The honest verdict
It is a long way to the dunes and a long way back, and the honest answer turns on how much road you can sit through. Fifteen listings leave Marrakech for the desert. They run two, three or four days, they cost from $71 to $550, and between them they carry 15,340 reviews at a weighted 4.69. What those numbers do not show is the hours in a vehicle crossing the Atlas Mountains to get there. This page sets out who should book one and who should not.
Quick answer
The short answer. Yes, if you can give it three days and you do not mind long hours on the road: 15,340 reviews at a weighted 4.69 across fifteen listings is a strong signal. No, if you dislike sitting in a vehicle — the desert is genuinely far from Marrakech, and nothing shorter than two days exists here. The cheapest way in is the two-day Zagora route at $71.
Start here
The reviews answer whether the trip is good. They cannot answer whether it suits you.
A Sahara tour from Marrakech is not a sightseeing outing with a desert attached. It is a road trip. You leave the city, climb the High Atlas by the Tizi n’Tichka pass, drop down past Ait Ben Haddou towards Ouarzazate, and keep going through valleys and gorges until the tarmac runs into sand. Then you come back, or carry on to Fes or Agadir. The camel ride and the night in camp are a few hours inside a two-to-four-day journey.
That is the trade, and it is why the question gets asked at all. It costs days rather than money: the cheapest main route here is $71.
So we will answer it with the data we have. Fifteen listings, 15,340 reviews, a weighted average of 4.69, and not one listing without a rating. Ratings that high across that many reviewers are hard to sustain: people who hated the drive would say so, and in those volumes it would show. What the rating cannot tell you is whether you will enjoy it, because the people who knew they would hate the road mostly never booked.
Every trip, current fare
All fifteen listings with cost per hour from the stated length. Long trips always look cheap per hour; read the price and the number of days together.
| Tour | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marrakech to Fes: 3-Day Luxury Sahara Desert TourCamel trekking in Erg Chebbi dunes | 72 h | $150 | Camel trekking in Erg Chebbi dunes | $2.08 | 4.8 · 676 |
| Marrakech to Fes: 3-Day Sahara Tour, Camel Ride & CampTodra Gorge and Ait Benhaddou stops | 72 h | $110 | Todra Gorge and Ait Benhaddou stops | $1.53 | 4.8 · 3,675 |
| From Marrakech: 3-Day Sahara tour with Private tent & MealsSunset camel trek at Erg Chebbi | 72 h | $45 | Sunset camel trek at Erg Chebbi | $0.62 | 4.7 · 2,415 |
| From Marrakech: 2-Day Sahara Tour to Zagora & Ait Ben HaddouSunrise and sunset over Zagora dunes | 48 h | $71 | Sunrise and sunset over Zagora dunes | $1.48 | 4.5 · 2,324 |
| From Marrakech: 3-Day Sahara Desert Adventure to FesWild apes in Middle Atlas cedars | 72 h | $108 | Wild apes in Middle Atlas cedars | $1.50 | 4.6 · 2,003 |
| From Marrakech To Fes: 3-Days with Luxury Camp, Desert TourCamel ride in Merzouga, desert camp | 72 h | $110 | Camel ride in Merzouga, desert camp | $1.53 | 4.8 · 1,313 |
| From Marrakesh: Zagora 2-Day Desert Safari with Food & CampCamel ride at sunset in Zagora | 48 h | $81 | Camel ride at sunset in Zagora | $1.69 | 4.5 · 1,178 |
| From Marrakech: 3-Day Sahara Tour to Agadir & Camel TrekEnds in Agadir on day three | 72 h | $143 | Ends in Agadir on day three | $1.99 | 4.8 · 884 |
| From Marrakech: 3-day Merzouga Desert Tour with Camel & QuadOptional quad ride in Merzouga | 72 h | $90 | Optional quad ride in Merzouga | $1.25 | 4.9 · 322 |
| Fes to Marrakech: 3-Day Sahara Tour, Camel Ride & CampStarts in Fes, ends in Marrakech | 72 h | $107 | Starts in Fes, ends in Marrakech | $1.49 | 4.8 · 140 |
