A palace garden courtyard in Marrakech: a marble fountain, banana palms and carved stucco galleries

Couple questions: Romantic places

Erg Chebbi or Erg Chigaga for a honeymoon?

Erg Chebbi, near Merzouga, is the easier Sahara: a paved road to the dunes, about 22 km of orange sand rising to around 150 m, and the widest choice of luxury camps. Erg Chigaga, reached by private 4x4 from M'Hamid, is quieter and more remote, and a whole camp can be reserved for you alone. For seclusion, we prefer Chigaga.

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Answered by the Morocco Honeymoons team. Checked October 2026.

The short answer

The Erg Chebbi dunes after sunset, a sharp ridge in the foreground and a rose and violet sky — Erg Chebbi after sunset, MerzougaPhoto: Mike Prince, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized and colour-graded)

In more detail

Erg Chebbi is the postcard. It is about nine hours from Marrakech by car, which we split with a comfortable overnight, or you can fly to Errachidia and transfer. Camps sit along the dune field, and a camel ride of an hour or so takes you out to yours in the late afternoon, when the sand turns copper.

Erg Chigaga lies further south, beyond the end of the tarmac at M'Hamid. The last stretch is off-road piste by 4x4, and there are far fewer camps. Our Chigaga honeymoon tour uses an exclusive-use camp: the lounge, the chef, the fire and the dunes are yours alone.

The sun going down into haze over the Erg Chigaga dunes under a rose and amber sky — Sunset at Erg Chigaga, beyond M'HamidPhoto: Angela Stefanoni, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)

Both give you the essentials: sunset, a dinner under the stars and sunrise over the sand. The choice is ease against solitude. Couples on a first Sahara trip with less time tend to choose Merzouga; couples who want the desert almost to themselves choose Chigaga.