4 min read
What to pack for a Sahara desert trip
The desert is hot by day and genuinely cold by night: pack for both.
The biggest packing mistake for a Sahara trip is planning only for heat. Daytime temperatures at Erg Chebbi are high for most of the year, but desert nights, especially outside summer, regularly drop below 10°C, and camps, while comfortable, aren't heated beyond blankets and braziers.
Layers matter more than any single item: a light long-sleeve shirt and trousers for sun protection during the day (better than shorts, which the sand and sun both punish), a warm layer for the evening, and a proper jacket for the hour around sunset and sunrise, when the temperature drop is fastest.
A scarf or shesh, often provided or sold locally, does real work against blowing sand during a camel trek or 4x4 ride, not just as a souvenir. Closed shoes you don't mind getting sandy are better than sandals for walking the dunes.
Beyond clothing: a headlamp or torch (camps are dark once the generator's off), a portable charger (power is limited), sunscreen and sunglasses, and any medication you need. The nearest pharmacy is a genuine drive away from most camps.
Planning around Sahara Desert? Read the Sahara Desert destination guide or see 6-Day Sahara Desert Tour: Marrakech to Fez, a sample itinerary that includes it.
A few common questions
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6-Day Sahara Desert Tour: Marrakech to Fez
A private route over the Atlas passes and down into the Sahara, with two nights to actually sit still in the dunes instead of rushing through them. We end in Fez instead of backtracking to Marrakech, so every day moves forward.
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Read articleTours that include this
4-Day Sahara Desert Tour from Marrakech
For travellers with four days, not eight. The same dunes as our longer routes, reached and left by the most direct road, with one full day to actually be there.
4-Day Sahara Desert Tour from Fez
The most direct route to Erg Chebbi and back, for travellers based in Fez with four days rather than a week. The Middle Atlas cedar forests and Ziz Valley palmeries do a lot of the scenic work on the way down.
5-Day Sahara Desert Tour from Casablanca
For travellers flying into Casablanca with five days and the Sahara as the priority: a fast transit to Marrakech, then straight over the Atlas to the dunes and back.