Walking in Nature tours in Morocco 2024

With thanks to Ismail for helping us prepare this itinerary.

In these leisurely walking tours we offer 9 days / 8 nights

from April 27, 2024 to May 5, 2024.

Tours begin in Marrakech and end with walks near

the Roses Valley and Ouarzazate.

Designed for people aged around 50 or more, who have reasonable but not necessarily exceptional fitness, with a focus upon flat and even walking wherever possible.

Bookings close December 1, 2023

See the pricing table at the conclusion of this itinerary.

Walking in Nature tours

April 27 – May 5, 2024

DAY 1 – April 27, 2024: Marrakech (Saturday)

Meals: Dinner (D)

Arrive Marrakech. Airport pickup. Welcome dinner and overnight at Riad Houdou (or equivalent).

DAY 2 – April 28, 2024: Marrakech (Sunday)

Meals: Breakfast (B) & D

Today you explore Marrakech with a guided tour of the medina in the morning, and an afternoon tour of Le Jardin Majorelle. That evening you’ll be taken on a guided food tour and enjoy dinner at the night markets.
Second night at Riad Houdou (or equivalent).

Le Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech is a photographer’s dream. Entrance tickets must be purchased online beforehand.

Hike 1 – Ounila Valley Walk

DAY 3 – April 29, 2024: Marrakech (Monday)

Meals: B, picnic lunch & D

After breakfast, travel towards Ait Ben Haddou to the scenic Ounila Valley characterised by its red sandstone cliffs and dramatic rock formations. Along the valley, are several Berber villages that offer a glimpse into the traditional way of life in Morocco. The 3-hour hike today will begin on the southern slope of the Great Atlas, where you will meet your guide, and then make your way up the valley to Telouet via paths carved in red ochre rock, skirting the magnificent river (Oued Ounila) and a parade of adobe houses inhabited by descendants of Berber tribes, surrounded by green gardens and palm groves. The walk ends at Tizi n’barda where your driver and cook wait to serve up a picnic barbecue lunch overlooking the river.
Staying overnight at Riad Ksar Ighnda near Ait Ben Haddou.

Ounila Valley. Our clients sometimes do one of these hikes as part of their private tour and they seem to love them

Hike 2 – Monkey Fingers Walk

DAY 4 – April 30, 2024: Monkey Fingers Walk (Tuesday)

Meals: B Picnic lunch & D

After breakfast, travel to the Boumalne Dades in the Rose Valley for a 5-hour walk that includes a picnic lunch break. Today’s hike begins from the village of Ait Oulif, taking you through the canyons of the amazing Monkey Fingers to the oasis of Taghbalout. You’ll return by the dry river until the gorges of Ait Arbi where the predominant colours are red and green. The hills on each side of the valley have a dusty rust colour punctured by protruding deep vermillion coloured rock formations. You’ll enter the woods and stroll alongside irrigation channels where colours, textures, patterns and birdsong will create lasting impressions. The walk will also take you past the plateau where nomadic families have their cave dwellings and, time permitting, you’ll have the opportunity to see incredible dinosaur footprints.
The hike includes a break for your picnic lunch, and at the walk’s end the driver will be waiting to deliver you to your accommodation at Dar Blues (or equivalent).

Even if hiking and landscape is not normally your thing, you can’t help but we blown away by the other worldly quality of Moroccan landscape in this region

Hike 3 – Valley of Nomads Walk

DAY 5 – May 1, 2024: Bou Tharar, Valley of Nomads Walk (Wednesday)

Meals: B Lunch (L) & D

After an early breakfast, your driver will take you to nearby Bou Tharar for tea with a cave-dwelling nomadic family. Today’s hike begins at circa 9am with the local guide and his muleteers taking you on a 3-hour walk through the beautiful Valley of Nomads. The day will also include lunch at a nearby guesthouse that offers local Moroccan fare and a panoramic view. It’s a fabulous place to sip mint tea and relax while gazing at the impressive valley view. A driver will be waiting to take you to your accommodation at Kasbah Chems (or equivalent) in the Rose Valley.

Our walks are designed to be as flat as possible so they often follow the course of a river. It is enthralling to find only yourself and your hiking companions, your guide and maybe some passing shepherds with their flock and some women washing carpets in the river and no one else, amidst this beautiful, pristine and at times, spectacular scenery.

If visiting the nomads for a glass of tea, it is appropriate to take them a small gift of sweets or toys as a sign of respect. Also PLEASE dress modestly to avoid embarrassing your hosts. 

Daily walks from Ouarzazate

Little girls in Morocco tend to start wearing a head covering upon the onset of puberty.

DAY 6 – May 2, 2024: Ouarzazate (Thursday – relax day)

Meals: B, L and D

Today we drive from the Roses Valley to Ouarzazate. It is about 1.5 hours. Ouarzazate is free of organised activity – an excellent opportunity for a hammam experience and relaxing massage. We will have pre-booked some time slots for those of you who wish to enjoy this. The cost of the hammam and massage is not covered by the tour fee as not everyone may wish to participate in it. We won’t nominate here the proposed accommodation and will instead play it by ear to get the best option nearer to the time. It will be somewhere nice to finish off and where we can have a hammam.

This black soap is used in the hammam and is deeply cleansing.

Hike 4 – Megdaz Walk

DAY 7 – May 3, 2024: Megdaz Walk (Friday)

Meals: B L & D

After breakfast, waiting 4WD vehicles will take you to the Berber hillside village of Megdaz – it is approximately two hours travel – to meet up with the local guide and his muleteers. Today’s hike will take about 3 hours at a medium walking pace. UNESCO classified Megdaz as the most beautiful village in Morocco, in terms of architecture so it is definitely picture-worthy. The walking tour includes a picnic lunch, panoramic views and a close-up view of Berber life, after which the 4WDs will return you to your accommodation in Ouarzazate. Dinner will also be provided.

The village of Megdaz

Hike 5 – Draa Valley Walk

DAY 8 – May 4, 2024: The Palm Grove of Draa Valley Walk (Saturday)

Meals: B L & D

After breakfast, your driver will take you to Kasbah Tamnougalte where you’ll have a little time to explore the kasbah before the day’s walk begins. The Draa oasis includes around two million palms as well as almond, apple and apricot trees in abundance. The local guide and his team of muleteers will take you for a 3.5-hour walk (at medium pace) along Draa Valley to Kasbah Timidart where lunch will be a picnic in the palm grove. This visit will provide an opportunity to discover the local lifestyle and crafts, such as pottery and woodwork. You will return to your accommodation in Ouarzazate in the late evening for a special final dinner together.

This is a lovely desertique garden in the Draa Valley adjacent to an old kasbah at which some clients stay. It supplies the kitchen of the kasbah with fruit and vegetables.

A honeypot of light in an ancient Kasbah in the Draa Valley. Note how the Amazigh motifs on the façade are reminiscent of animal tracks in the desert dunes?

DAY 9 – May 5, 2024: Departure (Sunday)

Meals: B

Drop-off at Ouarzazate airport (flight availability permitting)

Please note that quoted prices do not include drinks, entrance fees to venues, meals not specified to be covered, airfares to and from Morocco, tips and personal expenses or anything else not specifically included. If we don’t mention something is covered by the tour fee, best to assume that it isn’t.

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