Experience an incredible Sahara Desert Tour in Morocco (3 days)
Experience an incredible Sahara Desert Tour in Morocco (3 days)
The Sahara Desert is a place you really can not skip when you are visiting Morocco. Sahara Desert tours are organized by many companies and there are loads of possibilities in order to fit it into your itinerary. The Sahara is an area of 9.4 million square kilometers, which is the same size as the United States!
Sahara Desert Tour quick guide:
- Fes to Marrakech Tour (3 days)
- Price Sahara Desert Tour
- Discount for a Sahara Desert Tour
- Riads in Marrakech
- Riads in Fes
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Marrakech Sahara Desert Tour (3 days)
Our tour started in Fes because we came from Chefchaouen, the blue city. The tour is also available from Marrakech as a return. Be prepared for a lot of driving but the sceneries and sights you will visit will make it up to you. Or directly read more about how to pick a Sahara Desert Tour.
Sahara Desert Tour – Day 1
From Fes, we left around 8 AM and the driver took us to Merzouga that day. Merzouga is the city that is located at the beginning of the Sahara. On our way, we’ve stopped several times.
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Barrage Al-Hassan Addakhil lake & Barbarian Apes
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Once arrived in Merzouga you will change the car to a four-wheel drive vehicle which takes you to your camp just in time to see the sunset. We decided to go glamping, which is sleeping in a tent but way more luxury. KamKamDunes was the camp we booked in advance.
That night we had a great dinner, played music together and looked at the millions of stars from the dunes.
See all Sahara tent camps you can book ⛺
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Sahara Desert Tour – Day 2
The next morning you will be awakened very early to get out, hop on a camel and get to the top of a dune. Once on the top, the sun will rise from the horizon, temperatures rise quickly and all the dunes get these beautiful soft orange color. Also, see the 10-day Morocco Route.
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After breakfast, you will leave in the direction of Marrakech. You will pass and stop at several sites like Tenhir, Tinjdad, Jorf, and Erfoud. Once the sun begins to set you will stop in Boumalne Dades (or a nearby village) where you will spend the night in a traditional Kasbah. A kasbah is a house/palace under the control of a family where many families multiple families are living.
➳ Check out the Kasbah hotel we booked
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Sahara Desert Tour – Day 3
From Dades to Marrakech was the most beautiful part of the route. You will drive through the Atlas mountains, where you probably will drive along deep cliffs and see snow. Visit Ait Benhaddou, a famous place where a lot of movie scenes are taken. Drink a good mint tea on top or buy a rug on your way down. Just before sunset, you will arrive in Marrakech.
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Pick your Sahara Desert Tour wisely
It’s quite a big distance to the Sahara from Marrakech or Fes. But once you’ve seen the sunset or millions of stars at night you already forget that the ride was beautiful but long.
You have to pick a tour that fits your itinerary, for example:
- How many days? It varies from 2 to 6 days
- Are you leaving from Marrakech or Fes?
What’s a good price for a Sahara Desert Tour?
Price really depends on the tour you pick. We had a 3-day private Sahara Desert tour from Fes to Marrakech which costs around $700 including two nights, one at the tent and one in a kasbah, food, gas etc..
Of course, you can also share a minivan which makes the tour a lot cheaper. Most of the tours of four or more days will take you to really into the Sahara Desert. A two or three-day tours will take you to the Erg-Chebbi area is at the foot of the Sahara and also very beautiful. But if you have the time we really recommend going into the Sahara.
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Sahara Desert Tour Discount!
We’ve arranged a 5% to 10% discount for you with the guys from Desert Days Tours. The discount depends on the length of your trip. We had an unforgettable time with them during our Sahara desert tour. For security reasons, we will email it to you. Fill in your email address right here.
Get your discount code!
Just by leaving your email address.
Best riads to stay in Marrakech
Riads in Fes or Marrakech are also available via Airbnb. We got a $20 Airbnb discount for you!
Or see all riads in Marrakech
Best riads to stay in Fes
We got a $20 Airbnb discount for you! Or see all riads in Fes.
Sahara Desert Vlog
Blog comments (29)
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Wonderful! a place to visit. you have amazingly described the places to visit. I also have visited Morocco many times. that is a perfect place for adventure and to explore the new possibilities of riding.
love this information! i used the link you provided to find sahara tours, there are so many. how do you know which ones take you further into sahara for boarding dunes, camel rides, etc? i read that there some place that do not take you through the smaller villages.
additionally, we are flying into marrakech from madrid and flying out of tangier. do you recommend skipping tangier and doing an extra night in fes or chef. or “flipping” trip and start in tangier leave from marrakech?
Hi Nicole,
Definitely, spend more time in Chefchaoen. Regarding the tours, in our blog, we only recommend one company. That’s DesertDayTours, as we did our trip with them. You can email them and exactly tell them what kind of trip you like. There is even a discount code in this article.
Hi Hannah and Nick
I love reading your blogs, beautifully written and detailed. I am also planning trip to Morocco for February for 8 days. Is it possible to follow your itinerary in 8 days flying into marrakech and flying out from Chefchaouen to London.
Rabina
Hi Rabina, thanks!
