4 Day Tour to the Erg Chigaga Desert from Marrakech

We follow the Draa south through the palm grove, the longest in Morocco, past earthen kasbahs and villages built right into the palms.

At Zagora we pass the old sign giving Timbuktu at fifty-two days by camel, then carry on to M Hamid, where the tarmac ends and the Sahara proper begins.

From there it is about sixty kilometres of piste by 4×4, across flat hamada, dry lake beds and small scattered dunes, with the Chigaga massif slowly growing on the horizon.

We reach the camp at Erg Chigaga in the late afternoon, in time to climb one of the big dunes for sunset. Dinner, music by the fire and a night in a tent with almost nobody else around.

Sunrise over Erg Chigaga, which at this scale and with this little traffic is a different experience from the dunes at Merzouga.

After breakfast we take the piste west towards Foum Zguid, a long crossing over open desert with Lake Iriqui, dry most of the year, along the way.

The track reaches tarmac at Foum Zguid, and from there we head north through Taznakht, known for its wool carpets, where we can stop at a weaving cooperative.

Dinner and overnight in the Taznakht or Ouarzazate area, depending on how the day runs.

A relaxed last morning. If we finished near Ouarzazate there is time for the Taourirt kasbah or a second look at Ait Ben Haddou with fewer people around.

We climb the Tizi n Tichka, stopping at the viewpoints at the pass for a final look at the southern side.

Down through the Berber villages and terraced fields to the plain, with the range behind us.

We reach Marrakech in the afternoon and leave you at your riad or at the airport.