Is the Sahara desert good in December and over Christmas?

December is one of my favourite months to send people into the Sahara, and Christmas in the dunes has become a genuine request. The weather is the draw: daytime highs hover around 18 to 20°C with brilliant blue skies, so the camel treks and dune climbs are comfortable and the light is soft and golden for hours. It is the antidote to a grey northern winter, which is exactly why so many of my December guests are escaping the cold back home.

The honest counterpoint is twofold. First, the nights are cold — December evenings on Erg Chebbi can drop close to freezing, so this is absolutely a season to choose a camp with thick duvets, hot water bottles, and a roaring central fire. Done right, the cold becomes the cosy heart of the evening; done badly, it is just uncomfortable. Second, Christmas and New Year are peak season. The best camps book out months ahead and prices climb, so spontaneity is not your friend here — I tell people aiming for the holidays to lock in their camp as early as possible.

What makes Christmas in the desert special is how unexpectedly festive it can be. I have arranged private holiday dinners in the dunes — a long table under lanterns, a special menu, a fire, and afterwards Berber musicians drumming under a sky so clear it feels close enough to touch. There is no kitsch, no plastic decorations, just an extraordinary setting and warm hospitality, which for a lot of guests beats any hotel ballroom they have spent Christmas in before.

My practical advice: come in December for the weather and the clear skies, but book well ahead if your dates fall over the holidays, pack genuinely warm evening layers, and consider a 3-day route so you are not racing through. A New Year sunrise from the top of a dune, with the first light of the year hitting the ergs, is about as good a way to start a year as I can imagine.