A one-of-a-kind journey to the magical Sahara Desert is a dream for most travelers. There’s nothing more special than trekking through the vast desert on camel-back.
Luckily for us, doing so is incredibly easy from Marrakech. In truth, Marrakech is more famous for its bustling street markets, impressive architecture, and rich history. However, it is also the perfect destination for adventure seekers.
Before we go any further, let’s take a closer look at what the Sahara Desert is. This will help give you a better understanding of what you can expect.
The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world. It is also the third-largest desert in the world, finishing third behind the Arctic and Antarctica. The Sahara Desert is located in North Africa.
In terms of size, the Sahara Desert is enormous. It is so big that it covers 10 North African countries. Those countries are Algeria, Egypt, Chad, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, and of course, Morocco!
Putting its size into numbers, the Sahara Desert covers more than 9,000,000 square kilometers of land. The Sahara Desert is also home to some of the harshest and most intense climates in the world.
Where In Morocco Can You Visit The Sahara Desert From?
The Sahara Desert is one of the top tourist destinations for people visiting Morocco. It can be found in the south and east of the country.
Thanks to its close proximity to some of Morocco’s major cities, accessing the desert is surprisingly easy.
However, there are some places that are better than others. Generally speaking, the best places to stay in Morocco if you want to visit the Sahara Desert are Marrakech, M’Hamid, and Merzouga.
Why Should You Visit The Sahara Desert From Marrakech?
If you’re planning a trip to Morocco and you want to make sure you visit the Sahara Desert from the most convenient place, make sure you visit from Marrakech. The main reason you should visit the Sahara Desert from Marrakech is that it is the best place to do so.
Marrakech is the most popular place tourists visit in Morocco. As a result, there are plenty of tour operators, other attractions, and entry points to other parts of the country.
On top of that, Marrakech has been the gateway to the grand Sahara Desert for thousands of years.
As if that wasn’t enough, tourists visiting Marrakech can explore the desert quickly and easily before then moving on to other parts of Morocco that need exploring.
What Can You Expect From The Sahara Desert?
It is important to realize that the Sahara Desert isn’t just a hot, sandy desert with nothing to do. Instead, the Sahara Desert is a vast, interesting, and unique landscape that can be explored in many different ways.
The Sahara Desert is a great place to hike, ride a camel, ride a quad bike, stargaze, sand surf, and even spot wildlife. It may surprise you, but the Sahara Desert is also home to a number of day spas.
When it comes to what you can expect from the Sahara Deserts’ climate and environment, you’re in for a unique experience. There’s no doubt about it, exploring the Sahara Desert isn’t easy. However, it is rewarding.
The harsh reality is that you need to be prepared for high temperatures, challenging walks, and high humidity. Having said that, if you prepare properly, you’ll be fine.
What Can You Expect From A Sahara Desert Tour From Marrakech?
One of the best things about going on a Sahara Desert tour from Marrakech is that there is so much variety.
It doesn’t matter how long you’re in Marrakech, you’ll be able to find a tour that suits your needs and requirements. You can head out on three-day tours, one-day tours, there and back tours, or multi-activity tours.
For obvious reasons, the type of tour you choose will impact your experience. For example, you will do and see more on a three-day tour than you will on a one-day tour.
What you can expect from a Sahara Desert tour is professional tour guides, fun, support, the correct equipment, and transport.
Tourists taking part in a multi-day tour are usually provided with a tent, food, and multiple activities too. Most one-day tours also include food.
The Best Sahara Desert Tours From Marrakech
Now you know more about the Sahara Desert and what to expect, we can start looking at the best Sahara Desert tours from Marrakech.
What you will experience from a tour will vary depending on the tour time frame, your needs, requirements, and included activities.
To ensure you have the best chance possible of finding a tour that suits what you’re looking for, we’ve made sure we’ve included a wide range of different tours.
No matter what you’re looking for, we have a tour that you will love. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the first tour.
We’ll kick this list off with one of the best Sahara Desert tours you can find. Arguably the most popular Sahara Desert tour there is, this 3-day tour takes you on an amazing journey around the Moroccan desert.
During the trip, you’ll stop off at the Atlas Mountains, Ouarzazate, Todra Gorges, Merzouga, Erg Chebbi, and a handful of other popular destinations. The best thing about this tour has to be the variety on offer.
You’ll be taken to a wide range of popular Sahara locations by expert guides, before being given the chance to take part in a variety of exciting activities.
This includes riding a camel across the dunes, exploring UNESCO-listed towns, camping in the desert, and stargazing.
In terms of what this tour includes, everything you need is covered. The tour includes the pick-up, drop-off, transportation throughout the tour, activities, food, and accommodation.
Some of the places you can expect to see during the trip include Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, Todra Gorge, and Merzouga.
Admittedly, this tour doesn’t include as many destinations as the tour above, but it does move at a slower pace, giving you more time to explore each location.
Like the tour above, this tour also includes your basic amenities, activities, and food. Once again, activities include stargazing, camel riding, exploring historical sites, and a campfire.
If you’re seriously pushed for time but really want to see what the Sahara Desert has to offer, consider this sunset camel ride tour in the Palm Grove of Marrakech.
This tour is a fine example that tourists can visit the Sahara Desert in one evening.
Only a short drive from the city center, this tour gives visitors the chance to ride on camelback through the desert. This tour doesn’t head out into the vast desert but it still offers you an insight into the rugged sandy terrain.
If you book onto this tour, you’ll be picked up at your hotel, and taken to a local Berber house for some fresh mint tea, before then heading out on camelback to Palm Grove.
During the camelback ride, you’ll be introduced to Moroccan culture, shown the nearby sights, and watch the sunset.
We love how this tour also gives you the chance to look at local life for people that live outside the big city.
