Erg Chebbi — Attraction in caïdat d'Er-Rissani

One of the most magical places to visit on this planet. Views are incredible. We visited at the end of May hitching a camel ride at 6:30pm. The weather was perfect on the day; about 30 degrees with a nice breeze. The camel ride was unforgettable. Stopping to take in everything. The sunset is amazing. Sunrise facing the Algerian border is also breathtaking. Our return journey was by 4x4 up and down the dunes which was enjoyable. Merzouga is the main town where groups set off from. Camel ride takes about 90 minutes and 4x4 25 minutes! Camps are just on the edge of the sandy parts of the desert. Temperatures can drop and it can also get windy at night. In case you hear the tents flapping don’t be alarmed. The night sky on a clear day is amazing. Star constellation and shooting stars. And the moon rising through the desert is incredible. You can get here through tours or you can book accommodation directly then pay separately for transportation to the desert. Expect minimum transportation costs of €45 per person. Luxury camps are for glampers! We drove to Merzouga from the north (Tangier). Be careful of police who have the habit of attempting to fine you for nothing. Especially between Midelt and Errachidia, there is one stop full of corrupt policemen. They tried to fine us 3 times but were unsuccessful. Observe the speed limit, when you see police stop signs, stop before the sign, display car papers on the dashboard next to driver, wear seats belts at all times, if possible use dashcams. The roads are generally fantastic. Other drivers may flash to let you know that the police are ahead. Sometimes they hide with speed guns. That said security is also good due to...

Be careful what you are paying for! Unfortunately, we agreed to book a 3 day tour with the property we stayed in Marrakech to the desert which was very disappointing. In other words it was an absolute rip-off full of overpriced restaurants (no other option offered) and unpleasant service by the tour operator. In our second half of the week we found out how cheap it can be eating in Morocco.

The actual trip to the desert was very anticlimactic with only a 20min camel ride to the camp and zero evening program, little food given (they were surprised how many of us arrived to the camp and we had to share food among 8 people that you normally share in three-four people) and no information whatsoever given to us at any point of the tour. We missed both the sunrise and the sunset. Our complaints to the operators during the tour were utterly ignored. The guy's name who owned the camels and operated the camp was Hassan and let me tell you he was a proper a*hole, absolutely rude guy giving no sht on what you had paid for.

On our 10hr way back we learned from other travellers that their experience was outstanding with long camel rides, great food and entertainment provided coupled with great customer service. There are multiple camps and tour operators in Merzouga and the quality varies significantly from our experience. We also learned it does not matter how much you pay as we paid 850 MAD/person while other people in our group spent nearly half as much and got the same service.

We feel bad for leaving a negative review here but it is pretty much impossible to find out the tour operator's name as they throw people into vans as they please and mixing it...

In places, the dunes of Erg Chebbi rise up to 150 meters from the surrounding hamada (rocky desert) and altogether it spans an area of 28 kilometers from north to south and up to 5–7 kilometers from east to west lining the Algerian border.[1]

The nearest sizable town is Erfoud, about 60 kilometers further north. One other city is Rissani, around 40 kilometers from Merzouga. Rissani was the site of a kingdom known as Sijilmassa, which became prosperous from the 8th to the 14th century due to its control of the caravan routes.

Although rainfall is not very common,[2] in 2006 flooding adjacent to the dunes destroyed many buildings and killed...