What are the best desert camps in Morocco?

Choosing a desert camp is one of the most important decisions of a Morocco trip, because it's the night people remember for the rest of their lives — so I never let travellers book the cheapest result blindly. The first thing to understand is that 'the best' depends heavily on which dune sea you go to. There are two great ergs: Erg Chebbi, reached from the village of Merzouga, which is the famous postcard one with the tall golden dunes most easily accessible; and Erg Chigaga, reached via Zagora and M'hamid, which is wilder, vaster, far less visited, and requires a proper 4x4 desert crossing to reach.

Within each, camps fall into honest categories. There's the traditional Berber camp — simple tents, shared or basic bathrooms, mattresses on the floor, a campfire and drumming — which is atmospheric, affordable, and genuinely close to how nomads live. Then there's the 'luxury' or 'glamping' tier, where you get a spacious private tent with a real bed, rugs, a proper en-suite bathroom with a flushing toilet and hot shower, and dinner served under chandeliers. In the Erg Chigaga area, well-regarded names in that luxury bracket include the various Erg Chigaga Luxury Desert Camps; near Merzouga there are dozens of comfortable camps tucked among the dunes. Both tiers can be magical; the question is honestly just how much comfort you need to enjoy it.

My candid guidance on which erg: if you have limited time and want the iconic tall dunes with the least hassle, Erg Chebbi/Merzouga is the right call — it's the standard one-night-in-the-desert experience built into most tours, and the dunes really are spectacular at sunrise. If you have an extra day, crave solitude, and want to feel genuinely off the map with almost no other camps in sight, Erg Chigaga is the connoisseur's choice, but be clear-eyed that it's a long drive plus a rough desert track to get there, which not everyone wants on a short trip.

When you compare specific camps, look past the marketing photos at a few real differentials: how far the camp sits into the dunes (you want to walk a few minutes and have a giant dune to climb at sunset, not be parked at the dune-sea's edge near the road), whether your tent is en-suite or you're walking to a shared block at night, the number of tents (smaller, more private camps feel far more special), and whether they handle the camel trek and a 4x4 transfer so you can have both. Ask whether dinner, breakfast, sandboarding, and the campfire music are included — at the good camps they are. Get those details right and almost any camp in a beautiful spot becomes unforgettable.