Draa Valley
The area's star attraction is the misnamed Erg Chigaga, not a single dune (erg) but an incredible stretch of golden sand sea some 56km southwest of M…
Must-see attractions in Central Morocco
Ourika Valley
Nestled in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains, Anima Garden is a space designed by multimedia artist André Heller. Surprising sculptures…
Musée des Sources de Lalla Mimouna
Dadès Valley
This indoor/outdoor private museum is the passion project of Tinejdad native Zaid Abbou, built around the fizzing, magnesium-rich springs of Lalla Mimouna…
Dadès Valley
Inside the Ksar El Khorbat, this award-winning museum traces tribal migrations through 22 rooms of carefully curated artefacts of seminomadic life:…
Ourika Valley
Four kilometres past Tnine, a discreet sign points up a dirt path into the Amazigh (Berber) village of Tafza, where the three-storey mud-brick ksar …
Draa Valley
Tour the Kasbah's maze of rooms with one of the descendants of the original qaid (chief), including his office and hammam, light-filled courtyards and…
Central Morocco
The once-glorious stronghold has been left to crumble, but the best indication of Telouet’s former position as the centre of a trans-Saharan trading…
Ouarzazate
Unlike other Glaoui-era kasbahs, Taourirt escaped ruin by moonlighting as a Hollywood backdrop (Sheltering Sky, Gladiator, Prince of Persia) and…
Skoura
Skoura’s beautiful Unesco-protected palmeraie (palm grove) has been dubbed ‘Oasis of 1000 Palms’. Under the green canopy, a 15-mile patchwork of plots are…
Zagora
Zagora’s desert-crossroads culture can be glimpsed in the neighbouring village of Amezrou, where the historic mud-brick mellah (Jewish quarter), once home…
Musée des Arts et Traditions de la Valleé du Draa
Zagora
Follow the signs to this fascinating small museum, where three floors are dedicated to traditional life in the Draa Valley. Look out for tribal jewellery…
Merzouga
Shape-shifting over 28km from north to south and reaching heights of 160m, the great sand sea of Erg Chebbi is extraordinarily scenic. The rose-gold dunes…
High Atlas Mountains
The largest building in Zaouiat Ahansal dominates the surrounding village. Still home to the saint's descendants, the village's oldest building also…
Draa Valley
Non-Muslims cannot visit the green-roofed mausoleum but the remarkable library inside the adjacent Quranic school is open to all – providing the keyholder…
Ouarzazate
Built in the 17th century and extended by the Glaoui clan in the 18th, this commanding hilltop kasbah has now been converted into a privately owned…
Skoura
One of Morocco’s grandest kasbahs, this 17th-century marvel once appeared on the Dh50 note. Signposted just a few hundred metres from the main road, this…
High Atlas Mountains
The many-tiered Cascades d’Ouzoud are stunningly beautiful, with several distinct falls, the largest a massive 100m drop. The area is also one of the most…
Dadès Valley
This spectacular example of a mid-19th-century fortified village was crumbling to dust when it underwent a major restoration using traditional techniques…
Ourika Valley
Almost anything thrives in Ourika’s rich soil, including saffron, organically grown here from bulbs that are cultivated near Talouine. Saffron is a high…
Atlas Film Corporation Studios
Ouarzazate
The first ‘Ouarzawood’ studio, established by Mohammed Belghimi in 1983, displays sets and props from movies filmed here, including Jewel of the Nile,…
Tahiri Museum of Fossils & Minerals
Erfoud
For a good introduction to Morocco's fossils head to Brahim Tahiri's private museum. Scientifically important specimens are exhibited beside their lesser…
High Atlas Mountains
For a spectacular sunset, climb the steep but straightforward trail up to the zawiya (shrine) of Sidi Moussa, a local marabout (saint), on a conical…
Dadès Gorge
Eighteen kilometres from Boumalne you'll find these extraordinary red rock formations that look like wax, melting right into the green carpet of the…
Zagora
This spectacular mountain rises over the Draa River – worth climbing for the views, provided you have stamina, water and sunblock and set off in the early…
Draa Valley
Morocco’s largest national park – covering a land mass of 123,000 hectares – and uniquely Saharan, Iriqui was created in 1994 to protect the biodiversity…
Skoura
This kasbah-turned-museum showcases the history and traditions of Southern Morocco's Imazighen (Berbers). Anthropologist Abdelmoula El Moudahab will…
Dadès Gorge
Those art-deco tourism posters you’ll see all over Morocco showing a red-and-white kasbah in a rocky oasis aren’t exaggerating: just 6.5km into the gorge,…
Dadès Valley
Take a bike (hire one for Dh80) and tour the Ferkla palmeraie (palm grove) with a local guide (Dh200) from El Khorbat. You'll explore the Ksar Asrir, once…
Rissani to Zagora
Getting to this site, scattered with 6000-year-old rock carvings, can be a challenge – it’s close to Tazzarine but around 20km off road so the going is…
Jardin Bio-Aromatique d'Ourika
Ourika Valley
The organic botanical gardens of a Franco-Moroccan bath-product company combining Amazigh (Berber) herbal remedies with modern aromatherapy make for…
Tabant
The valley's weekly market takes place on Sunday and offers a great insight into valley life. Traders and shoppers start arriving in Tabant on Saturday…
Ziz Valley & the Tafilalt
About a five-minute drive south-west of the centre, along a dirt track behind the yellow shrine you’ll see the fantastic crumbling towers of this 19th…
Central Morocco
The largest of the town's seven ksour (fortified villages) is Ksar Zenaga, south below the ridge splitting the oasis. Take the paths following irrigation…
High Atlas Mountains
The most-famous peak of the Reserve Naturelle de Tamga absolutely dominates the surrounding landscape – supposedly in the same manner great cathedrals…
Draa Valley
This tall 'screaming' dune set amid a sea of smaller dunes wails eerily when the wind kicks up. Located 65km southwest of M'Hamid, it takes three days to…
Ziz Valley & the Tafilalt
Around 2km south of the yellow shrine on your right, this ruin once called the ‘Alhambra of the Tafilalt’ was built around 1900 for Sultan Moulay Hassan’s…
High Atlas Mountains
Local villagers mine salt here using traditional methods that have been in use for generations, pulling buckets of mineral-rich water from wells up to 20m…
Tamdakhte
The magnificent unrestored kasbah, a crumbling Glaoui construction still topped by storks' nests, is the centrepoint of Tamdakhte village. There's not…
Zaouiat Oulmzi
At the very upper (northeastern) end of the Aït Bougmez Valley, the seasonal Lac Izoughar is a favoured watering hole for the nomadic Aït Atta tribe…
Dadès Gorge
Cresting over a small pass, 14km from Boumalne, is the hidden gem of Gorge de Miguirne, which joins the Dadès Gorge from the south. It offers a fine half…
