The red desert dunes of Sossusvlei

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
7
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
67 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
192nd/454
Top 40%
continent
Africa
country
Namibia
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$70 ($75-$175 in 2024 prices)
Time of year visited
October
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Red deserts Sand dune UNESCO world heritage site
All Tags
4WD Desert Driving Stargazing Sunsets
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

The Namib desert is the oldest desert in the world and, helpfully, also one of the most accessible.  The jewel in its crown is the red strip of towering sand dunes on the way to Soussusvlei, a large ephemeral pan, itself set amid red sand dunes that tower 325m above you.  The highlight of Namibia and a must as part of a drive through this wonderful country.

 

Climbing the red desert dunes of Namibia's Sossusvlei with Mars-like landscape

 

Table of Contents

Highlights

IMG_1179-compressed-aspect-ratio-900-675

#1 The drive along the red strip of towering sand dunes on the way to Soussusvlei

IMG_1157-compressed-aspect-ratio-900-675

#2 Walking to Deadvlei to see a mini world isolated by the giant sand dunes all around it, and with the 500 year old dead tress left there have so little water that they cannot decompose

Climbing the red desert dunes of Namibia's Sossusvlei with Mars-like landscape

#3 Climbing Dune 45 - a bit of a mission, but amazing views from the top

IMG_1182-compressed-aspect-ratio-900-675

#4 Catching the different colours of the dunes as sunset approaches and the temperature drops

IMG_1140-compressed-aspect-ratio-900-675

#5 Desert sunsets - brilliant from the top of a dune, but by the camp site dinner table just as good

Orientation

 

 

Its Namibia so the distances aren’t small.  The drive from the entrance at Sesriem (where you need to pay to enter the park) to Soussusvlei itself is around 40mins – and the highlight of the whole experience.  And around to get to the entrance should you decide to save a bit of money and stay in Soltaire rather than in the park.

Once in the park, everything is relatively close.

 

Top Tips

1. What to prioritise

We found it a little confusing when planning “what to do”, especially as “visit Sossusvlei” can mean multiple things.  Basically there are 4 types of things you want to do and I would prioritise in this order:

  • 1. Drive along the valley from Sesriem to Sossusvlei.
  • 2. Walk to one of the hidden vleis – we walked to Deadvlei and it was stunning.
  • 3. Climb / view one of the tall sand dunes – we climbed Dune 45 and would recommend.
  • 4. See one of the canyons – we, unusually, went to the Kuiseb Canyon to the north, but most visit the nearby Sesriem Canyon.

 

Deadvlei - isolated desert spot in Sossusvlei Namibia

Deadvlei – a 30min walk from the main path

 

2. Climb one of the dunes

Yes, its a bit hard.  But it’s fun, the views are great, and if you get too knackered you can always just easily come down in a fraction of the time it took to get up.  But, do remember to wear shoes as the sand gets hot.  Dune 45 is the famous one and took about 30-40mins to slow climb.

 

Slow walk up Dune 45, Sossusvlei in Namibia

Slow 30-40min walk up Dune 45

 

3. Timings

A full day is enough for the sights, plus the time getting there and if you want to do any extras like ballooning.  We stayed there for 3 nights, which was one night too much.  For day timings, the park opens at sunrise and closes at sunset – so if you want to see a sunrise, you’ll need to stay within the park

 

4. A Normal car is 100% fine, except for the final 4km

The roads all around here are completely fine for a 2WD – they are some of the best roads in Namibia.  It is only the final 4km (out of a total of 69km) to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei that require a 4WD, and even then there are people waiting with 4WDs to take you the final 10mins or so for super cheap.  If you have a 4WD – do watch out for that final 4km as its deep sand at times and would be annoying to get stuck.  We very nearly did and that was after 2 weeks of 4WDing across Namibia.

 

5. Where to stay

There are amazing options all around here, but you pay heavily for the proximity to the Sesriem entrance to the park.  If can get something reasonable nearby, do that.  But if not – we stayed at Solitaire and wasn’t a big inconvenience when you are already used to long hours of driving in Namibia.  Solitaire Roadhouse is functional enough, with some surprisingly good apple pie!  Solitaire Mountain Lodge much nicer though.

 

6. Sossusvlei fits nicely into a 1-2 week roadtrip for Namibia

I’ve written two itinerary options for either a 2 week trip through Namibia & nearby Botswana, or for trying to supercharge it and do it all in a week.  Have a look at this travel entry – Driving through Namibia – for plenty of tips, highlights and showing what to prioritise.

 

How does Soussousvlei compare to the rest of Namibia’s Wows

Namibia is just built for a 4×4 roadtrip.  Of all the trips I’ve done round the world I would place it in the top 10 because it has that wonderful combination of ✅ outstanding individual destinations + ✅ dramatic scenery in between + ✅ real feeling of adventure.  To help prioritise, this is how I see the wows and Soussusvlei is right at the top:

 

  • Sossusvlei – Wow factor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.  Giant red sand dunes and white salt pans – one of the most surreal and iconic landscapes in Africa and a must for Namibia.
  • Etosha National Park – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.  One of Africa’s best national parks for easy wildlife viewing, with huge salt pans and animals gathering at waterholes. Also don’t miss this. Self-drive Etosha National Park.
  • Damaraland – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.  Stark desert landscapes, ancient rock art and the chance to see desert-adapted elephants and lions in one of Namibia’s wildest regions.  Damaraland’s desert landscapes.
  • Skeleton Coast – ⭐️⭐️.  A remote, foggy and haunting coastline of shipwrecks, seals and empty beaches stretching into the Atlantic.  Nice but overrated.  Driving the Skeleton Coast.
  • Windhoek – GASH.  Clean, quiet but fairly unremarkable capital that most people just pass through at the start or end of a trip.  Windhoek.

 

Extras.  Whilst the two below are in Botswana, they make it onto most itineraries due to their proximity, the ease of doing a loop to get there and their sheer wow factor.

 

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Desert Advantures around the World

Central Kalahari Game Reserve with the San People
⭐⭐⭐

Luxor, Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4WDing around Wadi Rum and spending a night in a desert camp
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Exploring Petra in winter
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Exploring the Lunar Valley and San Pedro de Atacama
⭐⭐

4WD tour from San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking through the Charyn Canyon and staying overnight in yurts
⭐⭐

Ayers Rock and The Olgas dazzling in different lights
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *