Destination: Morocco

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION

Itinerary: Serious about the South

THREE WEEKS / AGADIR & THE SOUSS

This journey through the picturesque peaks of the Atlas Mountains and down into the desert landscapes and kasbahs of the south requires at least three weeks and you'll probably need your own vehicle in some areas as public transport can be scarce. By the time you reach Agadir, you'll have covered around 1000km.



If the thought of sharing Marrakesh and tourist-oriented beachside restaurants with the hordes is not how you’d like to remember Morocco, consider an activity-filled exploration of the south, where your companions are more likely to be locals, the odd camel and the solitude of sweeping landscapes.

Agadir is few travellers’ idea of paradise so escape south to tiny Tafraoute encircled by the beautiful Ameln Valley with its lush, green palmeraies (palm groves) and pink-hued houses. Hire a bike and camp by the painted rocks, spend three days climbing Jebel Lekst, or trek through the Aït Mansour gorges where the beautiful scenery contrasts poignantly with the ancient slave routes that once passed this way. Stay in Tiwadou then journey overland to see the rock engravings at Ukas before returning to Tafraoute.

By now you’ve a taste for the Moroccan wilderness (not to mention enormous calf muscles), so head east to the magnificent rock engravings around Tata and Akka, then down to Erg Chigaga, dunes which see few tourists. Leave your vehicle in M’Hamid and find yourself a camel to lead you north into the kasbah-littered Drâa valley.

At Ouarzazate, go quad biking in the stony desert landscape famous for its film studios, then loop back through the saffron capital of Taliouine with a detour for a trekking reprise on the Tichka Plateau. Forge on to Taroudannt with its red walls, backdrop of snow-capped peaks and hassle-free echoes of Marrakesh, before heading back to Agadir for the much-needed robust pampering of a hammam.