Adventure travel
Zagora or Merzouga? How to Choose Your Desert from Marrakech
Zagora or Merzouga: who should choose what
Zagora or Merzouga is the question almost every traveller asks us once they have decided to sleep in the desert. Both trips leave from Marrakech, both cross the High Atlas and stop at Ait Ben Haddou, and both end with a camel ride at sunset and a night in a camp under the stars. The difference is distance, time and, above all, the kind of desert you find at the end of the road.
Choose Zagora if your stay is short, if you are travelling with people who dislike long days in the car, or if the camp, the fire and the sky matter more to you than the size of the dunes. Choose Merzouga if you picture the Sahara of postcards, with high orange sand dunes, and you can set aside three days or more.
Zagora vs Merzouga at a glance
| Zagora | Merzouga | |
|---|---|---|
| Trip length | 2 days / 1 night | 3 days / 2 nights, or 4 days / 3 nights |
| Driving | About 7 hours each way, with stops | About 550 km: 9–10 hours of driving each way, split by stops |
| Route | Tizi n'Tichka, Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, Draa Valley | Tizi n'Tichka, Ait Ben Haddou, Dades Valley, Todra Gorge; return via the Draa Valley |
| Dunes | Small and stony | Erg Chebbi: orange sand dunes rising to around 150 m |
| Nights | 1 night in a Berber desert camp | 1 night in a Dades Valley guesthouse + 1 night in a desert camp (3 days) |
| Budget | From €150 per person | From €220 per person (3 days), €390 (4 days) |
| Best for | Short stays, a first taste of the desert | Tall sand dunes, a week or more in Morocco |
Prices are per person, based on a group of two or more, and are confirmed in writing before you travel. Lunches, drinks, entrance fees and tips are not included on either trip.
Zagora: the desert in two days
Zagora lies in the south, along the Draa Valley, the longest valley in Morocco. The drive takes about seven hours each way with stops, which is what makes a two-day trip possible. On day one you cross the Tizi n'Tichka pass, walk through Ait Ben Haddou and have lunch in Ouarzazate, then follow the palm groves and kasbahs of the Draa Valley down to Zagora. A camel ride at sunset takes you to a Berber camp for dinner and music around the fire.
Be clear about what you will see: Zagora's dunes are small and stony compared with the great sand sea of Merzouga. What you gain is time. You still get the silence, a sky full of stars far from city lights and the sunrise over the desert, and you are back in Marrakech the next evening. Our 2-day Zagora desert trip from Marrakech follows exactly this route, from €150 per person.
Zagora suits travellers with only three or four days in Morocco in total, couples who want a short adventure between two city stays, and anyone who would rather keep the time in the car reasonable. Bring a warm layer for the evening, whatever the season.
Merzouga: the Sahara of postcards
Merzouga is a village at the western edge of Erg Chebbi, in south-eastern Morocco near the Algerian border. This is where the dunes are tall, orange and made of real sand, rising to around 150 metres. By road it is roughly 550 km from Marrakech, about nine to ten hours of driving without stops, so three days is the realistic minimum for a return trip.
On our 3-day Marrakech to Merzouga desert tour, day one crosses the High Atlas and Ait Ben Haddou to a guesthouse in the Dades Valley. Day two passes through the Todra Gorge to the edge of the dunes, where the camels wait for a sunset ride into Erg Chebbi and a night in a desert camp. Day three starts with sunrise over the sand and returns through the Draa Valley. It costs from €220 per person.
If three long days sound tiring, the 4-day desert tour from Marrakech adds a full day around the dunes and the village of Khamlia, from €390 per person. If you have already seen the gorges, our route to Merzouga via the Draa Valley reaches the same dunes by the southern road, so you see Zagora's valley on the way.
Merzouga is for travellers with a week or more in Morocco and for anyone whose idea of the desert is a sea of sand. Desert nights are cold from November to March, so pack a warm layer, and tell us if you prefer a simple or a more comfortable camp.
Our advice: how to choose
- Two days available, or only three or four days in Morocco in total: choose Zagora.
- Three days available and you want tall sand dunes: choose Merzouga in three days.
- Children, or a dislike of long drives: choose Merzouga in four days.
- Already seen the Dades and Todra gorges: reach Merzouga via the Draa Valley.
Whichever you choose, you will not regret the night in the desert: the camel ride at sunset, the quiet of the camp and the stars are the same in both places. Only the dunes, and the time it takes to reach them, change.
