Morocco: Marrakech, the High Atlas and Essaouira

1. Day 1: Arrive in Marrakech

   Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK) to your riad in the Marrakech medina

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Marrakech
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK), about 6 km from the old city, and a driver meets you in the arrivals hall whatever time you land. Cars cannot reach most riad doors in the medina, so a porter wheels your bags the last few hundred metres while you walk behind. Plan to land by mid-afternoon if you can: the group meets at about 6 pm in the riad, where your See Sight Tours guide runs through the week, from what to wear in the mountain villages to how bargaining works in the souks and what a fair price for a lantern looks like. As the light goes we walk together to Jemaa el-Fnaa, the great square at the heart of the medina, while the food stalls are being set up and the musicians and storytellers gather. The welcome dinner is at a restaurant a short walk away. If you land late, you are still collected and we catch you up at breakfast.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide, including a souk and bargaining briefing
   • Dusk walk to Jemaa el-Fnaa
   • Welcome dinner in the medina

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Majorelle at opening, then the medina on foot

   Jardin Majorelle, then the Marrakech medina on foot

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Marrakech
   Day 2 details

   We start early to be at the Jardin Majorelle for the first entry of the day. The garden, laid out by the painter Jacques Majorelle from the 1920s and later restored by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, is small and crowded by late morning; at opening the cobalt-blue studio and the cactus beds are quiet. From there it is a short drive to the medina, listed by UNESCO in 1985, where a licensed local guide joins us on foot: the Koutoubia minaret from its gardens, the painted rooms and courtyards of the 19th-century Bahia Palace, the spice stalls of the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, then north through the souks of dyers, metalworkers and leather-sellers. There are no commission shops on this walk; if you want to buy, your guide helps you bargain. Lunch is a sit-down meal in a medina restaurant. The afternoon is free: rest at the riad, book a hammam, or go back into the souks on your own.

   Included

   • Jardin Majorelle at the first entry of the day, entry included
   • Medina walk with a licensed local guide: the Koutoubia gardens, Bahia Palace (entry included), the Mellah and the northern souks
   • Sit-down lunch in the medina

   Optional experiences

   • Hammam and massage
   • Ben Youssef Madrasa
   • Yves Saint Laurent Museum, next to the Jardin Majorelle

   Easier option: Leave the walk after Bahia Palace and go back to the riad with the guide for a rest before lunch.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 to 4 hours on foot on flat, busy lanes; motorbikes share the alleys, so keep to the side.

   

3. Day 3: Up into the High Atlas

   Marrakech to Asni, then up the valley to Imlil

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Imlil
   Day 3 details

   After breakfast, at about 9 am, we leave Marrakech and drive south across the Haouz plain towards the wall of the High Atlas, about an hour and a half and 65 km. The road climbs through Asni, a market village, then follows the river up to Imlil, at about 1,740 m, the last village reached by road below Jebel Toubkal, which at 4,167 m is the highest peak in North Africa. This valley was hit by the September 2023 Al Haouz earthquake and rebuilding continues; visitors are a large part of how it earns its living. We settle into our guesthouse for two nights (if the guesthouse is above the road end, a mule carries the bags up the last stretch) and have lunch on the terrace. In the afternoon a licensed local mountain guide leads an easy walk of about two hours up through walnut and apple terraces to the village of Aroumd, then back down for mint tea as the light leaves the peaks. Dinner is at the guesthouse.

   Included

   • Drive from Marrakech to Imlil with your guide
   • Lunch and dinner at the guesthouse
   • Afternoon walk to the village of Aroumd with a licensed mountain guide

   Easier option: Skip the Aroumd walk and stay on the guesthouse terrace with the view of the valley.

   Free time: Evening at the guesthouse

   Activity: About 5 km there and back with roughly 200 m of climbing. Imlil is cool in the evening even in summer; bring a warm layer.

