Morocco

[Thehairs1970]

Considering having a two week tour in Morocco at Easter. We are road tourers not off-roaders. Anyone have any must sees/dos? We are planning, at the mo, to b&b/hostel/budget hotel, if that helps. If anyone has any experience of the area we’d love to hear?

Thanks

[toontra]

Did a loop of the High Atlas starting in Marakesh a few years ago. As expected, the most spectacular scenery was the reward for challenging climbs.

Finding accommodation in the more remote areas was a bit of a problem and stayed in some places that frankly shouldn't be charging people money for what was provided! Food was also a bit of a problem, and I contracted a respiratory virus that resulted in losing my voice for a month.

Otherwise - a great place for cycle touring. Light traffic out of urban areas and generally friendly people. Having said that, usually wise to politely refuse un-solicited assistance from people offering to "help" you in any way. Chances are they will ask for money at some point and things can get ugly.

[Mtb tourer]

Morocco is starting to get hot. Not long back had 4 weeks in Feb/March south of the high atlas . Last winter Oct/Nov 5 weeks from Agadir to Zagora and back . South of the high atlas is ok for accommodation and food in the tourist towns but further south food/ accommodation is sparse. In the south we had 8 days camping rough compared to 1 day on the Oct/Nov trip as its on the tourist route to the desert. People are great ,roads in the south are much quieter and more options for dirt tracks. Last winter they had big floods, some roads have had damage and river crossings have few bridges in the south but they will be dry now.

[Mtb tourer]

Toontra. Accommodation is variable did you stay in Igherm,only place to stay was a hostal/hotel £8 for the 2 of us lets say you only get what you pay for. As its up at 1700m its warmer than the tent. Only plus is it has a few places to eat and its at a crossroads.

[toontra]

Toontra. Accommodation is variable did you stay in Igherm,only place to stay was a hostal/hotel £8 for the 2 of us lets say you only get what you pay for. As its up at 1700m its warmer than the tent. Only plus is it has a few places to eat and its at a crossroads.

No - didn't get that far south. As you say in the remote areas there was often only a single place offering accommodation.

Another thing to be aware of - on three separate occasions the place was nowhere near where shown on the map, and where there are limited roads this can be a real problem. One required trecking up a very steep hillside over a rough track other tourists were only tackling by donkey - we had 2 fully laden bikes! Another was literally 20 miles away from the listing - not what you want at the end of a long hot day's riding.

[Sooper8]

Here's my take on it, but I was on a hiking , not cycling trip

Once you get up in the Atlas ,the village names have various spellings, so it can get a bit confusing. Phone signal is sketchy at best.

It's cooler up there , but you might notice the air is a bit 'thinner', I did, and took a couple of days to acclimatise . I would think it would be too hot for any cycling in the middle of the day on the flats down near Marrakesh.

Someone mentioned the requests in the street for sale of services - It's perfectly fine. You'll feel more threatened in most UK towns or cities at night than in Morocco. The people are friendly and fun. Enjoy the haggling, and end with a smile.

I really doubt that any Moroccan person would turn you away if you were in need of food, water or shelter- it's part of the culture. So, learn a few words of Arabic (Shuk'ran (thanks) being a good place to start) and enjoy it. And if you speajk French you'll probably get much further in your interactions in some places. Wonderful place. Highly recommend , but beware the heat, it's fierce.

[Thehairs1970]

Thanks for the replies re this.

Current favourite spots are Draa valley, Todra Gorge, Ait-Ben-Hanoud, Marrakesh.

How to link them…?

[toontra]

Todra Gorge and Ait-Ben-Hanoud can be linked by a direct route from Marrakesh through the High Atlas. You could then head south via Agdz (which is what we did). We didn't get as far south as Draa valley (we wanted to stay in the hills and do a few more of the famous climbs) but don't see why you couldn't make a loop of this back to Marrakesh.