Christmas & New Year in the Sahara

Yes. The camp is open from September to June and closed in July and August, so the whole festive period sits inside the season. The last two weeks of December are the most requested of the year. The camp has only eight tents, so it is worth asking early.

Yes. When you take the whole camp, from 2 to 18 guests and up to 20 with extra beds, the eight tents, the team, the kitchen and the sky belong to your group alone. A single tent for two, or a few for a family, is just as possible. It is quoted as one global rate for the whole camp, set case by case for each request, never per person.

Eight to ten months is normal for the week between Christmas and New Year. Shorter notice is sometimes possible, because a single cancellation can free a tent, or now and then the whole camp, so it is always worth asking.

A candlelit table set in the dunes, a Berber gala dinner from the camp kitchen, musicians for the evening, and midnight under a Bortle Class 1 sky. What happens after midnight is up to you: with eight tents, there are only ever a few other guests, and none if you take the whole camp.

December and January are among the most pleasant months in Erg Chegaga. Daytime temperatures reach 18 to 24 degrees, which suits dune walking, camel treks and eating outside. Nights are cold, between 2 and 8 degrees, and call for real layers. Skies are clear and rain is very rare.

Three nights is the honest minimum. The journey from Marrakech is about 8 hours 45 by road, of which 1 hour 30 is piste on the last 60 km, or 1 hour 40 by helicopter. Two nights leave a single full day. Groups who come for Christmas or New Year usually stay three to five nights and spread the activities.

Yes, and it is one of the periods when most families come. Each of the eight tents has its own bathroom, children sleep with their parents or in a tent of their own, and the days fill themselves: camels, sandboarding, the evening fire and stargazing. The December climate is gentle for children.