Honest comparison
We run buggy tours, so you would expect us to say buggies. We will not. They do genuinely different things, and the right answer depends on how much time you have and what you came to the desert for.
Take the buggy if you want to see the size of Erg Chebbi, cover ground and have an hour rather than an afternoon. Take the camel if you want silence, sunset and a night in a camp.
If you have one full day in Merzouga, do both: buggy at sunrise, camel at sunset. That is what we recommend to almost everyone who asks.
A camel walks at roughly four kilometres an hour, so a standard trek reaches the near edge of the erg and a camp about an hour in. Beautiful, but it is a small slice of the dune field.
A buggy covers twenty to thirty kilometres in the same hour, crossing dune belts, flat desert tracks and viewpoints that sit well beyond walking distance. If your goal is to understand how big Erg Chebbi is, only the buggy does that.
A one-hour buggy ride is €110 for a two-seat buggy — per vehicle, so a couple pays once.
A camel trek with an overnight camp typically costs more per person because it includes dinner, breakfast and the bed. An hour-long sunset camel ride without the camp is usually similar in price to the buggy.
Camels are less comfortable than people expect. The mounting and dismounting is awkward, and an hour and a half in the saddle is felt the next day, particularly by anyone with back or knee problems.
Buggies are automatic and physically undemanding — throttle, brake, follow the guide. Riders with back problems should still tell us in advance, since the dunes involve some jolting.
The camel wins the postcard: a caravan silhouette on a dune ridge at sunset is the image of the Sahara.
The buggy wins the variety. You reach viewpoints with no camps and no other people in them, and the guide stops wherever the light is best.
Families with small children, travellers who want quiet, and anyone building their trip around one classic desert night: camel.
Short stays, couples on a budget, anyone who finds walking pace frustrating, and anyone who wants a bit of adrenaline: buggy.
Everyone else, and honestly most people: both.
Frequently asked questions
Neither is better — they answer different questions. The buggy covers far more of Erg Chebbi in an hour; the camel gives you silence and the classic sunset. Most visitors with a full day do both.
Yes, easily. Ride the buggy at sunrise or mid-morning and leave on the camel in the late afternoon for a night at a camp.
We stay on established tracks and away from grazing and nesting areas, and we ride away from the camps at their quiet hours. The dunes themselves reshape with every windy night.
For a couple, an hour on a two-seat buggy at €110 total is usually the cheaper desert activity, because camel treks are priced per person.
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