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Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains

Visit Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains with our guide to how to enjoy both the popular city and the High Atlas in one break. Just over 60km from Marrakech, Atlas Mountains trekking is a great way to extend a city break and stay longer in a destination, spreading money to local Berber communities beyond the city.

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Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains

On a clear day, you might be able to see the Atlas Mountains from the middle of Marrakech. Though when you’re in the hubbub of the hot souks they seem as distant as a dream. The mountains are just 64km south of the city – or an easy hour-and-a-half drive up paved roads.

“It’s quite astonishing the difference you get between the hustle and bustle of Marrakech and the mountains,” says Mike McHugo, of our partner Kasbah de Toubkal, who run holidays in Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains. The kasbah is an eco-hotel in the High Atlas, and trips with the company can also stay in a selection of riads – traditional houses – in Marrakech.

Marrakech, Morocco’s fourth largest city by population, is its most visited destination, alongside the resorts of Agadir. Ask about Marrakech, and travellers remember its liveliness – the crowds that gather in its main square at sunset, and snake through the medina souks. The High Atlas Mountains, on the other hand, present a vast area of quiet, steep, scree-covered slopes, populated by a few low-lying Berber villages couched among ancient walnut trees.

The piles of scree on the Atlas mountainside have their counterpart in the souks of Marrakech: the high cones of coloured spices piled up in dishes, and the stalls overflowing with produce.

Though in many ways they couldn’t be more contrasting, Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains are linked by geography and shared Berber (Amazigh) culture. “Marrakech is considered a Berber city – most of the residents are of Berber origin,” Mike explains, “not like Rabat and Fes where the inhabitants are mostly of Arabic origin.”

Berber people – who also call themselves Amazigh, meaning ‘free people’ – come down from the Atlas Mountains area to work in Marrakech. And Marrakech natives ascend into the mountains for their summer holidays and weekends, to relax by the rivers. “It’s often too hot in the city so they come and picnic up in the relative cool of the mountains,” says Mike. “It can be 10-12 degrees cooler than Marrakech – when it’s 42°C in Marrakech, it’s 30°C here.”

Whilst the Atlas Mountains are close enough to be day-trip territory, once you’re here you’ll want to stay a few days – the trails leading up to the high passes present an irresistible challenge if you like hiking, whilst, as the Moroccans know, the clear air is refreshing after the city heat.

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2023 Marrakech–Safi earthquake

In September 2023 a severe earthquake struck the Atlas Mountains, 70km outside of Marrakech. It was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the country. Whilst Marrakech was affected, and the earthquake damaged some historic sites, repairs were quickly underway. Most of the damage and loss of life was in Atlas Mountain communities, and some villages close to the epicentre were completely destroyed. It is thought that up to 3,000 people died.

Tourism returned very quickly to the country and is needed more than ever in the Atlas Mountains. We spoke to Mike in October after the earthquake. “The trees of the Imlil Valley are almost at the peak of their autumnal colours, their branches laden with fruit that will be served to guests at Village du Toubkal,” he says. “The weather is lovely, not too hot but soon to approach the chill of winter mountain nights. Imlil was spared much of the tremor and suffered little damage, and what there was, was repaired within a couple of weeks. Shops are open: business as usual. Moroccans are a pragmatic people – ‘we had an earthquake, let’s get on with it to put things right’.

“While restoration continues on Kasbah du Toubkal, with the focus of opening in the New Year, 75 percent of treks to either the summit of Jebel Toubkal or the guest house in the Azaaden Valley went ahead as planned, the others postponed, not cancelled.”

Putting the Atlas on the map

The Atlas Mountains are three chains of high ground: the High, Middle and Anti-Atlas. The highest mountains – those of the High Atlas – are closest to Marrakech and include several peaks over 4,000m.

Many tourists focus their Atlas Mountains trekking on Toubkal National Park, surrounding the Toubkal Massif. Mount Toubkal at its centre is, at 4,137m, the highest mountain in North Africa. Summitting it is a rewarding, non-technical trek for those who are fit enough – and the wider area is full of walking routes, too.

The village of Imlil, sitting around 1,700m above sea level, is a trailhead village – meaning that many trekkers come to stay here in between walks. It’s here that you’ll find Kasbah de Toubkal, a short hike out of town, and other accommodation and traveller amenities.

You’re more likely to get lost in a square kilometre of Marrakech’s medina than you are walking in the Atlas Mountains. Guides in Toubkal National Park are advised, and you’ll usually trek with a guide, a muleteer, and a mule. This system works very well, as the muleteer can go on ahead and prepare lunch – often a wonderfully considered affair, with platters of cous cous, served on a blanket with a valley view, and mint tea for afters.

You’re more likely to get lost in a square kilometre of Marrakech’s medina than you are walking in the Atlas Mountains.

Introducing Marrakech

Marrakech is fascinating for tourists, with the most souks of any Moroccan city, a couple of famous – and beautiful – gardens, and Jemaa el-Fna, a huge public square that’s been used as a gathering place for centuries. The city, divided between its newer town (Gueliz), and the old town (the Medina), exists in contrast between the massive and bustling square and souks, and its pockets of quiet.