| Marrakech to Fes 3 Days Sahara Desert Tour With Camel & QuadCamel trek and quad in dunes | 72 h | $183 | Camel trek and quad in dunes | $2.54 | 4.8 · 65 |
| From Marrakech: 2-Day Sahara Desert Trip to Fes or MarrakechMerzouga desert in two days | 48 h | $136 | Merzouga desert in two days | $2.83 | 4.5 · 47 |
| Marrakech to Fes 3-Day Sahara Desert TourHigh Atlas and Merzouga dunes | 72 h | $150 | High Atlas and Merzouga dunes | $2.08 | 4.6 · 31 |
| From Marrakesh: 4-Day Private Atlas Mountains & Desert TourOuarzazate, kasbahs and palm groves | 96 h | $435 | Ouarzazate, kasbahs and palm groves | $4.53 | 4.7 · 202 |
| From Marrakesh: Private 4-Day Sahara Desert Discovery TourErg Chebbi dunes and local markets | 96 h | $550 | Erg Chebbi dunes and local markets | $5.73 | 4.9 · 65 |
Be honest with yourself
Five situations in which we would tell you to spend the money elsewhere.
There is no shorter version on this site. The two-day Zagora routes are the floor, and they exist only because Zagora is the nearer desert.
The road is most of the product. Somebody unhappy after two hours in a vehicle will be unhappy for most of a route that spans two or three days.
A desert camp is a camp. Some listings describe a private tent, but the standard is a shared camp in the sand, and that is what most of these 15,340 reviews are rating.
Seven of the fifteen listings finish in Fes and one finishes in Agadir, and even the routes that return to Marrakech come back late. Leave a buffer before a flight.
No operator can promise you a particular sky or a particular animal, and any listing that did would be overselling. Book the route and the landscape.
The other side
The same trip, from the point of view of the people who rate it 5.
Three days is what this trip actually is: 10 of the 15 listings run that length. The mountain crossing, the kasbahs, a gorge, the big dunes at Erg Chebbi and a night in camp, unrushed.
Seven listings end there, which turns the desert into the route rather than a detour. The most reviewed trip here does exactly that at $110: 3,675 reviews at 4.8, with 2 nights, 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners stated.
The Atlas Mountains, the Draa Valley, Todra Gorge and Erg Chebbi in one run is a lot of country, and the hours on the road stop feeling like a cost.
Two listings are marked private, at $435 and $550, both four days, rated 4.7 and 4.9. Split four ways the gap against a group route narrows a lot.
A two-day route at $71 with an overnight stay included is among the cheapest things you can do with two days in Morocco. One listing shows even less, at $45 for three days with a private tent and meals, with 2,415 reviews at 4.7.
Decided it is worth it and now wondering how many days to give it?
Compare the three-day routes→Straight comparison
The verdict: worth it at three days, a fair deal at two, and a poor idea at none. Here is what that looks like in listings.
For the strongest evidence, book $110. Three days, Marrakech to Fes, Ait Benhaddou and Todra Gorge, camels at Erg Chebbi, a desert camp, and 2 nights, 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners stated. 3,675 reviews at 4.8 is the largest body of opinion here; the next listing has 2,415.
For the most comfortable version, our top pick is $150. Also three days to Fes, also the World Heritage kasbah and camel trekking at Erg Chebbi, and the only listing here marked small group, 676 reviews at 4.8. You pay $40 more than the most reviewed route for a smaller vehicle.
If two days is all you have, book $71. Zagora rather than Erg Chebbi, an overnight stay, sunrise and sunset over the dunes, 2,324 reviews at 4.5. The lower rating is the trade: less road, less desert, less money.
What we would not do is book four days on a first visit unless you want a private vehicle. Both four-day listings are private and the priciest here, at $435 and $550, with 202 and 65 reviews.
