Hiking

If you have been on guided hiking in Morocco, or even if it is your first time, why not explore the Atlas Mountains, the home of the hardy Berber peoples, in your own time and at your own pace with this unique hiking opportunity. The scenery is much different from anything else, and this program, including some of the really wild beauty of the Haute Atlas.

The adventure starts from the beautiful reed city of Marrakesh, a short walk from the souks and the famous Djemma El Efna from where a short spectacular drive takes you over the dusty Hoaz plains, through the scenic gorge Moulay Brahim, past the Hotel Toubkal at Asni, where Winston Churchill used to paint, and onto the village of Aremd with its panoramic view of Jebel Toubkal. Later one can visit the cascades of the Mizane valley or the shrine at the quaint village of Sidi Chamharouch , before relaxing on the terrace of the small hotel of Chez Mohamed at Aremd.

The walking progresses through Berber villages, like Imelil and Tamatert, with apple, peach and walnut trees bright with blossom in the spring, and full of rural images of harvesting, threshing and irrigating unchanged for centuries, at other times of the year. The trail takes you up to 2279m before descending to Ouaneskra and a night in a local Gite where you may choose to sleep under the African stars. After the large village of Tachddirt , the trail takes you over the Tizi nou Addi pass (2960m), before continuing through meadows to the ski village at Oukaimeden.

The hike climbs over a high pass at over 3000m before dipping into the natural beauty of the Ourika Valley full of cascades and local craft boutiques to your gite in Timichchi for a well-earned tagine. The next day, you will hike down to Setti Fadma to be collected and driven through the remainder of the Ourika Valley , eventually spilling back out onto the Hoaz plain and thence to the throbbing metropolis of Marrakesh and the ensuing calm at Riad.