Visiting Marrakech is often an exercise in conducting one miniature escape after another; into Le Jardin Secret or Le Jardin Majorelle, ducking into a riad, or a café, or onto a roof terrace. Not that there’s anything particularly bad to escape from; it’s just that Marrakech is all about experience – and those experiences can be intense.

Your eyes adjust to peering between hanging lanterns and tassels into small shops, and you get used to haggling for every purchase. In the main square, you might find yourself dodging snake charmers, henna artists, and even dentists plying their trade. “Lot of people love the hustle and bustle but they are quite happy to leave it,” Mike agrees. “A whole week in Marrakech is too much for most people.”

Rather than flying back after a short city break, going into the mountains is a great way to spend money for the benefit of Moroccans in the High Atlas too, and get two trips for one – good if you’re looking at reducing your number of flights a year.

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The changing face of Central Morocco

Rising visitor numbers

Both Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains are changing. Morocco’s growing middle class is exploring. “Moroccans have started holidaying in their own country,” Mike says. “The Atlas Mountains are a honeypot for tourism. In Imlil, for instance, it used to be that hardly any Moroccans went up Toubkal – now, lots do.”

International tourism plays an important part in the fortunes of both Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains, too. Modern tourism in Morocco has its roots in the ascendency of Mohammed VI to the throne in 1999. The new king wanted to encourage more visitors. “He made tourism an engine for economic development,” says Mike. “What you see in Marrakech is his legacy.” Visitor numbers to Marrakech have increased since the 1990s, but now they are rising rapidly. In May 2023, they were up 63 percent on the same month in 2019.

Changing communities

In the High Atlas, more tourism brings money and development. “There’s no question that tourism has allowed the villages around Imlil to become more affluent,” says Mike. A tarmac road came to Imlil in the 2000s, but now the government is building new infrastructure in the area, and tarmac roads are arriving at the thresholds of more hard-to-reach valleys, too.

In some remote areas of the mountains, illiteracy is as high as 83 percent – girls, in particular, are taken out of education after primary school. Pupils often have to travel large distances to get to school, meaning they have to stay in the towns where the schools are. Where families deem that there’s nowhere appropriate for their daughters to stay, those girls cannot attend the school.

Education for All, a local NGO co-founded by Mike, opened its first boarding house in Asni in 2007, and allows hundreds of girls to continue their education every year. Their work is about to be brought even closer to home. The government is bringing more infrastructure to the local area. “They are building a secondary school in Imlil,” Mike explains. “It means that the girls will be able to come to school from even more rural areas.” Kasbah du Toubkal invests five percent of each guest fee into the community, most recently building a solar pump to provide drinking water in a nearby valley.

A culture intact

Whilst the mountains may be developing and giving their inhabitants more opportunities, responsible tourism can help preserve cultural traditions, and show their value to new audiences. Kasbah du Toubkal styles itself as a Berber (Amazigh) community centre first and foremost.

The staff at the kasbah are all from the community, and guests are given insight into their lives. “Our Berber guide explained the very positive impact the Kasbah du Toubkal was making to the lives of those in his community,” said traveller Poppy Squire in their review of our Marrakech and Atlas Mountains holiday in Morocco. “His work as a guide allowed him to pay for his children to go to school 20km away.”

Practicalities

How long to spend in Marrakech & the Atlas Mountains?

You could split the time equally between Marrakech and the mountains – say three nights in the city, and four in the mountains. But most trips tend to skew towards more time in the mountains – say five nights in the High Atlas, followed by two in the city, especially if you’re interested in hiking.

Whilst you fly into Marrakech, you could choose to visit the mountains first via short transfer from the airport, before plunging back into the city.

If you wanted to climb Mount Toubkal, the trek takes two days; you’ll need days either side to acclimatise, and reduce your chances of altitude sickness. Alternatively, you can relax and enjoy life at a slower pace, enjoying the scenery.

How to get to the Atlas Mountains from Morocco?

You can get to an Atlas Mountains trailhead in under two hours from Marrakech, transferring by road. The road out of Marrakech across the plain passes through Asni – a small town enlivened on Saturday by its weekly market. After Asni, the road climbs. You’ll see Mount Toubkal on the drive – and then soon after, you’ll reach Imlil, the best town from which to reach Toubkal Basecamps. Improvements are making the roads wider and better surfaced.

Best time to go?

As high summer in Marrakech often proves too hot for overseas visitors, spring and autumn (April-May, and September-October) are the most popular times to visit Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains for a mixture of relaxing and trekking. Snow falls on the High Atlas in winter, eliminating some trekking routes but the cold weather can make the atmosphere in the tourist kasbahs cosy and alpine.

However, Marrakech can be expensive over the winter holidays. Summer in the mountains is cool. At 1,800m up, as Mike explains, “you don’t need air conditioning; we don’t get much more than 30°C -32°C ”.

In the hot summers in Marrakech, Saharan dust and heat haze hide the Atlas peaks from view. But investment is coming into Central Morocco, bringing roads, infrastructure, and visitors – both local and international. Veiled from view, or crisp, fresh, and capped with snow on a winter’s day, the mountains and Marrakech seem closer to each other than ever.