Destinations
Merzouga
The village where the road ends and the Sahara begins.
Merzouga is a small village in southeastern Morocco with one extraordinary feature: the dunes of Erg Chebbi rise directly behind its last houses. Nowhere else in the country can you step off a paved road and walk straight onto 150-metre sand mountains.
The village lives from and for the desert. Guesthouses, camel caravans and camps all operate within minutes of the sand, and the rhythm of the place follows the light — quiet in the heat of midday, alive in the golden hours when the caravans leave for the dunes and return from them.
Beyond the dunes themselves, the area rewards a full day: the Gnawa musicians of Khamlia village, the seasonal lake of Dayet Srij where flamingos gather after rains, nomad families in the black tents on the hammada, and the old mining tunnels of the M’Fis mines.
Getting here: Merzouga is about 9 hours by road from Marrakech, 7 from Fes, and 35 minutes from Errachidia airport (domestic flights). Most travellers arrive on a 3 or 4-day circuit from Marrakech, or by direct Supratours bus from Fes or Marrakech.
