Central Morocco
Atlas Mountains
The range that divides Morocco — and everything that lives on it.
- Best time to visit
- April to June and September to November. Snow closes high routes in winter.
- Ideal for
- Hiking, mountain villages, scenic drives, escaping the heat
Introduction
The Atlas runs diagonally across Morocco for some 2,500 kilometres, in three ranges: the Middle Atlas above Fes, the High Atlas behind Marrakech — which holds Toubkal, at 4,167 metres the highest peak in North Africa — and the Anti-Atlas in the south.
The mountains are the reason Morocco has such different climates within short distances. They catch the Atlantic weather on their northern slopes and leave the south dry, which is why you can drive from green terraced valleys to bare desert in a single morning.
Why visit
- 01
Amazigh mountain villages here have kept a way of life that predates the arrival of Arabic in Morocco.
- 02
The Tizi n'Tichka and Tizi n'Test passes are two of the great mountain drives anywhere.
- 03
Hiking ranges from an afternoon in the Ourika Valley to a multi-day ascent of Toubkal.
Things to see
- The Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres
- The Ourika Valley and the Setti Fatma waterfalls
- The Imlil valley and the approach to Toubkal
- Terraced fields and irrigation channels on the slopes
- Telouet Kasbah, the Glaoui stronghold off the old road
Things to do
- Cross the Tizi n'Tichka on the way south
- Hike between Amazigh villages with a local guide
- Have lunch beside a river in the Ourika Valley
- Visit a walnut or saffron cooperative
- Trek to Toubkal base and back over two or three days
Local experiences
- Tea in a village house where the road ends
- Bread baked in a communal oven
- Walnut and almond harvests in autumn
- Snow on the peaks with orange trees in the plain below
Food
Food
Mountain cooking is hearty: barley bread, tagines with preserved vegetables, chicken with olives, and the thick lentil and bean soups that follow a cold morning. Walnuts, almonds, apples and cherries all grow on the terraces, and honey from the high slopes is a local specialty.
Culture
Culture
The Atlas is the heartland of Amazigh Morocco. Tamazight is the everyday language in most villages, houses are built from the earth they stand on, and communities still manage shared resources — water rotas, grazing, the communal oven — collectively.
Best highlights
- 01
Tizi n'Tichka
- 02
Ourika Valley
- 03
Amazigh villages
- 04
Toubkal
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