Getting to the Merzouga Desert

Merzouga is a long way from anywhere with an airport, and that single fact shapes every trip here. Two sealed roads reach it. The N9 comes from Marrakech over the High Atlas; the N13 comes from Fes through the Middle Atlas. The drive is the price of admission. Compare every guided Merzouga Desert tour and you are really choosing which of those roads you would rather spend a day on.

From Marrakech — 560 km over Tizi n’Tichka

Nine to ten hours, and no tour does it in one go. The N9 climbs out of Marrakech to Tizi n’Tichka at 2,260 m, the highest major pass in North Africa. It then drops through Ouarzazate and runs east along the Dades and the Todra before turning south for the sand.

Every three-day trip breaks the drive with a hotel night around Tinghir or Boumalne Dades. Day one is seven or eight hours in the vehicle. Day two delivers you to the camels in the late afternoon. The stops in between are what turn the drive from a transfer into a trip: Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987, and Todra Gorge.

From Fes — 470 km through Ifrane and Midelt

Seven to eight hours on a completely different road. The N13 runs up through Ifrane, an alpine-looking town the French laid out in the 1930s, and on into the Azrou cedar forest where Barbary macaques live wild. It then drops through Midelt and the Ziz Valley with its long palm gorge.

Nothing on this road touches Ait Ben Haddou or the Tichka pass. It is ninety kilometres shorter than the Marrakech route, which is why the only two-day long-haul trip in this set leaves from here rather than from Marrakech. The departures from Fes set out what each covers.

Flying in: Errachidia, and why almost nobody does

Errachidia (ERH, Moulay Ali Cherif) is the nearest airport, about two hours north on the N13 via Erfoud. It is a small domestic field with a thin schedule, and nothing in this set of trips meets a flight there.

In practice people fly into Marrakech, Fes or Ouarzazate and drive. Ouarzazate is 360 km out and five to six hours. That makes it a genuine option, if you can find a flight into it and are happy to hire a car for the last leg.

The bus, and what it costs you in time

Overnight coaches run south from Marrakech through Ouarzazate and Errachidia and put you into Merzouga in the morning. It is by a distance the cheapest way here. It is also exactly why the short Merzouga-based overnights exist: they are built for people who arrive under their own steam.

What you give up is the road. The stops that fill a guided day — the pass, the kasbahs, the gorges — happen in the dark or not at all.

Driving yourself on the N9 and the N13

Both roads are sealed the whole way and fuel is available in every town on the route. The last stretch, 35 km from Rissani on the R702, is good tarmac and ends at the western edge of the village.

The last 55 km: Erfoud, Rissani and the desert road

Erfoud is the last town of any size, 55 km north, and the place to fill the tank and draw cash. Rissani is 35 km out and holds a large souk on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. After Rissani the road runs straight and flat across hamada, and the dunes appear on the left about ten minutes before you reach them.

The map page shows how Merzouga, Hassilabied, Khamlia and Taouz sit along that western edge, and which of them your camp is actually near.

Winter on the passes

The Fes road crosses lower ground and is far less affected, which is one more reason the northern corridor is worth considering for a midwinter trip.

Merzouga Desert Tours lists every departure with its meeting point and its pickup arrangement.