UK to the Sahara: motorhoming to Morocco
Driving to the Sahara sounds like a stretch until you have actually done it, and we have done it twice: once as a family in our coachbuilt motorhome, and once solo in an electric campervan. Here is the route, the ferry, the documents you need, and the real stops from our own map.
The short answer
You drive down through Spain (see our Spain guide for that leg), then take a short ferry crossing to Tangier, either from Algeciras to Tanger Med or from Tarifa into the city port. From there it is a drive south through Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech, over the Atlas Mountains, and down to the dunes at Merzouga on the edge of the Sahara.
No carnet is needed for a UK-registered van, just a passport, your V5C and insurance that covers Morocco. Stick to campsites, aires and guarded car parks rather than truly wild spots, and take the mountain roads slowly.
We have made this run twice. First as a family in 2023, a full loop down through Morocco to the Sahara and back out via the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Then Steve went back on his own, solo, in our electric VW ID Buzz, to see whether the same route worked in an EV. Both trips ended at the same place: the dunes at Merzouga. We cover the solo electric run in full, with the charging detail and the drama at the port, in our guide to touring Europe in an electric campervan, which is worth reading alongside this guide for the electric side of the story.
Getting there: the drive and the ferry
Spain first, then the water
The drive down is the same one we cover in our guide to motorhoming in Spain: either the Santander ferry from the UK followed by a run south, or the longer drive down through France. Either way, you end up on the south coast of Spain, around Tarifa and Algeciras, for the crossing itself. If you are looking for the general case for driving to the Continent at all rather than flying and hiring, our guide to taking a motorhome to Europe covers that decision.
From there, the ferry to Tangier is short. There is a direct crossing from Algeciras to Tanger Med, and a quicker hop from Tarifa into Tangier's city-centre port. On the solo electric run, Steve bought his ticket in person from an agent in Algeciras. Book ahead if you are travelling in the busy summer months, because sailings for larger vehicles fill up.
Download your offline maps and any route data before you get on the ferry. Once you are in Morocco, phone signal and app connectivity are not guaranteed everywhere, and on the electric run the VW companion app stopped finding the car altogether once it was off the European network. You do not need an app to drive a van, but it is a lot less stressful with your route already downloaded.
Documents, insurance and the crossing
What you actually need before you go
UK passport holders do not need a visa for a tourist visit to Morocco, and your ordinary UK driving licence is accepted. For the vehicle, you do not need a carnet de passages for a UK-registered motorhome or campervan on a tourist trip. Instead, you are issued a temporary import document, stamped at the port when you arrive, that covers the van for your stay.
The one to check carefully is insurance. Morocco is not automatically covered by every UK green card, so confirm with your insurer before you travel, or be ready to buy frontier insurance at the border if your own policy does not extend that far. Keep your V5C with you along with your passport and any ferry paperwork.
Real stops from our map
Every one a pin we actually parked on
These are real stops from both of our Morocco trips, the family loop in 2023 and Steve's solo electric run, not a wishlist. Together they trace the route from the ferry port down to the Sahara and back out.
- Tarifa & Algeciras
This stretch of Spanish coast is the jumping-off point either way. Steve bought his ferry ticket in person from an agent in Algeciras on the solo run. Both ports sit close enough together that which one you use often just comes down to sailing times on the day.
- Aire de Tanger
This was Steve's first overnight stop in Morocco on the solo trip, a motorhome aire right by the port. It is the easiest possible introduction: you roll off the ferry, you are parked up within minutes, and the country has not had time to feel overwhelming yet.
- Camping International Mehdia
The family's first Moroccan stop in 2023, a campsite near Kenitra on the Atlantic coast. A gentle first night after the crossing, with proper hookup and a chance to reset before the drive inland.
- Casablanca and Oualidia
We worked our way down the coast through Casablanca, staying at a guarded car park in the city, then on to Camping Laguna Park at Oualidia, a lagoon town that is a world away from the bustle of the big cities.
- Marrakech
We parked at La Koutoubia and spent time in and around the Jemaa el-Fna, eating at Chez Lamine Hadj Mustapha. Marrakech is the natural staging point before the mountains, and worth the extra night rather than rushing straight through.
- Aït Benhaddou
A genuinely remarkable stop: this fortified ksar sits on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech, and you can see immediately why it has been used as a film location so many times. We stayed nearby at L'Escale de Ouarzazate.
- Dadès Gorges
The road through the gorges is one of the best driving stretches of the whole trip, red rock walls closing in either side. It is also a reminder to take mountain roads in Morocco slowly, whatever you are driving.
- Haven La Chance Camp, Merzouga
This is the stop that makes the whole drive worth it: a campsite right on the edge of the dunes at Merzouga, a ten-minute walk from the Sahara proper. The family motorhome stayed here on the 2023 trip.
