Are Kasbah Trails tours private, or do we join a group?

Every Kasbah Trails itinerary is 100% private — just you, your travel companions, and a dedicated driver-guide in your own vehicle. There are no strangers added to your group and no fixed departure dates to work around.

Can you customize an itinerary, or do we have to book one exactly as listed?

Every trip on this site is a starting point. Tell us your dates, pace and interests on WhatsApp or through the form below, and we'll adjust the route, swap in extra nights, or build something from scratch around what you actually want to see.

What's included in the price of a private Morocco tour?

Standard inclusions are a private air-conditioned vehicle with fuel and tolls, an English-speaking driver-guide for the whole trip, accommodation in riads, kasbahs and a desert camp, the Erg Chebbi camel trek, daily breakfast, local guides in the imperial cities, and all local taxes. International flights, most lunches and dinners, entrance fees, tips and travel insurance are not included.

How much does a private Sahara desert tour cost?

Pricing depends on group size, season, and the level of riad or kasbah you choose, since every trip is quoted individually rather than sold at a fixed group rate. Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and traveller count for an exact quote — there's no obligation to book.

Is Morocco safe to visit, and is a guide necessary for the Sahara?

Morocco is a well-established, welcoming destination for private travel, and the desert routes we run — through Ouarzazate, the gorges and Merzouga — are on paved and well-travelled roads. A local driver-guide isn't strictly required to enter the country, but it makes the long mountain and desert legs far easier, and it's how a camel trek and desert camp get arranged properly rather than booked blind.

When's the best time of year for a Sahara desert tour?

Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) give the most comfortable temperatures for both the High Atlas passes and the dunes. Summer is workable but hot in the desert by midday; winter nights in the Sahara and the mountains can be cold, so pack layers if travelling between November and February.

Which cities can a tour start and end in?

Most itineraries start or end in Marrakech, Fes, Casablanca or Tangier — wherever your flight lands. Filter the tours by city to see what's available, or ask us to build a route between two different cities if you don't see the combination you need.

Travel guide · 6 min read

Marrakech to Sahara Desert: How to Get There and What to Expect

Written by the Kasbah Trails team

Published September 10, 2026

Camel trek crossing the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga in the Sahara desert

There's no direct road from Marrakech to Merzouga — the drive is the trip, winding through the High Atlas and along the kasbah road for two full days before the landscape finally opens into dunes. Here's what that route actually looks like, stage by stage, so you know what's coming before you're in the car.

It's roughly two days of driving, not one

Merzouga, the gateway to the Erg Chebbi dunes, is about 560km from Marrakech by road — but almost nobody drives it in one push, and not because the roads are impassable. The route itself is most of the point, and cramming it into a single day would mean flying past the mountain pass, the ksar and the gorges that make the drive worth doing at all. Our 3-day Sahara desert tour from Marrakech splits it properly: Marrakech to the Dades Valley on day one, Dades to Merzouga on day two, and the return leg on day three.

The Tizi n'Tichka pass comes first

Within the first couple of hours out of Marrakech, the road starts climbing into the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka — at over 2,200m, one of the highest paved passes in North Africa, and one that announces itself with switchback after switchback carved into bare mountainside. Read our full guide to the pass if mountain driving is part of what you're curious, or a little nervous, about.

Aït Ben Haddou and the kasbah road

On the far side of the pass, most routes stop at Aït Ben Haddou, the fortified earthen ksar that's appeared in a long list of film and television productions, before continuing through Ouarzazate — Morocco's film capital, and the last real town before the landscape empties out — and along what's commonly called the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs.

The gorges, then the dunes

Depending on the exact itinerary, the second day usually threads through either the Dades Gorge, the Todgha Gorge, or both — narrow canyon roads squeezed between rock walls that are a complete change of scenery from the open desert plains waiting on the other side. By the time Merzouga appears, the transition to true Sahara dunes happens fast, often within the final 30 minutes of driving, as scrubby flatland gives way to the first golden ridgelines of Erg Chebbi.

For the geography of exactly which dune system you'll reach — Erg Chebbi, Morocco's most accessible major dune field, with peaks rising over 150 metres in places — the overview of Morocco's desert regions is a useful reference if you want the full picture before you go.