Traslado privado de El Jadida a MerzougaLuxury Travel

Plan on about 7h25 for the 610 km between El Jadida and Merzouga, following the A7 / A1 via Had Soualem, the A5 / A3 bypass, the A2 motorway, the N8 / N13 through the Middle Atlas, the N13 through the Ziz gorges and finally the N13 via Rissani. El Jadida is a seaside town 100 km south of Casablanca, built around a UNESCO-listed Portuguese fortress (Mazagan) with its famous underground cistern, plus a big beach resort just north of town.

Who makes the El Jadida to Merzouga trip

Why this trip? Departures from El Jadida are commonly airport runs to Casablanca or the next stop on a coastal road trip. As for Merzouga, people come for a camel trek into the dunes, a night in a desert camp and sunrise over Erg Chebbi. It is not an everyday transfer — 610 km is most of the width of Morocco — but it is a real one. It is booked by travellers who finish a desert tour and want to end their trip in El Jadida without doubling back through Marrakech, and by those going the other way who would rather spend one long day in a comfortable car than three on a shared tour bus.

The road from El Jadida to Merzouga

From El Jadida the A1 runs north past Azemmour, then a bypass through Had Soualem avoids Casablanca and leads straight to the airport at Nouaceur. From Mohammed V a motorway bypass skirts Casablanca's eastern edge and joins the coastal A3 to Rabat, avoiding the city traffic. East of Rabat the A2 crosses the cork oak forest of Maâmora and the plateau at Khemisset to Meknes, with the Roman ruins of Volubilis a short detour north, then continues to Fes. South of Fes the road climbs to Ifrane — an Alpine-looking town — and through the cedar forest near Azrou, home to Barbary macaques, then crosses high grazing plateaus to Midelt below Jebel Ayachi. South of Midelt the N13 crosses the Tizi n'Talghemt pass and drops through the Ziz gorges to Errachidia, then follows the Ziz valley's palm groves to Erfoud. South of Erfoud the road passes Rissani, the old capital of the Tafilalt, before the dunes of Erg Chebbi rise on the horizon at Merzouga. Good places to break the drive: the cedar forest near Azrou, Ifrane and the Ziz gorges viewpoint.

Arriving in Merzouga

Merzouga is the village at the foot of Erg Chebbi, the tallest sand dunes in Morocco, where the Sahara experience most people picture actually happens. Camps sit inside the dunes; cars stop at the camp's auberge in Merzouga or Hassi Labied, where luggage is left and a camel or 4x4 takes over.

Should you split the journey?

At 7h25 this is a full day in the car. We run it in one day for anyone who wants that — with breaks every two hours or so — but many travellers prefer to split it. The natural halfway point is Fes: Fes rewards at least one night in a medina riad. Book two one-way legs and the driver meets you again the next morning.

Before you go

Once you are in Merzouga, the Khamlia Gnawa village and Rissani's old market are close by. October to April is best; summer days pass 45 °C. The return leg, Merzouga to El Jadida, has its own page and the same per-vehicle pricing.