- Hassilabied, Merzouga
On the solo electric run, Steve based himself at Hassilabied on the edge of the same dunes, parking at the Camels Parking area and the Hassilabied gardens rather than at the family's Haven La Chance campsite. Same stretch of Sahara, a different exact spot to park up.
- Camping Zerhoun Belle Vue, Meknes
On the way back north, Meknes was Steve's first proper campsite stop of the solo run, a chance for a shower and a refresh after several nights of simpler park-ups. The family trip also passed through Meknes, stopping to see the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail and the Roman ruins at Volubilis nearby.
- Michlifen, Middle Atlas
A golf and country club in the Middle Atlas that turned out to be, in Steve's words, a very lovely place to charge up an electric van. Worth knowing about if you are running an EV through Morocco and need somewhere civilised to plug in for a few hours.
- Ceuta
The family's return route in 2023 went out through the Spanish enclave of Ceuta rather than back the way we came, parking at an aire there before the short ferry hop across to Algeciras. A different way to close the loop if you fancy a change of scenery on the way home.
Every one of these is plotted on our map with the video from that trip, so you can see exactly where it is and what it looked like before you decide whether it suits you.
The Atlas Mountains and the Sahara
The stretch between Marrakech and Merzouga is the part of this trip that stays with you. The road climbs into the Atlas Mountains through long, steep passes with drops that keep your full attention, past Aït Benhaddou and down through the Dadès Gorges, before the landscape opens out and the dunes at Merzouga appear on the horizon.
We stayed at Haven La Chance Camp on the edge of the dunes on the family trip, close enough to walk out to the sand within about ten minutes. On the solo run, Steve based himself nearby at Hassilabied, on the edge of the same dunes. Between the two of us, it is genuinely one of the most memorable overnight stretches either of us has had in a motorhome, family or solo. Coming back north, Meknes and the Middle Atlas make a sensible staging point before the run back to the coast, and if you are in an electric van, Michlifen in the Middle Atlas is a useful spot to know about for a slow top-up.
Wild camping and staying safe
On both of our trips we leaned on campsites, aires and guarded car parks rather than genuinely wild, remote camping. Morocco has a strong culture of watched overnight parking in towns and near tourist sites, and using it takes a lot of the worry out of where to stop for the night. We would not recommend parking up somewhere isolated with nobody else around, in Morocco any more than we would anywhere else.
Coming back out of Morocco, we took a different route home on the family trip, crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and taking the short ferry hop from there across to Algeciras, rather than retracing the same road back to Tangier. It is worth knowing that option exists if you fancy a change of scenery on the way home.
Motorhoming to Morocco questions we get asked
Can you take a motorhome to Morocco?
Yes. We have done it twice, once as a family in our coachbuilt motorhome and once solo in an electric campervan. You drive down through Spain, cross by ferry to Tangier, and Morocco itself is genuinely welcoming to motorhomes, with guarded car parks, campsites and aires all the way down to the Sahara.
Which ferry do you take to Morocco?
The short hop is from the south coast of Spain. There is a direct crossing from Algeciras to Tanger Med, run by operators including FRS and Balearia, at around an hour on the water. There is also a quicker crossing from Tarifa into Tangier's city-centre port. Steve bought his ticket in person from an agent in Algeciras on the solo trip. Either way, book ahead in the busy summer months.
Do you need a carnet de passages to take a motorhome to Morocco?
No, not for a UK-registered vehicle on a tourist visit. Instead you get a temporary import document stamped at the port when you arrive, which covers the van for the length of your stay. Do check your vehicle registration document (V5C) is in order and that your insurer's green card, or a frontier policy bought at the border, explicitly covers Morocco, because it is not automatically included on every UK policy.
Is wild camping safe in Morocco?
On both of our trips we stuck mostly to campsites, aires and guarded car parks rather than truly wild, remote spots, and that is what we would recommend. Morocco has a good culture of watched overnight parking in towns, which takes the worry out of it. We would not recommend parking up somewhere isolated with no one else around, in Morocco or anywhere else.
Do UK citizens need a visa for Morocco?
No. UK passport holders do not need a visa for a tourist stay in Morocco of up to ninety days. You do need a passport valid for the length of your trip, and your normal UK driving licence is accepted for driving there.
What is driving like in Morocco for a motorhome?
It varies hugely. The coast roads and motorways are straightforward, but once you are into the Atlas Mountains you are on long, steep passes, sharing the road with mopeds, donkeys and coaches, and road surfaces that are not always what you would expect. Take the mountain sections slowly, as we did through the Dadès Gorges, and you will be fine.
Written by Steve and Lyndsay Radford. Every stop named here is a real pin from our own trips to Morocco: the family motorhome loop in 2023 and Steve's solo run in the electric ID Buzz. Where our notes were thin we have kept things general rather than invent detail, and flagged the gaps for us to fill in. Roaming Radfords is a trading name of Yowzer Limited.