Holiday in Merzouga

What makes Merzouga special as a destination?

Merzouga at the edge of Erg Chebbi is the place where Morocco's Sahara dream becomes tangible. Here, at the Algerian border, the highest sand dunes in the country rise — up to 150 meters of piled golden sand, which changes from honey yellow to copper red to purple violet depending on the time of day and light. A night in the Sahara is one of the most transformative travel experiences ever. In the late afternoon, one sets off on the back of a dromedary, riding at a slow pace through the endless dune landscape and reaching a desert camp at sunset. The camps range from simple Berber tents to luxurious glamping camps with private bathrooms and pools among the dunes. The sunset over Erg Chebbi is a spectacle of such intensity that even experienced travelers fall silent. The dunes glow in deep orange and red, shadows move over the perfect sand waves, and slowly the sky darkens into a starry canopy of clarity that one will never experience in Europe. The Milky Way appears within reach. After dinner — traditionally a Berber tagine over the campfire — music follows. The Gnawa drummers, whose rhythms trace back to West African roots, play hypnotic melodies under the starry sky. The sound of the drums in the silence of the desert is one of those experiences that is hard to describe in words. In the morning, the sunrise: One climbs the highest dune in the dark, waits in the cold of the desert night, and then watches as the sun breaks the horizon and bathes the dune landscape in gold. One's shadow stretches a hundred meters over the virgin sand. Merzouga itself is a small Berber village on the edge of the dunes, entirely dependent on desert tourism. The surroundings offer visits to traditional Berber villages, trips to the underground river system, and to Dayet Srji, a seasonal lake where flamingos rest in spring — right in the middle of the desert.