3 Day Ouarzazate to Erg Chigaga Tour: 2 Nights in the Sahara

After pickup from your Ouarzazate airport or hotel, we travel south toward the western edge of the Sahara. Along the way we pass through Zagora and Tamegroute, known for its traditional pottery craft, before reaching M'Hamid, the last real outpost before the desert proper. From M'Hamid, the journey continues by 4x4 into open desert — after roughly 50km of track, we reach the Iriki oasis, then continue toward the dunes of Erg Chigaga, a striking stretch of golden dunes running 40km and reaching up to 300 metres, among the tallest in Morocco. Watch the sunset from among the dunes, then settle into camp for the traditional nomad welcome: mint tea, a dinner cooked over the fire with music, and a night in a nomad tent.

This is your do-whatever-you-want day. Sunrise over the dunes first — genuinely worth the early start, the light does something to the sand that photos never quite capture. Breakfast, then some Erg Chigaga camel trekking straight from camp, followed by a walk up to the tallest dunes around — the view up there is stupid good. A few hours in, you'll stop at a stand of tamarisk trees to eat lunch, included so there's no logistics to think about.

In the afternoon, hop in the 4x4 for a quick visit to a nomadic family and a nearby oasis if you're up for it, then head back for round two of sunset over Erg Chigaga. Another night at camp, another round of stars that make city skies look embarrassing.

After breakfast, we continue along the old Paris-Dakar Rally track, crossing back over the dried salt flats of Lake Iriki toward a genuinely unusual landmark — a mountain rich with visible fossils. Back on paved road, we continue to Taznakht, where we stop for lunch and a chance to browse the handwoven rugs this region is famous for — some of the finest in Morocco, available straight from the source. From there, it's the final stretch back to Ouarzazate.