Merzouga DesertTours & Tickets
Merzouga Desert Tours›The Merzouga Desert with Kids Updated 2026-09-03

The Merzouga Desert with Kids: What Works, What Does Not, and Which Tour to Book

Distances, drive times and access verified by the Merzouga Desert Tours team — last checked 2026-09-03

Short answer. The desert is easy with children. The road is not. From Marrakech it is nine to ten hours each way, and that is what decides whether a family trip works. Two operators state that infant seats are available and one states stroller access; the four-day trips break the driving properly; and a Merzouga-based overnight skips the road entirely if you can get south another way.

Children love the camp. Erg Chebbi turns out to be an extremely good playground: they love the camels, the sandboarding, the fire and being allowed to run down a dune at speed. What decides whether the trip works is the eighteen hours in a vehicle either side of it. Compare every guided Merzouga Desert tour with that in mind.

Is it worth it for a family?

Yes, with one condition: the ages have to suit the driving. A seven-year-old who travels well will have the trip of their life. A three-year-old on a nine-hour day will not, and neither will you.

Travellers who took children report it working well from about six upwards. One family of five with children of sixteen, fourteen and eleven describe three days as exactly the right length. Another travelled with a four-year-old and made it work by taking the longer, slower option.

What the listings actually say about children

This is the part worth reading carefully, because it varies more than you would expect.

What some listings stateWhy it matters
Infant seats availableTwo operators state it. Nothing else here mentions car seats at all, and Moroccan hire cars rarely carry them either.
Stroller accessibleOne operator states it. On a trip where the last kilometre is a camel, this means the road stops, not the sand.
Minimum ageRanges from none at all to eighteen on a couple of the shared departures. Check before you pay rather than after.
Wheelchair-accessible transportThree trips state it, which is also the closest thing to a guarantee of a vehicle with room to move.
Group capFrom six to two hundred. A smaller cap means a smaller vehicle and fewer stops waiting for other people.

The driving, and how to break it

From Marrakech it is 560 km over a mountain pass. From Fes it is 470 km on a lower road. Every three-day trip splits the outbound leg with a hotel night, and that is the part that makes it survivable.

The return is the problem. On a three-day trip day three is a single long push, and it is the day travellers name when they say the trip was hard. A four-day itinerary breaks it across two days and adds a full day at Merzouga in the middle.

For families, the four-day trip is not a luxury. It buys a rest day in the middle and a return split over two days rather than one. If the budget stretches, it is the single change that most improves a family trip — see the four-day departures.

What children actually do out there

  • Sandboarding. Boards are at the camp and the slip face is fifty metres from the tents. This is the winner, every time.
  • The camels. Small children usually ride with an adult. The handlers do this every day and are good at it.
  • The drums. Most camps play after dinner and most children end up holding something.
  • The stars. Two hours after dinner the generator goes off. There is nothing like it and they will remember it.
  • Running down a dune. Free, endless, and the reason the sand comes home in every bag.

Practical things nobody mentions

  1. Take one small bag per person onto the camel. The rest stays in the vehicle. Pack the children's night things separately before you leave the van.
  2. Nights are cold. A January night falls to about 6 °C after a 19 °C afternoon. Camps carry blankets, not heating.
  3. Toilets on the road are variable. Stops come roughly every two hours; use them whether or not anyone wants to.
  4. Lunch is not included. Carry snacks children will actually eat, and cash for the roadside stops.
  5. Charge everything at dinner. The camp power goes off overnight, and a dead tablet on day three is a long afternoon.
Book the deluxe tent if you have small children. A private bathroom a metre from the bed rather than a washblock across the camp is worth more with a five-year-old than with anyone else. Visiting the Merzouga Desert sets out what each tier includes.

The camel, with a small child

This is the part parents ask about most and it is more straightforward than it sounds. Camels kneel to be mounted and stand up back legs first, which is the lurch everybody remembers; the handlers hold the animal and the rider through it. A child of about six upwards usually rides alone with the handler leading. Below that they ride with an adult.

The ride is a walk, not a trek. It is roughly forty-five minutes to an hour and a half depending on how deep in the camp sits, and the handlers do this every day of the season. If a child is frightened, say so at the edge of the sand rather than halfway across — several camps run a 4x4 out as well and will simply put you in it.

A realistic three days

  1. Day one, seven or eight hours in the vehicle. Pickup between seven and eight, the pass mid-morning, Ait Ben Haddou around lunchtime, and a hotel around Tinghir in the evening. Two or three real stops.
  2. Day two, the good one. Todra Gorge in the morning, Erfoud at midday, and the edge of the erg in the late afternoon. Camels at sunset, camp, dinner, drums, stars. Nobody complains about day two.
  3. Day three, the hard one. Camels back before dawn, breakfast at the camp, and then a single long drive back to Marrakech. This is the day that decides whether the trip was a good idea.

On a four-day itinerary day three becomes a rest day at Merzouga and the drive back is split across day four. Getting there sets out the distances either way.

Which trip suits which family

  • Children under six. Get to Merzouga another way and book a Merzouga-based overnight. The desert without the road.
  • Six to eleven. A four-day trip from Marrakech, with the rest day in the middle.
  • Twelve and up. Anything here works. A three-day crossing from Fes to Marrakech turns the driving into a proper journey rather than a return leg.
  • Teenagers. The sandboarding, the quads and the stars do the work. The three-day round trip is fine.

Travel tips has the full packing list, and Merzouga Desert Tours sets out which departure states what about children.

Find the tour that takes your family the way you needAlmost every tour refunds in full; each card states its own window.
See Top Tours

Trips that work with children