Endless Sahara dunes glowing under a wide sunset sky

Southern Morocco

Sahara Desert

The largest hot desert on earth, and the part of it that belongs to Morocco.

Best time to visit: October to April, with March and October the most comfortable.
Ideal for: Adventure travellers, photographers, stargazers, slow travel

Introduction

The Sahara covers most of North Africa, and Morocco holds its north-western corner. What that means in practice is two great dune fields — Erg Chebbi near Merzouga and Erg Chigaga beyond M'Hamid — separated by hundreds of kilometres of stone plateau, dry riverbeds, oasis valleys and volcanic hills.

Most of the Moroccan Sahara is not sand at all. Understanding that changes the trip: the sand seas are the destination, but the drive there through the hamada, the palm valleys and the fortified ksour is a large part of what you have come to see.

Why visit

01
The scale is impossible to convey in photographs and immediately obvious in person.
02
Silence: away from any road, the desert is quieter than almost anywhere else you will stand.
03
It is culturally rich, not empty — nomadic Amazigh, Gnaoua and oasis-farming traditions are all alive here.

Things to see

Erg Chebbi, the dune sea at Merzouga
Erg Chigaga, larger, wilder and further from any road
The Draa Valley and its chain of ksour
The Todra and Dades gorges on the approach
Fossil beds around Erfoud, laid down when this was seabed
Oasis villages and their irrigation systems

Things to do

Spend at least one night in a desert camp
Cross a section of dunes by camel
Take a 4x4 further out, where the tracks stop
Learn how a khettara underground water channel works
Watch the stars come out with no artificial light anywhere
Visit a fossil workshop in Erfoud

Local experiences

A night with no artificial light in any direction
Amazigh drumming and singing around a fire
Tea with a nomad family in their tent
Sunrise from the top of a dune, alone

Food

Desert food is built around what keeps: dates, bread, olive oil, dried meat, and vegetables from the oasis gardens. Meals are cooked slowly over coals — tagines, harira soup, and medfouna baked in hot sand. Tea is constant and functions as hospitality, hydration and punctuation to the day.

Culture

The Moroccan Sahara is Amazigh country with strong sub-Saharan and Arab influences layered on top, the result of a thousand years as a trade corridor. Salt, gold and books moved along these routes, and the fortified ksour that line the valleys were built to protect them.