   

4. Day 4: Berber villages and the Tamatert pass

   Imlil to Tamatert and the Tizi n'Tamatert pass, then back the same way to Imlil

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Imlil
   Day 4 details

   A walking day at the pace of the slowest walker, not a summit. We set off at about 9 am with our mountain guide on the mule path to the village of Tamatert, then on to the Tizi n'Tamatert pass, at about 2,280 m, for the view back over the Imlil valley to the Toubkal massif and across into the next valley. It is an out-and-back walk of about 5 km each way, with roughly 550 m of climbing over two to three hours and stops for breath and photographs. We do not cross into the Imnane valley on the far side; we turn at the pass and walk back down to Tamatert, where lunch is in a Berber village house: a tagine cooked by the family, bread from their oven and tea. From there the mule path drops back to Imlil through walnut groves and terraced barley fields, with irrigation channels beside the trail, and we are back by mid-afternoon. The rest of the day is free on the terrace or in the village. In winter, when snow lies on the pass, the guide chooses a lower route along the valley instead.

   Included

   • Guided out-and-back walk with a licensed mountain guide to Tamatert and the Tizi n'Tamatert pass
   • Lunch with a family in a village house
   • Dinner at the guesthouse

   Easier option: Skip the pass: walk the level valley path between the villages around Imlil for about an hour and a half, then join the group for lunch.

   More active option: Walk up past Aroumd to the shrine of Sidi Chamharouch, at about 2,350 m on the Toubkal trail, with a second mountain guide: about 6 hours there and back.

   Free time: Late afternoon free

   Activity: About 10 km out and back (5 km each way) with roughly 550 m up and down on rough, stony mule paths. Wear walking shoes with grip and bring a sun hat, water and a warm layer.

5. Day 5: From the mountains to the Atlantic

   Imlil to the edge of Marrakech, then west to Essaouira

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Essaouira
   Day 5 details

   Today is the one long drive of the trip, about 250 km and about 4 hours at the wheel, because no road from these mountains to the coast avoids Marrakech. Three stops break it up: a coffee stop, a sit-down lunch and an argan cooperative. We leave Imlil at about 9 am, drop down to the plain, skirt the edge of the city and head west into argan country. The coffee stop comes in the first half and lunch is a sit-down meal on the way. In the early afternoon we stop at a women's argan cooperative near Essaouira to see the nuts cracked by hand and pressed into oil, with no pressure to buy. This argan forest is part of the Arganeraie, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1998. We do not stop for the goats posed in argan trees by the roadside, which are placed there for tips. We reach Essaouira by mid-afternoon and check into a riad inside the walls for three nights. At sunset we walk the Skala de la Ville, the sea ramparts lined with old bronze cannons, as the wind comes in off the Atlantic.

   Included

   • Drive from Imlil to Essaouira with your guide, with a coffee stop
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Visit to a women's argan cooperative
   • Sunset walk on the Skala de la Ville ramparts

   Free time: Evening free in Essaouira

   Activity: The longest drive of the trip, at the 4-hour cap; it is the price of going from the mountains to the sea. The next two days have no driving.

6. Day 6: Essaouira: the port and the medina

   On foot in Essaouira, from the harbour to the medina

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Essaouira
   Day 6 details

   Morning is the time for the port: the fishing boats come in, blue wooden boats crowd the harbour, and the gulls circle while the catch is sold on the quay. We walk out to the Skala du Port, the fortified harbour bastion, and past the boatyard where wooden fishing boats are still built by hand. Then a licensed local guide leads us through the medina, laid out from the 1760s for Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah by the French engineer Théodore Cornut and listed by UNESCO in 2001 as the Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador). We see the Mellah, the thuya-wood workshops where boxes are inlaid with lemonwood, and the spice and fish souks. Lunch is grilled fish at the port, picked from the stalls and cooked while you wait, with meat and vegetable dishes for those who prefer them. The afternoon and evening are free. Essaouira is calmer than Marrakech, with far less hassle, so it is an easy place to wander on your own.

