Three days in Merzouga: a plan that actually works

However you come — the bus from Fes, a private transfer from Marrakech, the short hop from Errachidia — you will reach Merzouga in the afternoon. Do not plan anything for the morning of day one.

Check in, drink the tea, then take a one-hour buggy ride timed so you are on a high ridge when the light goes orange. It costs €110 for a two-seat buggy and it is the fastest way to understand the scale of Erg Chebbi on your first evening.

• Afternoon — arrive, check in, rest out of the sun
• Two hours before sunset — one-hour dune buggy ride with a sandboard stop
• Evening — dinner in the village, early night

Day two is the one you came for. Start with the two-hour buggy exploration on the quieter southern side of the erg, away from the crowded northern edge. You get palm groves, an old well, long flat tracks and dune climbs without meeting another group.

In the afternoon, head out to a desert camp. Camel, 4x4 or on foot from the closest dune — the camps sit an hour into the sand. Dinner is tagine, the music starts after, and the sky over Erg Chebbi has no light pollution at all.

• Morning — two-hour buggy exploration, southern dunes
• Afternoon — rest, then transfer to a desert camp
• Night — dinner, drums, stargazing from the dune above camp

Get up for the sunrise. It is the one hour of the day when the dunes are completely silent and the ridges are sharp enough to cut.

After breakfast, take the half-day route south: the nomad families who still live between the dunes, the Gnawa village of Khamlia, and the black volcanic desert and old mines at Mifis. You are back by early afternoon with time to shower before your onward drive.

• 06:30 — sunrise on the dunes above camp
• 09:00 — half-day buggy and quad combo to Khamlia and Mifis
• 14:00 — back in Merzouga, shower, leave

Cut day two's morning ride and keep the camp night. Arrive, ride at sunset, sleep in the sand, do the sunrise, then drive out. It is tight but it is still a real desert trip.

If you only have one night, skip the camp and take the sunset ride plus the one-hour dune route the next morning. You will want to come back.

Sunset slots and camp nights fill first, especially between October and April and over Easter and Christmas. Message us with your dates as soon as they are fixed and we hold the buggies — no prepayment, you pay cash at the end of the ride.

• Sunset buggy ride — book at least a day ahead
• Desert camp — book ahead in high season
• Transfers from Fes or Marrakech — arrange before you arrive