From the coast to the dunes of Erg Chegaga by the southern road through Tata and Foum Zguid, with a camel ride at sunset and another at dawn.
Nearly every Sahara trip starts in Marrakech. This one starts on the Atlantic at Agadir and takes the southern road through Tata and Foum Zguid to Erg Chegaga, a wide and remote dune field reached by 4x4 across open ground. You ride out at sunset, sleep one night at a desert camp, climb a dune for sunrise and return through the palm groves of the Draa Valley.
We leave Agadir at 6:30 am and head south through the foothills of the Anti-Atlas to Tata, then across the stony hammada to Foum Zguid and on into the dunes. A camel ride takes you out to watch the sun set over Erg Chegaga, followed by dinner at camp.
≈8 h · ≈450 km
A camel ride before dawn for sunrise over the dunes, then breakfast at camp. The drive back runs north through the palm groves of the Draa Valley, reaching Agadir in the evening.
≈8 h · ≈450 km
Most travellers reach the Sahara from Marrakech. Leaving from Agadir instead puts you on the southern road through Tata and Foum Zguid, a route few visitors to Morocco ever drive, and it brings you to Erg Chegaga rather than Erg Chebbi. Chegaga is reached by 4x4 over open desert, so the camp sits well away from any road.
The driving is the thing to understand before you book. Each day is roughly 8 hours and 450 km in the vehicle. That is what it takes to reach Chegaga from the coast and back in two days. In return you watch the sun set over a dune field that is rarely crowded. If the long days put you off, the 4-day trip from Marrakech spreads the distance out.
On the first day you go from Agadir through Tata and Foum Zguid into the dunes, in time for a camel ride at sunset and dinner at camp. The second day opens with sunrise over the erg, then the drive home along the palm groves and kasbahs of the Draa Valley. The camp is far from any town, so the night sky is very dark.
Prices are per person: €990 travelling alone, €500 each for two, €407 for three, €360 for four and €320 for five. That covers the 4x4 throughout, an experienced desert guide, the camp night in a private sleeping tent with dinner and breakfast, and all camel rides. If you prefer your own bathroom to the shared washing block, ask for an en-suite tent when you book.
Not included: lunch on the first day, personal items and tips. The trip is private, for one to ten people, and it is graded easy. There is hardly any walking; what it asks of you is patience with long hours on a road most visitors never see.
Starts from: Agadir — your hotel or riad
PrivateFrom the Atlantic to the Erg Chebbi dunes by Taroudant, Taliouine, Aït Ben Haddou and the Todra Gorge, with a sunset camel ride and a night at camp.
PrivateFrom the coast to a desert camp near Zagora by Taroudant and the carpet town of Taznakht, then home along the palm groves of the Draa Valley.
PrivateA four-day loop from the Atlantic to the Erg Chebbi dunes and back, by Taroudant, Taliouine, Aït Ben Haddou, the Todra Gorge and the old caravan road.
PrivateA day in the countryside south of Agadir: a women's argan cooperative, a honey village and lunch with a Berber family.
