Erg Chegaga is Morocco's remote sand sea - no coach parties, no quad bikes. A private 3-day trip is €635 per person for two and €281 at five. Here is why.
What Chegaga costs, and why
Our private 3-day Erg Chegaga trip from Marrakech
is €635 per person for two, €425 at three, €336 at four and **€281 at
five**. Travelling alone it is €1,269, because a solo traveller carries the whole 4x4 and
driver rather than splitting them with anyone — which is why Chegaga is the one trip we
will suggest you find a companion for.
That is more than a Merzouga tour of the same length, and the reason is simple: **the last
60 km has no road**.
What you are actually paying for
| Merzouga (Erg Chebbi) | Chegaga | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Paved road to the dune edge | ~60 km of piste |
| Vehicle | Minibus | 4x4, one per small group |
| Camps nearby | Dozens | A handful |
| Other people | Coach parties, quad bikes | Often nobody |
A minibus cannot reach Chegaga. A 4x4 carries fewer people, burns more fuel and needs a
driver who knows the piste well enough to cross it safely - sand routes shift and there
are no signs. Every one of those is a real cost, and together they are the price gap.
The trade you are making
Erg Chebbi is easier and cheaper, and its dunes are marginally taller. What it is not is
quiet. There are hotels along the dune edge, quad bikes in the afternoons, and a crowd at
the popular sunset ridge.
Chegaga is the opposite trade. Harder to reach, more expensive, and frequently empty -
no engine noise, no other camp in sight, and a horizon of sand in most directions. If you
have seen the Sahara before and found it busier than you hoped, this is the answer to that.
Our full comparison is in
Walking in instead
The 4x4 is the fast way. The other way is to walk, which is what the
8-day Draa Valley camel trek does - down the palm
valley to M'hamid and out into the sand with camels carrying the kit. That is
€1,352 per person for two, €1,056 at three and €909 at four, covering every
camp, every meal, the guide and the cameleers.
Per day it is not far off a driven tour. The difference is that you arrive at the dunes
having crossed the ground rather than been delivered to it.
Do not compress it
Chegaga does not fit into two days from Marrakech. The drive alone is roughly 550 km each
way plus the piste. Anyone selling a two-day Chegaga trip is either cutting the desert
night to a couple of hours or quietly taking you to Zagora instead - which is a perfectly
good trip, at a third of the price, but it is not
this one.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an Erg Chegaga tour cost?
Why is Erg Chegaga more expensive than Merzouga?
Is Erg Chegaga better than Erg Chebbi?
How long do you need for Erg Chegaga?
What does an 8-day Chegaga camel trek cost?
Trips that go here
Guided by the team who wrote this guide.
Erg Chegaga from Marrakech — 3-Day Remote Desert Expedition
- Erg Chegaga — fewer tourists, 120 m dunes, profound silence
- 4x4 off-road desert crossing from M'Hamid into the dune field
- 2 nights in a desert camp with no other camps in sight
€281 / person for 5+
Draa Valley to M'hamid — 8-Day Chegaga Camel Trek
- Six days walking with a camel caravan — not a one-hour ride
- Erg Chegaga: 50 km of dunes, reached on foot rather than by 4x4
- A different wild camp every night, with no fixed site and no other groups
€765 / person for 5+
Zagora Desert from Marrakech — 2-Day Shared Tour
- Tizi n'Tichka pass and Aït Ben Haddou
- Draa Valley palm groves
- Camel ride into the Zagora dunes
€85 / person