Saved
← Morocco
MOROCCO · REGION

Sahara Desert

Morocco's great golden dunes — camel treks into Erg Chebbi, nights in desert camps and skies thick with stars.

  • Region
  • October – April
▸ Discover

About Sahara Desert

The Moroccan Sahara around Merzouga is the classic desert experience — camel trekking into the Erg Chebbi dunes as the sun turns the sand from gold to orange to deep copper, then sleeping under a ceiling of stars in a Berber desert camp. The drive south from Ouarzazate through the Draa Valley, passing Ait Benhaddou's UNESCO kasbah and ancient caravan route towns, is one of North Africa's great road trips.

Highlights

  • Erg Chebbi dunes at Merzouga — sunset camel trek
  • Overnight Berber desert camp under the stars
  • Sunrise from the highest dune
  • 4x4 desert excursion through dry riverbeds
  • Draa Valley palmeries and kasbahs
  • Ait Benhaddou UNESCO kasbah (Game of Thrones)

Sahara Desert in photos

Sahara Desert — photo 1
Photo: A.Cahlenstein Photography · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 2
Photo: danielcavalcante90 · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 3
Photo: www.ralfsteinberger.com · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 4
Photo: Zehnfinger 17:29, 4 February 2008 (UTC) · BY-SA 3.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 5
Photo: James St. John · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 6
Photo: Rui Ornelas · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 7
Photo: Rui Ornelas · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 8
Photo: Tracy Hunter · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 9
Photo: A.Cahlenstein Photography · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 10
Photo: Tracy Hunter · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 11
Photo: Carlos ZGZ · CC0 1.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 12
Photo: Black Sickle · BY-SA 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 13
Photo: KimSeokJong · BY-SA 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 14
Photo: Celso Flores · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 15
Photo: ustung · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 16
Photo: cattan2011 · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 17
Photo: cattan2011 · BY 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 18
Photo: jonl1973 · BY-SA 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 19
Photo: Thomas Maluck Foto/Film · BY-ND 2.0 · Openverse
Sahara Desert — photo 20
Photo: fotojammer · BY-ND 2.0 · Openverse
▸ Where you'll stay

Where you'll stay in Sahara Desert

Live map of hotels and villas around Sahara Desert — powered by Stay22. Pan, zoom and compare live prices to pick your base.

Stay

Hotels & rentals around Sahara Desert

Pan, zoom and compare live prices — every stay in one map.

▸ What you'll do
What's on

While you're there

28
MAY
Fes Festival of World Sacred Music 2027
99 Zkak Rouah, 30 Fez, Morocco · music festival
Build a trip around it →
Explore

Explore the area

© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn
Do

Local attractions & tours

Skip-the-line tickets and small-group tours in Sahara Desert — compare across our partners.

We're still curating hand-picked tickets and tours for Sahara Desert. In the meantime, the map above and the nearby cities are a great place to start.

Plan

Trips in Sahara Desert

Day-by-day itineraries that take in Sahara Desert — routes, timings and what to book.

▸ When you'll go

When to visit Sahara Desert

October – April

▸ Ready to book your trip?
Book

Ready to book your trip?

Flights, airport transfers and car hire — search and compare without leaving the page.

▸ Trip extras
Book

More trip extras

Parking, holiday extras, and more — coming soon.

Coming soon

We're lining up parking, holiday extras and activities you'll be able to add to any trip from here.