Three tools · nothing to sign up for
Three small tools that run in your browser: one suggests a desert, one adds up a rough budget, one keeps your packing list.
AI-generated illustration
Short answer
Start with the recommendation: enter your free days and what matters most, and it suggests Agafay, Zagora or Merzouga. Then use the budget calculator to add up the tours and activities you're considering; every amount is editable, and the total is an estimate, not a quote. The packing checklist keeps your ticks in this browser only. None of it needs an account.
Book by the days you have
Merzouga, 3 days
Tours from €109 per person
Zagora, 2 days
Tours from €68 per person
Agafay desert night
Tours from €55 per person
Price per person read on Civitatis on 21 October 2026. How we pick and order tours
Desert finder
Choose your days and what matters most. The answer updates straight away.
Free days from Marrakech
A planning aid, not a booking. It uses the rules explained on this site.
Our recommendation
The Agafay Desert is a stony plateau about 35 km south-west of Marrakech, near Lalla Takerkoust. It has rocky hills, open views of the Atlas and no sand dunes. Go for a sunset, a camp dinner or a night under the stars when you have one free day. For dunes you need two days (Zagora) or three (Merzouga).
Read the guide
Our recommendation
A Zagora desert trip from Marrakech takes two days and one night: about 6–7 h of driving each way over the Tizi n'Tichka pass and down the Drâa valley, then a sunset, a camp night and a sunrise. The dunes are real but small. Choose it if you have exactly two days; with three, Merzouga's dunes are far bigger.
Read the guide
Our recommendation
Merzouga, on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes, is where you find the big sand dunes from photos of Morocco. It is 560 km from Marrakech, so plan at least three days: a night in the Dades area, a night in a desert camp, then a long drive back. Four days spreads the driving, and some tours end in Fes.
Read the guideEnter the days you have free from Marrakech, not the length of your whole holiday, and choose your priority. The suggestion follows the same rule as the rest of the site: Agafay fits one day but has no dunes, Zagora fits two with small dunes, and Merzouga needs three for the big ones.
Treat the result as a starting point. If it surprises you, the desert comparison explains the reasoning in full.
Add the tours and activities you're weighing up and adjust each amount. Prices change, and the figure on the booking page on the day you book is the one that counts, so overwrite anything that doesn't match what you see.
Use the total as a planning aid. It shows whether Merzouga plus a balloon flight fits your budget, or whether Zagora and a hammam leave room for a day trip. It is not a quote from any operator.
The calculator covers trips from Marrakech, not the holiday around them. It doesn't include:
Tick items as you pack. Your ticks are saved in your browser's local storage on this device, so they're still there when you come back, but they don't follow you to another phone or computer, and nobody else can see them.
Clearing your browser data or using a private window wipes the list. Pack for the season: Errachidia, the nearest long-record station to Merzouga, averages 2 °C on January nights, and camps are usually colder. When to go has the month-by-month figures.
Once you've settled on a tour, the Civitatis button on each page takes you to the listing. Read the inclusions and the cancellation terms there before you pay: meals, drinks and entrance fees vary between tours.
Prices on Duneto come from Civitatis listings and carry the date they were read. The listing you book on has the final word, and how Duneto works explains where each figure comes from.
Budget calculator
Example amounts you can change. Nothing is sent anywhere; the sum happens in your browser.
Estimated total
Excludes flights and hotels in Marrakech.
Packing checklist
Tick what is ready. The list stays in this browser only.
A suggestion based on your free days and your main priority.
Editable amounts and a running total. A planning aid, not a quote.
Ticks saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere.
No. There are no accounts, logins or email forms on Duneto. The tools work in your browser as soon as the page loads.
No. It's an estimate you can edit to match the prices you find. Flights, Marrakech hotels and tips are not included, and tour prices can change before you book.
In your browser's local storage, on the device you're using. It isn't sent to Duneto. Clearing your browser data removes it.
Because one free day isn't enough to reach real dunes: Zagora is 6–7 h each way and Merzouga 9–10 h. Add a second or third day to see Zagora or Merzouga suggested.
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