Book direct
The most reviewed route, our top pick, the cheapest main route, the lowest price on the site, the highest rated three-day route and the private four-day version.
★ 4.8 · 3,675 reviews
★ 4.8 · 676 reviews
★ 4.5 · 2,324 reviews
★ 4.7 · 2,415 reviews
★ 4.9 · 322 reviews
★ 4.9 · 65 reviews
Money
Set the prices against the lengths and the spread stops looking random.
Two days. $71, $81 and $136. The first two go to Zagora, rated 4.5 across 2,324 and 1,178 reviews; the third reaches the Merzouga dunes in the same two days and costs more for it, with 47 reviews at 4.5.
Three days. Ten listings, from $45 to $183. This is where the volume of reviews sits and the ratings are highest; the differences are the vehicle, the camp and where you finish.
Four days. Two listings, both private, at $435 and $550.
The lowest figure here is $45 for three days with a private tent and meals. We quote $71 as our from-price because that is the cheapest of the mainstream routes, but with 2,415 reviews at 4.7 the cheaper listing is worth a look.
Before you pay
Every one of them is avoidable on the booking page.
These routes come back late and eight of the fifteen do not come back to Marrakech at all. Put the desert in the middle and keep a clear day after it.
Seven finish in Fes, one in Agadir, and one starts in Fes and finishes in Marrakech. A wrong assumption here costs a flight, not a booking fee.
Two of the three two-day listings go to Zagora, the nearer desert. Erg Chebbi is on the three-day and four-day routes. Both are the Sahara; they are not the same view.
Two listings here are rated 4.9: one has 322 reviews and the other has 65. A 4.8 from 3,675 reviewers is the stronger signal.
Two descriptions spell out 2 nights, 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners; nine listings carry a meals label; the rest say nothing. Read the one you are buying.
Two-minute check
Six questions with answers you can see on the listing page.
Two, three or four. Three is what 10 of the 15 listings run.
Marrakech, Fes or Agadir. Match it to your onward travel first.
The two-day routes go to Zagora. The longer ones reach Erg Chebbi.
Two listings are marked private and one is marked small group. Everything else is a standard group departure.
Meals and nights where they are stated, and nothing beyond that.
Shown on the listings that offer it, at the moment you book.
Common questions
On the evidence, yes: 15,340 reviews across fifteen listings at a weighted 4.69. The qualifier is time and road. Give it three days, expect long stretches in a vehicle, and it is one of the best value things you can do from Marrakech, from $71.
Three, if you can. Ten of the fifteen listings run three days, and that is the length that reaches Erg Chebbi without hurrying. Two days works if you accept Zagora instead, and four days is for private trips.
It is enough for Zagora, the nearer desert, and 3,502 people have reviewed the two Zagora routes at 4.5. It is not enough for Erg Chebbi: one two-day listing tries, with 47 reviews.
From $71 for two days to $550 for a private four-day route. Most three-day group crossings sit between $108 and $150.
It is the main part of the trip: the Atlas Mountains, Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, then valleys and gorges before the sand. That is why no listing here is shorter than two days.
By volume, the three-day crossing to Fes at $110, 3,675 reviews at 4.8. By score, the three-day route back to Marrakech at $90 holds 4.9 across 322 reviews.
Go deeper
Every desert tour leaving Marrakech, sorted by how many days it takes and where it drops you.
Sahara desertWhat the drive across the Atlas and the night at the dunes actually look like, day by day.
Fes → MarrakechThe same desert route run backwards, starting in Fes and finishing in Marrakech.
Marrakech → FesSeven listings cross the desert and end in Fes instead of bringing you back.
3-day toursThe three-day run to the Erg Chebbi dunes, and what the second night buys you.
Luxury toursWhat operators mean by a luxury camp here, and which listings actually say it.
Marrakech to Fes: 3-Day Luxury Sahara Desert Tour
★ 4.8 · 676 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h