a shared dinner that consisted of Soup, ChickenTajin, salad, and a typical sweet dessert. (Dinner is included and you could bring your own drinks).
9:20 P.M. – Dancing around the Campfire
After dinner a fire will be started and live music will start playing. (Normally at every camp there will be other 4 or five groups of guided tours and people will gather around the fire and dance). The Music will last until midnight.
Day 3
6:45 A.M. – Breakfast
The Breakfast buffet will be served at 6:45 A.M.
7:30 A.M. – ATV/Camel ride to Merzouga
At 7:30 (still dark outside) we met to prepare for the camel ride or ATV ride depending on your choice (not included in the Get Your Guide Excursion). Both excursions take around an hour, including a stop to watch and take pictures during sunrise.
9:00 A.M. – Starting the Drive Back
Driving for 1 hour and 30 minutes for a quick 10-minute stop at Café Restaurant Tombouctou Touroug to use restrooms.
1:40 P.M. – Lunch Stop (Location)
After another 3 hours of driving we stopped to eat lunch at Café Restaurant Panorama the 120 Dirham included a buffet with varied options and drinks were included
3:45 P.M. – Stop
After one more hour and a half of driving and another short stop for restrooms and coffee.
5:30 P.M. – Stop At Restaurant café El Glaoui (Location)
1 hour and 40 minutes on the bus will get you to the last stop before coming back to Marrakesh, after crossing the Atlas Mountains Range you will arrive at the same restaurant as the first stop of the trip.
7:00 – 7:30 P.M. – Arrive to Marrakesh
Finally, after the last hour and 30 minutes, you will be back in Marrakesh, and you’ll be dropped off at the most convenient stop (You can even ask to get dropped off at the airport) the drop-off time will depend on the order of the rest of the group.
2. What we enjoyed
- The first hotel is nice
- Our minivan was really nice, it had USB ports for charging and wifi. I heard that other tours did not have that
- Guides tend to be really nice and helpful
- Free sandboarding
- Fire dancing & live music in the camp
- The tour in general is very good value for the price and even more for solo travelers as you get private rooms (The two nights, hotel and tent, cost the same as the entire tour)
3. What we did not like
- We spent a lot of time in places where they tried to sell us things and little time on nature like the Todgha Gorge excursion. A one-hour visit to an old town, 25 minutes trying to sell us carpets, 10 minutes at a cafeteria for coffee,e and 10 minutes on the gorge which was beautiful, not even time to take pictures
- It seemed that we were always on a rush for everything
- Expensive restaurants only menu options for lunch 150 and 120 dirhams drinks not included
- Camel Ride became a bit tedious after 30 minutes, better to come back in an ATV
4. Considerations to take
- Went during winter (January) and it was really cold in the tent, even with 3 blankets. And during the morning. No AC on the tent and only one plug.
- Shared showers with hot water and shared bathrooms in the camp (no men and women distinctions)
- Just 1 plug in the tent.
- Dinner to share with the group (not buffet).
- After lunch on the second day, you will stop to buy provisions for the desert (water & any drinks that you would like to have for dinner or at the camp) they sell drinks at the camp too, but they are pricy.
- You can leave some luggage at the van and not take it to the desert, so it is good to bring a separate bag to not carry unnecessary things to the dessert (You will put your stuff in the trunk of a car while you ride the camels to the camp)
5. Extra Activities
Quads/ATV
The price for the ATV (4wheelers) was 50 EUR and included an hour’s ride back to Merzouga.
During winter it was a cold ride so bring the necessary clothing.
On the ATV you are not allowed to do anything too dangerous, not even drifting and you must always follow a line with the rest of the group, follow the paths (not offroading) and go at the same speed as the group (which makes it not so much fun)
Return To Fes
There is also an option that we did not know when we booked our tour and it is that you can go to Fes instead of returning to Marrakesh when finishing arriving at Merzouga from the Sahara camp. This is a great option as the trip to Fes is shorter and you get to visit another city.
This tour is also available on Get Your Guide
6. Reccomendations
Buy Your scarf at Marrakesh
Buy your “Sahara Passport” (the scarf to protect yourself in the desert) in Marrakesh. I got a good one for 40 Dirhams (After negotiating a lot) but everywhere on the route they will sell it for a minimum of 100 Dirhams
Bring a Power bank/ Power strip
As we mentioned before in the camp tents there is only one plug so it is convenient to bring a Power strip or a Power bank to charge your electronics in case you have more than 1 device.
And with all of this information, you should be ready to start your Day Sahara Desert Tip from Marrakesh.
At Tralei we hope that you have an incredible experience and we would love to hear from you once your trip is done to see if the tips we provided were valuable or to share your own tips and experiences with other readers. And if you have any questions about this tour let us know In the comments.
Thanks for reading and safe travels!
