The desert tour season, 2026-27

What is the weather on the Fes to Marrakech desert tour month by month?

Mild from October to April, cold at night in December and January, and very hot from June to August. Merzouga is the extreme point of the trip in both directions.

The temperatures below are long-term averages for Merzouga, built from 10 years of ERA5 reanalysis data by BestDateWeather. They describe the edge of the dunes, where you spend the night. Fes and Marrakech are cooler in summer, and the passes of the Middle Atlas and High Atlas are much colder in winter.

Read the night column first. The camp is where the weather hits you: you sit outside for dinner, walk to the bathroom in the dark if your tent shares a block, and, on tours with a sunrise camel trek, get up before dawn.

How cold does the Erg Chebbi camp get at night in winter?

Close to freezing on the coldest nights. Merzouga averages about 4 to 5°C at night in December and January, and cold snaps go below zero.

The averages hide the bad nights. Errachidia, a weather station on the day 1 road north of the dunes, has a January mean minimum of 2.0°C and a record January low of minus 8.1°C in the 1991-2020 normals quoted on Wikipedia from NOAA and WMO data. Errachidia sits at about 1,000 m, so read its numbers as a guide to a cold night, not a forecast for the camp.

Guests notice. A January reviewer on the budget tour wrote that "the desert is freezing at this time of year so make sure you bring very warm clothes." A shared bathroom block is a cold walk at night, which is an argument for an en-suite tent in winter. The small-group tour includes one; several others sell it as an upgrade, as our camp guide explains.

For clothes: a down or fleece jacket, a hat, warm socks and a layer to sleep in, on top of the sun gear you still need by day. The full list is in what to pack for a Sahara desert tour.

How busy is the desert tour at Christmas and New Year 2026-27?

Busy. New Year's Eve in the Erg Chebbi camps is popular with Moroccan and foreign visitors alike, and some book months ahead.

In a December 2024 piece on New Year's Eve in Merzouga, Yabiladi reported that people come "from all over the world and Morocco, with some even booking as early as June or July." Morocco as a whole keeps breaking records: the Ministry of Tourism counted 19.8 million arrivals in 2025, up 14% on 2024, according to Hespress.

A group capped at 10 has few seats per departure. If you want to be in the dunes on 31 December, book now. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every tour here means an early booking costs you nothing if your plans move.

One more winter detail: the days are short, and day 1 of the small-group tour is 7 to 9 hours on the road from Fes. Take the earliest pickup on offer so you reach the camels before dark.

Groups of up to 10, a private en-suite tent at a luxury camp, and Ait Ben Haddou with a guide. Few seats per departure at New Year.

★ 5.0 · 3 days · from $387

Explore the small-group 3-day tour → Tour details

When is Ramadan and Easter in 2027, and do they affect the tour?

Ramadan is expected from about 8 or 9 February to about 8 or 9 March 2027, depending on the moon sighting. Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027. None of the listings mentions either.

The UAE's Astronomy Centre, quoted by The National, expects Ramadan to begin on 8 February 2027, with Eid al-Fitr on 9 or 10 March. Morocco's own start date is announced by the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs after the crescent is sighted, and it can differ from the Gulf projection by a day.

For travellers the changes are practical: daytime cafes, alcohol, and a clock change. We cover them in Ramadan 2027 and the desert tour. Easter Sunday falls on 28 March 2027 (Wikipedia). It comes after Ramadan, so late March and early April may be busier; book a little earlier.

When is the wind and sandstorm season in Merzouga?

Wind can arrive in spring. In April 2026 the weather service issued an orange alert for wind with blowing sand in Errachidia province, where Merzouga lies.

Morocco's weather service, the DGM, puts out colour-coded alerts on marocmeteo.ma. On 9 April 2026 it issued an orange alert for gusts of 70 to 80 km/h "avec chasse-sables" (with blowing sand) in Errachidia and five other provinces, as Hespress reported. The same bulletin forecast 10 to 20 cm of snow above 1,800 m in the Middle and High Atlas. In April.

On a windy day in the dunes, wrap a scarf over your nose and mouth, wear sunglasses, and keep your phone in a zip bag. On a windy evening the sunset can be hazy. Nobody can book around it more than a few days ahead, so do not try.

Is summer too hot for the desert tour from Fes?

It is hot, not impossible. July averages about 42°C by day in Merzouga and still around 28°C at night.

From June to August the dunes are for the two ends of the day only. Every listing except the 4-day private tour states an air-conditioned vehicle, and the sunset camel ride goes out late in the afternoon, so the hottest hours are spent on the road. The night is the weak point: at 28°C a tent is warm, and an en-suite tent with a shower helps more in July than in December.

If you have the choice, move a summer trip to late September or October. If you do not, drink more water than you think you need, buy it in Fes before you leave, and keep the long sleeves and the scarf. The listings warn that the trip is not for travellers with heart conditions, and heat makes that warning count.

Frequently asked questions