Rocky red peaks above, green terraced valleys below, and traditional Berber villages in between — the Atlas Mountains are only an hour’s drive from Marrakech, but a completely different world.
This series of mountain chains stretches across North Africa, separating the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara. Home to the Berber people, the mountains offer many trekking, walking and driving tour options — and even skiing in the High Atlas south of Marrakech.
James and I trekked for 3 days in the High Atlas on our first trip to Morocco back in 2003. On my more recent Marrakech getaway, my friend and I enjoyed a leisurely day trip with a private driver. Both were lovely forays into these beautiful mountains.
Atlas Mountains day trip
You’ll find many, many trekking and day tour options and operators in Marrakech. For our day trip we went with the company offered by our riad, and were very happy. The trip took in the Tahanaout market, a drive through a couple of Berber villages over a pass, and the Ourika valley.
Tahanaout Berber market
I specifically chose Tuesday for our day trip, because that’s market day in Tahanaout — a small town at the foot of the mountains, an hour or so from Marrakesh.
But even though I had wanted to see the market, I wasn’t expecting much — and even less when we pulled into Tahanaout. All we could see from the road was a stretch of tarpaulins and ripped old grain bags strung up on wooden poles, running up a slope. It turned out to be wonderful.
All kinds of vegetables, freshly slaughtered meat — so fresh the heads still looked alive — chickens, clothes, cookies, dried beans, grains, dentists, doctors, teapot repairs, traditional medicines, a donkey parking lot … and not a single smell. Mohammed, our driver and guide, showed us around the whole market, all of which was interesting. I’m so happy we saw it.
Ourika valley
The Ourika valley is very popular, with both Moroccan and foreign tourists. A series of restaurants runs along the river up the valley, some with tables and chairs in the water — so that you can cool your feet in the heat of the day. There are also many shops selling argan oil. Mohammed told us that in summer, there are so many people (and cars) that it can take hours to get through the valley. It was nearly deserted in November when we were there.
From Tahanaout we first drove up another valley (I’m guessing via Outghal) then over a pass into the Ourika valley. This was very pretty, passing through a few Berber villages and forest with fabulous views of the rocky red mountain slopes.
We visited an argan oil shop — which was interesting, but the prices were way too high with no bargaining possible. We were also taken to a Berber house… this was also interesting, but kind of strange to be peering into people’s bedrooms and snooping through their kitchen. There was a shop here too, selling the same kinds of stuff as at the Marrakesh souk. Bargain hard if you go here! There are also many shops selling tagines and other earthenware. I now wish I’d bought a dish for bread making, but I didn’t know this at the time as we hadn’t yet done our cooking class.
We ate lunch at Setti Fatma on the river — a 3-course meal with choice of salad, a tagine and dessert. It was yummy, although after our cooking class I realised it was more tourist fare than truly excellent.
After lunch we were taken on a short, though steep, walk up to a waterfall. The path passed through a village that has been completely converted to tourist shops, then on up to a waterfall. From the waterfall you could either walk back the same way or else climb a ladder up a cliff and then return to the village via a different route. It wasn’t a bad short stroll, but nothing spectacular — though the view down the valley after the ladder was good.
All in all a very lovely, easy day.
