Side by side
Shared tour
- Cheapest option per person
- Fixed departure dates and route
- You share the vehicle and camp with other travellers
- Good for solo travellers and couples wanting to meet people
- Least flexible on stops and pace
Private tour
- Higher price per person, closer per group
- Departure date and route built around you
- Your own vehicle and driver-guide
- Good for families, small groups, and anyone with limited time
- Can add or skip stops as you go
Where the price gap actually closes
A private tour is priced per vehicle more than per person, so the more of you there are, the smaller the difference against a shared tour becomes. Solo, the gap is largest. In a group of three or four splitting one private vehicle, several agencies land within a similar range of the shared price - at that point the choice is really about pace and privacy, not cost.
Questions worth asking either way
Can a shared tour still stop where I want?
Only at the group's shared stops - a shared tour runs a fixed itinerary for everyone in the vehicle, so it can't detour for one traveller's request.
Is the desert camp itself shared or private either way?
Usually separate from the vehicle choice - most agencies offer a standard shared-tent camp and a private-tent or luxury-camp upgrade on both shared and private road tours. Ask specifically about the camp, not just the vehicle.
Which is better for a first visit to the Sahara?
Either works - a shared tour is a fine, well-worn introduction with the route and stops already figured out; a private tour suits a first visit if your dates are fixed and you don't want to build the trip around someone else's schedule.
The fastest way to see where you land is to compare the two directly for your own dates: describe your trip once, and the agencies that match will quote both shared and private options against the same itinerary.
Compare shared and private prices for your dates
Request a Free Quote →
