Erg Chigaga, the Deep Desert
5-Day Erg Chigaga Desert Tour from Marrakech
Five days to the dunes almost nobody reaches, by 4x4 across open desert
- 5 days · 4 nights
- Marrakech → Marrakech
- About 21 hours over 5 days, including around 4 hours off-road. driving
Everyone sells Merzouga. Erg Chigaga is the other Sahara: further, emptier, and reachable only by 4x4 across two hours of open desert with no road at all. It's the honest answer when someone tells me they've already done the dunes. The camp is smaller, the horizon has nothing on it, and you won't share the sunrise with forty other people and a line of quad bikes. The way in is down the Draa valley, which is the best drive in southern Morocco, and the way out is the Foum Zguid piste — rough, slow, and worth it.
Why I run it this wayThe 4x4 leg needs a desert driver who knows the reg, so I bring one in and travel with you. Anyone who tells you a van can reach Chigaga is going to leave you disappointed at M'Hamid.
The things worth stopping for
- Erg Chigaga — bigger, emptier and far harder to reach than Erg Chebbi
- Two hours of 4x4 across open reg to get there, which is half the point
- The green pottery and the old library at Tamegroute
- The Foum Zguid piste out, and carpet weaving at Taznakht
Where this trip takes you
Straight lines between stops, not the exact roads — the driving is the winding version of this.
How the trip goes
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Day 1: Over the Tichka to Ouarzazate
Driving: About 5 hoursThe Tizi n'Tichka pass and down the other side, with a long stop at Ait Ben Haddou before the light goes flat. On to Ouarzazate for the night.
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Day 2: Down the Draa
Driving: About 5 hoursSouth into the Draa valley — palm groves running unbroken for kilometres, kasbahs going back to mud on both sides. Agdz, then Zagora, then Tamegroute for the green pottery and the library of manuscripts. We sleep at M'Hamid, where the tarmac stops.
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Day 3: Into Chigaga
Driving: About 2 hours off-roadTwo hours of 4x4 with no road under it — the reg, the dry bed of Lake Iriqui, nomad families with their tents pitched where the grazing is. The dunes come up out of nothing at the end of it. Camp, dinner, and a sky with nothing competing.
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Day 4: Sunrise, then the Foum Zguid piste
Driving: About 5 hoursUp for the light on the big dunes, then west on the old piste to Foum Zguid — slow, rough, and empty. Out at Taznakht, where the Ouzguita carpets are woven, for the night.
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Day 5: North to Marrakech
Driving: About 4 hoursUp over the Atlas and back into Marrakech by mid-afternoon.
I'll email you this itinerary — every day, what's included, what it costs — so you can think it over and share it.
One email with the itinerary. No account, and I don't pass your address to anyone — see the privacy policy.
What's included
Included
- Private air-conditioned van with me driving
- 4x4 and local desert driver for the Chigaga days
- 4 nights including 1 in a desert camp at Erg Chigaga
- Breakfast each morning, dinner at the camp
- Fuel, tolls and parking
- Marrakech pickup and drop-off
Not included
- Flights and visas
- Travel insurance
- Lunches and dinners unless listed
- Entrance fees to monuments and museums
- Local guides inside the medinas
- Tips
Read more about where you'll be
A closer look
Questions about this route
How much of the Erg Chigaga trip is off-road?
Around 4 hours of the roughly 21 hours of driving: about two hours in from M'Hamid, and the piste out toward Foum Zguid.
How much does the 5-day Erg Chigaga tour cost?
$790–$1,060 per person. The lower figure assumes four sharing, the upper assumes two.
Is this a good first desert trip?
It can be, if you want remote and quiet and don't mind the longer drive. If you'd rather keep the road easy, the 3-day Merzouga trip is simpler.
Other routes worth a look
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3 Days · 2 Nights3-Day Merzouga Desert Tour from Marrakech
Three Days to the Dunes$390–$530 per person · accommodation included
3 Days · 2 Nights3-Day Marrakech to Fes Desert Tour via Merzouga
The High Atlas Crossing$420–$580 per person · accommodation includedTell me when you're coming
Every route bends: more time somewhere, a different start, a night added. Send your dates and I'll plan it around you.