Perfect for those of you that want to explore the desert quickly, this tour takes you out for 4 hours, showing you the best locations and giving you the chance to try new things.
In the first hour, you’ll trek through the desert dunes on camelback. One of the cool things about this tour is that you get to ride the dromedary (the largest breed of camel in the world).
The impressive views and charming nature of this part of the desert will blow your mind.
There’s something extremely relaxing about the gentle swaying palm trees.
After that, you’ll kick back and enjoy a fresh cup of Moroccan tea. Once you’ve finished, it’s time to hit the desert on a thrilling quad bike ride. This activity is perfect for adrenaline junkies.
In terms of what’s included in this tour, all the activities, transport, tea, and equipment are included. The only thing not included is lunch.
If you want to stay overnight in the Sahara Desert but don’t have 3 days to spare, check out this 2-day desert tour from Marrakech to Zagora.
This tour gives you the opportunity to embrace a traditional Berber lifestyle.
You’ll visit famous locations like Ait-Ben-Haddou, race across the dunes on camelback, sleep under the stars in a private camp, and tuck into authentic Moroccan food and drink.
This is easily the best tour you can head out on if you only have 2 spare days to explore the Sahara Desert.
Some of the places you will visit during the tour include the Atlas Mountains, Agdez, Ouarzazate, Draa Valley, and of course, the Sahara Desert.
The itinerary for this tour includes driving through the Atlas Mountains, riding camels through the desert, visiting historic towns, and camping under the stars.
You’ll be pleased to hear that everything you would expect to be included in this tour is.
If you would prefer to travel through the Sahara Desert in a more exhilarating, exciting way, we highly recommend doing so by quad bike.
You can do this for 4 hours on this Marrakech desert and Palm Grove quad bike tour.
On this tour, you will travel through the stunning desert landscape on quad bike, stopping off at small Berber villages, ancient desert landscapes, and Palm Grove.
A thrilling adventure, this tour provides a more private experience that can consist of just your family and friends.
This tour is limited to 5 people. Therefore, you could have the whole tour to yourselves. We don’t know about you but having a private tour without paying extra sounds pretty great.
Riding a quad bike through the desert is a unique way to explore. It is also a more efficient way to get around. In the 4 hours, you will be able to cover a lot of ground and see a lot more.
Along the way, you’ll meet locals, and have the chance to grab something to eat and drink. Aside from food and drink, everything else is included.
Whilst the locations this tour takes you to are incredible, it is actually the ability of the tour to immerse tourists in local life that makes this tour so special. For 4 days, you will live, eat, drink, and sleep like a local.
During the tour, you will spend 2 nights and 1 full day in the Sahara. This gives you more time to explore the desert than any other tour on this list so far. What makes this tour even better is that it is private.
Some of the best places you’ll visit include Todra Gorge, Dades Valley, Merzouga, and Ait Ben Haddou.
In terms of activities, you’ll get to ride a camel, ride a quad bike, and even try your luck at sandboarding.
The penultimate Sahara Desert tour from Marrakech on our list is this Agafay Desert quad biking, camels, and dinner tour. This half-day tour offers you the chance to experience the Sahara first-hand.
You’ll spend the day exploring the Agafay Desert by camelback and quad bike. You’ll have the chance to ride the dromedary camels.
Aside from exploring the Agafay Desert, you’ll also have the chance to feast on traditional Moroccan food. This includes delicious Berber bread.
During the tour, the expert guides will also tell you more about the Berber way of life. You might even get the chance to meet some locals and try the traditional tea.
Towards the end of the tour, you’ll be treated to the best sunset views of the desert.
More often than not, this tour also stops off at some of the local Berber villages on the way to the best desert locations.
If you decide to book this tour, pick-up and drop-off, transportation, quad biking, camel riding, food, and drinks are all included. All the equipment you need for each activity is included too.
The final Sahara Desert tour in this guide is a quick, fun, and interesting tour from Marrakech that only lasts 3 hours.
If you want a quickfire Sahara Desert experience before getting on with the rest of your trip, this tour is perfect.
Despite only being 3 hours long, you still get the chance to experience the Sahara first-hand. This is in many ways thanks to the mode of transport you take.
This tour takes you on a fast quad bike journey through the rugged desert, Palm Groves, and Berber villages.
Aside from being extremely entertaining, this tour is also very informative. You’ll learn about the locals, try new food and drink, learn more about the history of the desert, and get the chance to ask questions.
All the sites you visit and activities you take part in are included in the tour ticket prices. This includes entry tickets to Palmeriaie in Marrakech, all your quad biking equipment, pick-up, drop-off, and fresh tea.
Food isn’t included but the tour only lasts 3 hours so you should be okay.
How Do You Choose The Right Tour?
Now you know what’s on offer, you can start thinking about which tour you want to take. With so many options to choose from, this isn’t always easy.
Luckily for you, all of the tours in this guide are excellent so you would probably enjoy whichever one you pick.
With that in mind, the most important thing to do when choosing a tour is to think about what you need, want, and expect. This will help you narrow the list of options down.
Other key things to consider when choosing the right tour include:
Tour operator reputation
Reviews
Price
Travel style
If you think about these things, you should easily be able to choose the right tour.
In Summary
The Sahara Desert is a hugely popular tourist destination that can be easily visited from Marrakech in Morocco.
Whilst there are other places in Morocco we can jump on a tour from, the most and best options can be found in Marrakech.
In this guide, we told you everything you need to know about touring the Sahara Desert and showed you 10 epic tours you can take from Marrakech.
We looked at 1-day tours, 2-day tours, 3-day tours, and 4-day tours. We even looked at entertaining half-day and 3-hour tours.
All of the tours in our guide give you the chance to explore the Sahara, try new things, and experience local life.
All you have to do now is decide which tour you want to go on!
