The village of Merzouga has accommodation to suit all budgets, and you can arrange everything from a sunset camel safari to sandboarding, quad biking, overnight camping and longer treks.

Erg Chebbi is Morocco’s most accessible stretch of Sahara, with dunes around 22 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide, reaching lofty heights of 160m in places. It is especially striking at sunset, turning from orange to pink and purple as the night sky glitters with stars. Then you might tuck into madfouna, or ‘Berber pizza’, a stuffed flatbread baked in a fire pit buried in the sand, before a campfire drumming session.

Campsites can be just 15 minutes from Merzouga by 4x4 or a couple of hours by camel. The downsides: convoys of vehicles dropping off people and supplies in high season, quad bikes overtaking camel caravans and being across a dune from another camp. If you want more solitude, choose your camp carefully or go out of season.

For a real hidden gem, the village of Khamlia, six kilometres south of Merzouga, is home to Dar Gnaoua, where musicians – including the renowned Les Pigeons du Sable – celebrate their sub-Saharan African roots, performing to an enthusiastic crowd, shaking krakebs (metal castanets) and keeping their hypnotic beat on tbel drums.