   Included

   • The fishing port and the Skala du Port in the morning
   • Medina walk with a licensed local guide: the Mellah, the thuya-wood workshops and the souks
   • Grilled fish lunch at the port

   Optional experiences

   • Hammam
   • Gnaoua music in a medina cafe in the evening

   Easier option: Skip the medina walk after the port and rest at the riad or in a cafe on Place Moulay Hassan until lunch.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot on flat lanes and harbour paving.

   

7. Day 7: Market, cooking class and the beach

   Essaouira market and medina kitchen, then the beach towards Diabat

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Essaouira
   Day 7 details

   A slower morning. At about 10 am we go to the market with a local cook to buy vegetables, olives, spices and fish, then cook lunch together in a kitchen in the medina: a tagine, a salad of grilled peppers and tomatoes, and bread, which you eat when it is ready. The afternoon belongs to the coast. Essaouira's beach runs south from the town for several kilometres, and the steady trade wind that makes it a kitesurfing centre also keeps the town mild when inland Morocco is hot. Walk the sand for a few kilometres towards the village of Diabat and the old ruined fort near the river mouth, or sit with a book in a beach cafe. Your guide can book a horse or camel ride along the beach, or a surf or kitesurf lesson, if you want something more active; these are paid on the spot. Dinner tonight is your own choice, and your guide has a short list of good places in the medina.

   Included

   • Market visit with a local cook
   • Cooking class in the medina, with the lunch you cook

   Optional experiences

   • Horse or camel ride along the beach to Diabat
   • Surf or kitesurf lesson
   • Hammam

   Easier option: Stay in town after lunch: a beach cafe or the riad roof terrace instead of the beach walk.

   More active option: Walk the beach to Diabat and back, a few kilometres each way, or take a surf lesson.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

8. Day 8: Back to Marrakech for a rooftop sunset

   Essaouira to Marrakech

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Marrakech
   Day 8 details

   A free morning in Essaouira: a last walk on the ramparts, a coffee on Place Moulay Hassan, or a hammam. After an early sit-down lunch in the medina we drive back to Marrakech, about 190 km and three hours, through the argan country and across the Chichaoua plain, with one stop on the way. We reach Marrakech by late afternoon and check into a riad or hotel in or near the medina for the last night, close to the airport road. Before dinner we climb to a rooftop terrace above Jemaa el-Fnaa to watch the square fill and the smoke rise from the food stalls as the call to prayer sounds from the Koutoubia. The farewell dinner is at a restaurant in the medina, with the whole group and your guide. If you want one more look at the city, the El Badi Palace and the Saadian Tombs are a short walk from the square and easy to see on your own tomorrow morning.

   Included

   • Sit-down lunch in Essaouira
   • Drive from Essaouira to Marrakech with your guide
   • Sunset from a rooftop terrace above Jemaa el-Fnaa
   • Farewell dinner in the medina

   Free time: Morning free in Essaouira

9. Day 9: Depart Marrakech

   Your riad to Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK)

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   Breakfast at the riad, then the morning is yours until your transfer. If your flight leaves after midday there is time to walk to the El Badi Palace, the ruined 16th-century Saadian palace whose walls are now home to storks, or to the Saadian Tombs nearby, or simply to sit over a last mint tea. The riad keeps your bags if checkout comes before your transfer. Marrakech Menara Airport is about 20 minutes away by road, and we drop you there whatever your flight time; allow two to three hours before an international departure, as the security queues can be slow. If you are travelling on in Morocco rather than flying home, the train to Casablanca and Rabat leaves from Marrakech station, and your guide can drop you there instead. Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm if you want the morning in the city.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK) or Marrakech railway station

   Optional experiences

   • El Badi Palace
   • Saadian Tombs

   Free time: Morning free until your transfer

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm to use the morning.

Wildlife and weather: Spring and autumn are mild in all three places. Marrakech is very hot in July and August, while Essaouira stays cool and windy all summer. Winter brings snow to the High Atlas passes and cold nights in Imlil.

• Marrakech2 nights
• Imlil2 nights
• Essaouira3 nights
• Marrakech1 night