I really would skip Fes because 8 days is too short for this itinerary. Chefchaouen doesn’t have an airport. You have to drive to Tangier to go back to London. Enjoy!
Did you get vaccinated before the trip? If so, how far in advance
Thanks so much!
Yes, book this in advance and we didn’t get vaccinated because we had these already. I think Hepatitis a and DTP are recommended. Check with your doctor if and when you should get them.
Hi there,
I’m flying to Marrakech from Paris on the 20th of September (4 nights). Is it best to book a 2 days Sahara desert Camping tour when I get there or in advance?
Lovely post!! Did your tour include accommodations (I noticed you said you booked certain places)? Or was it a guide you booked and then found your own accommodations? Also, was it a private tour or group?
We booked the camp separately, normally it is included but took a little detour!
Hi! Traveling this summer (early July — HOT, not ideal I know, but that’s the timing!) in Morocco, with daughters (8 and 13 years old, who are great travelers). Really helpful blog as I think through plans & routes. Going to reach out to DesertDayTours guys to talk with them directly about best / feasible options for exploring from Fes to Marrakech — eager to hear that they recommend for best experience, possibly based on your trip with them. Any additional input or insight you can share about Desert exploration and options at that time of year are appreciated! Thanks! Samantha H. (Atlanta USA)
Loved all your pictures!!!!!!! I can’t wait to explore when its our turn :) Wondering if you would recommend the 3 Days Marrakech Merzouga Desert tour or the 3 Days Fes to Marrakesh Desert tour?
Also was the $700 inclusive of KamKamdunes? Did the folks from Desert Day Tours arrange with KamKam dunes team? or did you have to book separately?
Thanks you for posting such wonderful images
Hi MC, thanks a lot!
We did the tour with Desert Day Tours and booked KamKamDunes separately.
You can just contact the guys from Desert Day Tours and ask for the exact same tour as ‘Nick and Hannah from Salt in our Hair’ did. They will know who to contact. (So: Start in Fes > Merzouga+KamKamDunes via the Atlas Mountains > Marrakech)
I just contacted Desert Day Tours because we will be going to Morocco in April. They quoted $621 per person for 2 people for this exact tour (and I did mention Salt in our Hair). I might have to keep looking around since that seems steep. Anyone have any better luck in price recently?
Hello Sir/Mme,
I’m from Desert Day Tours company Team, I think you contact a fake company and not the same company because the price of 621 EURO per person for 3 D/ 2N is impossible and not true.
You have to recontact desert day tours ( http://www.desertdaytours.com ), I’m sure you will get the exact price and not what you mention.
BR
DDT – SMR
Thank you for reaching out to me! I just went to your website and contacted Desert Day Tours. Looking forward to planning our excursion!
Beautifully written, and incredible video! I am super excited to visit now knowing what to expect.
Just a question to clarify, as I am currently booking my tour.
Did you tour with Desert Day Tours or KamKam Dunes?
How can one go about setting up exactly what you did?
Thank you!
Hi Zahnah,
Great to hear you love to do the same trip as we did!
We did the tour with Desert Day Tours and booked KamKamDunes separately.
You can just contact the guys from Desert Day Tours and ask for the exact same tour as ‘Nick and Hannah from Salt in our Hair’ did ?. They’ll know. (So: Start in Fes > Merzouga+KamKamDunes via the Atlas Mountains > Marrakech)
Please let us know if you’ve more questions :)
Happy Travels!
Hey, just starting to research for a trip to Morocco! You mentioned $700 for the tour – is that per person?
Hi Helen,
That’s for two persons! Sorry about that :-D
Thank you for sharing….Are there any special accommodations to visit when I’m in Morocco..
Hi Nourdine!
Yes there are a lot actually haha.
These two were the most special to us :) >
Marrakech: https://saltinourhair.com/go/bemarrakech/
The Desert: http://kamkamdunes.com/
Really incredible!!! Your writing is unbelievable!! I’m so hooked to reading your explorations. It’s the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night … Extremely!! Better than any book out there! I can’t thank u adequate for sharing all of this!! Keep traveling and keep blogging
haha LOVE your positivity!! Thank you so so much!
Is there anyway to just go for star gazing? I’ve done a desert experience before but didn’t really see too many stars. Please let me know
Hi Selma, Ah it’s such a pity you didn’t see stars. I guess it was just bad luck ? We had such a clear sky so we’ve seen sooo many stars, just incredible ?
Greetings Hannah&Nick,
Thanks for sharing as it’s very interesting to read your blog, and your experience in Morocco.
In my opinion any who get the chance to go must go on this trip to see the true beauty of Morocco and get a real experience of the food, people and mesmerising beauty that it has to offer. my friend and i did same which is fantastic with the absolute highlight being the desert trip. Camel rides, sunsets, star gazing, singing with the locals round the campfire and 5 star accommodation in a desert with a working toilet!!!
The adventure is unparalleled. These past 3 days were like nothing we’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing before.
Thanks again Hannah & Nick .
Best Wishes for all.
Sandy.
Hi Sandy,
Great to hear you had such an amazing experience as well!
We wish you all the best!
Hannah & Nick
This one of the best articles I’ve read, I really enjoyed reading your blog.
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