Is there glamping in Morocco?

Glamping in Morocco is essentially synonymous with the luxury desert camp, and honestly it's where the country quietly excels on the world stage. The standard image of 'sleeping in the Sahara' has split into two tiers: the basic Berber bivouac with a foam mattress and a shared long-drop, and the luxury camp, which is full-blown glamping. The luxury version is what most of my honeymoon and special-occasion clients want, and the best ones at Erg Chebbi near Merzouga and the remoter Erg Chigaga near M'Hamid are genuinely spectacular.

Inside a luxury tent you'd be forgiven for forgetting you're in a tent at all. There's a real bed with crisp linen and proper duvets, woven rugs layered over the sand, antique lanterns, a writing desk, and — the detail that changes everything — a private en-suite bathroom with a flushing toilet and a hot shower. Outside, dinner is a multi-course affair served by candlelight at a long table in the sand, often with a Berber drumming circle around a fire afterward and an astronomer's sky overhead. You typically arrive by camel at sunset, which is theatrical in the best way.

It isn't only the desert, though the desert is the headline. There are increasingly good glamping sites in the High Atlas foothills and the Agafay 'stone desert' just outside Marrakech — Agafay is popular because you get the tented-camp experience and a starry sky within an hour of the city, no long drive south required, though purists point out it's rocky desert, not the iconic golden dunes. You'll also find tented eco-camps near Essaouira and in the Atlas valleys aimed at travellers who want comfort plus nature.

My honest guidance: the word 'luxury' is wildly inconsistent in desert-camp marketing, so look hard at photos of the actual bathroom and bed, not just the dunes. The real luxury camps are a meaningful step up in price from the standard ones but worth it for a once-in-a-lifetime night. If you want the genuine Sahara rather than the convenient version, choose Erg Chebbi or Erg Chigaga over Agafay and accept the longer drive. Booked well, a night of desert glamping is the single most memorable sleep of most people's Morocco trip.