The deserts of Morocco: the Sahara or Agafay?

The south and east of Morocco sit on the northwestern edge of the Sahara. Most of it is stony desert. The famous sand dunes cover only a few areas, called ergs: Erg Chebbi near Merzouga and Erg Chigaga near M'Hamid are the big two, and there are smaller dunes near Zagora.

Close to Marrakech there is a different kind of desert: Agafay, a stone desert of bare golden hills at the foot of the Atlas mountains. It is not part of the Sahara and has no sand dunes, but it is the only desert you can reach in under an hour from the city.

Distances and driving times are rounded, by the main roads and without stops. With photo stops and lunch, add an hour or two.

This is the Sahara most people picture: orange dunes rising up to about 150 m, in a sand sea roughly 28 km long beside the Algerian border (Erg Chebbi on Wikipedia). You ride a camel into the dunes in the late afternoon, watch the sunset from a crest, sleep in a desert camp and wake up for the sunrise.

Merzouga is about 550 km from Marrakech, around 9 hours on the road. The drive crosses the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass and goes through Ouarzazate, so most tours stop at the old fortified village of Aït Benhaddou and the Dades or Todra gorges on the way. That's why the usual trip from Marrakech lasts 3 days and 2 nights. Many tours end in Fes instead of coming back, which saves a long drive.

Zagora, in the palm groves of the Draa valley, is the closest Sahara town to Marrakech: about 360 km, around 7 hours each way. A trip there takes 2 days and 1 night, with a camel ride and a night in a camp.

The catch: the dunes near Zagora are small, a few patches of sand rather than a sea of dunes. It's a real taste of the Sahara road and the oases, but it's a lot of driving for a short stay. If big dunes are the point of your trip, Merzouga or Erg Chigaga are worth the extra day.

Erg Chigaga is the largest sand sea in Morocco, with some dunes over 50 m high (Erg Chigaga on Wikipedia). It starts about 56 km past the village of M'Hamid, at the end of the road south of Zagora, and the last stretch is a desert track you drive in a 4x4.

Because it's harder to reach, it's quieter than Merzouga, with fewer camps and more empty space. Plan at least 3 days from Marrakech.

Agafay is about 30 to 40 km southwest of Marrakech, around 45 minutes by car. Instead of dunes it has rolling hills of golden stone and dust, wide open views and the snowy peaks of the High Atlas on the horizon in winter. There are no towns, only a few Berber villages and desert camps.

It's the easy way to feel the desert without losing days on the road. You can ride a quad or a camel before sunset, have dinner in a camp and be back in your riad the same night. If you'd rather drive yourself, there are buggies and quads by the hour. Our Agafay desert guide has everything else.

OUR EVENINGS IN AGAFAY

7 hoursFull desert evening€20 per person 5 hoursSunset camel and dinner€10 per person quad, 30 minBuggy or quad ridefrom 200 DH per vehicle

• One afternoon or evening: Agafay. It's the only desert you can see in a day from Marrakech.
• 2 days: Zagora, with small dunes and a night in a camp.
• 3 days: Merzouga (Erg Chebbi) or Erg Chigaga, with big dunes and a night or two among them.
• 4 days or more: Merzouga at a gentler pace, with time in the gorges, or a loop that ends in Fes.

There is no real day trip from Marrakech to the Sahara's dunes. The nearest big ones are a 9 hour drive each way.

Choose the Sahara if…

• sleeping among real sand dunes is the dream of your trip;
• you have 3 days or more, and you don't mind long days in a car;
• you want to see the Atlas passes, the kasbahs and the gorges on the way.

Choose Agafay if…

• you have one free afternoon or evening in Marrakech;
• you travel with children, or long drives aren't for you;
• you want quads, buggies, a camel ride and dinner, and your own bed the same night.

Plenty of travellers do both: an evening in Agafay when they arrive in Marrakech, and a Sahara tour later in the trip. They are different experiences, not two versions of the same one.

For the Sahara, October to April is the best time. In summer the dunes around Merzouga are often well above 40°C by day. In winter the days are pleasant but the nights in the dunes can drop close to freezing, so camps hand out thick blankets.

Agafay works all year. In summer, go late in the day: the evening is the best part. In winter, bring a warm jacket for after sunset. Read more about the season in Marrakech in December.