Things to do · Morocco
The Sahara is best met in comfort and in silence. Across the dunes of Erg Chebbi and the wilder Erg Chigaga, a new generation of luxury camps pairs en-suite tents and fine dining with the oldest pleasures of the desert — firelight, stars and stillness. Here is how to choose your camp and make the most of a night beneath the open sky.
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The finest Sahara camps trade canvas roughing-it for proper beds, rugs, private bathrooms with hot water and well-dressed lounges. Each tent stands apart for privacy, so the only sound after dark is the wind moving over the dunes.
Transparent-domed 'bubble' suites and stargazer tents let you watch the Milky Way from your bed. Found in the Agafay desert near Marrakech as well as the deep Sahara, they turn the night sky itself into the headboard of the room.
Erg Chebbi, reached via Merzouga, offers the tallest, most photogenic dunes and the easiest access. Erg Chigaga, beyond Zagora and M'Hamid, is remoter and quieter — a longer journey rewarded with a deeper sense of wilderness.
A candlelit table set on the sand, a slow-cooked tagine or méchoui drawn from the coals, and Moroccan wines poured beneath the constellations. The best camps treat dinner as the centrepiece of the evening rather than an afterthought.
Discreet camp staff and personal butlers handle every detail — turndown by lantern, mint tea on arrival, a fire lit at dusk and breakfast served wherever you choose. Service is warm and unhurried, in keeping with the calm of the setting.
Set out by camel before first light to a high dune and watch the sun rise over the erg, the sand shifting from rose to gold. Quad bikes and dune-walks are the usual alternatives for those who prefer to travel on their own feet or wheels.
Far from any town, the Sahara delivers some of the clearest night skies anywhere. Several camps arrange a telescope and a guide to trace the planets and constellations over tea, long after the fire has burned low.
Reach camp by private 4x4 across the pistes, or shorten the journey dramatically with a helicopter or light-aircraft transfer from Marrakech. The drive itself, through kasbahs, gorges and palm valleys, is part of the experience for those with time.
After dinner the rhythm of Gnaoua drums and the crackle of a bonfire carry into the night. It is an unhurried, communal close to the evening — and an easy one to keep entirely private at an exclusive-use camp.
Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) bring warm days and comfortable nights, the ideal window for the desert. Winter nights are cold but skies are crisp and clear; high summer is best avoided for the daytime heat.
Yes. The finest Sahara and Agafay camps offer en-suite tents with proper beds and hot-water bathrooms, fine dining, lounges and attentive service — the comforts of a boutique hotel combined with the silence and stars of the open desert.
Erg Chebbi, near Merzouga, has the tallest, most accessible dunes and the widest choice of camps. Erg Chigaga, beyond M'Hamid, is far remoter and quieter, reached by a longer 4x4 journey and rewarding travellers who want true wilderness.
Most camps are reached by private 4x4 across the desert pistes, often as part of a scenic drive through the Atlas, kasbahs and palm valleys. To save time, helicopter and light-aircraft transfers from Marrakech can be arranged to the nearest airstrip.
Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) offer warm days and pleasant nights, making them ideal. Winter nights are cold but skies are exceptionally clear, while the intense daytime heat of high summer is best avoided.
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