Dades Valley and Todra Gorge: travel guide

Aït Ouffi bends

The zigzag from the photos. For the view from above, there's a café with a viewpoint at the top of the pass.

Monkey Fingers

Rounded rocks that look like knuckles, beside the valley road. There's a short walk among them.

Todra Gorge

Limestone walls over 300 metres high. You walk the narrow section along the riverbed.

• 15 km from Tinghir
• When the water is low, you stay dry

Palm grove viewpoint

Kilometres of palms and gardens with the old village above. The light is best late in the day.

Kelaa M'Gouna

The valley of the roses, with rose water cooperatives. The harvest festival changes date every year.

Walk above the Todra

It climbs from the gorge to the plateau, passes villages and nomad caves and comes back by a different path.

Aït Youl kasbahs

Just after you turn onto the valley road, several mud-brick kasbahs stand above the river and the gardens. It's the first photo stop, with the best light late in the afternoon.

• 5 minutes from Boumalne
• Afternoon light

Msemrir, at the head of the valley

Past the bends, the road narrows between rock walls up to Msemrir, a mountain village at almost 2,000 metres. Beyond it there are only dirt tracks.

• Narrow road
• Be back before dark

High pass to the Todra

A track links Msemrir with Tamtattouchte above both gorges and closes the loop between the valleys. 4x4 only, in good weather and with a driver who knows it.

• 4x4 only
• Sometimes closed in winter

Tamtattouchte plateau

A Berber village on the plateau, about 15 kilometres above the Todra Gorge. It has simple guesthouses and is a starting point for walks to the higher villages.

• Simple guesthouses
• Walking routes

Ksar El Khorbat in Tinejdad

A restored ksar with a museum of oasis life, on the way to Erfoud. It explains how people lived in these mud-brick villages and takes half an hour to see.

• Half-hour visit
• On the way to Merzouga

Imilchil road

The Todra road carries on to Agoudal and Imilchil, shepherd villages deep in the High Atlas. Imilchil is known for its wedding moussem at the end of summer.

• Villages above 2,000 m
• Moussem at the end of summer

Afternoon in the upper Dades

Arrive from Ouarzazate around 16:00, stop at Aït Youl and drive up to the Aït Ouffi bends to see them from the viewpoint café before the sun goes down. Dinner and the night in the valley.

• Viewpoint café at sunset
• Dinner at the hotel

The Todra first thing

Leave at 8:30, reach Tinghir in an hour and the gorge before 10:00, before the groups arrive. Walk the narrow section and stop at the palm grove viewpoint on the way out.

• Before 10:00
• Sandals in spring

Move on or stay

If you move on, it's about three hours to the dunes. If you stay, head down to the Tinghir palm grove in the afternoon and walk among the gardens and irrigation channels: it's a different landscape and there's nobody about.

• Three hours to Merzouga
• Tinghir palm grove on foot

Monkey Fingers gorge

A three- to four-hour loop through a side gorge of the Dades, among the rounded rocks. With a local guide, water and firm soles; the car waits for you at the end.

• Leave before 9:00
• Don't go in if there's a storm

A night here on the way to Merzouga

Our group departure from Marrakech sleeps in the Dades Valley and, the next morning, goes through the Todra Gorge before reaching the dunes.

• Hotel inside the valley
• Todra in the morning

Two valleys in good light

On the photography trip you reach the Dades from Skoura in mid-afternoon, with low light on the bends, and photograph the Todra the next morning on the way to the dunes.

• Bends in afternoon light
• Todra in the morning

Rose water and creams

The cooperatives distil the Damask roses harvested in May. Pure rose water is cheap; the creams and perfumes usually contain other ingredients, so read the label.

• Read the label
• Harvest festival in May

Azlag daggers

Craftsmen in Azlag make the traditional curved dagger. It's a heavy souvenir and, if you buy one, it has to go in checked luggage, never in the cabin.

• Checked luggage
• Workshops in the village

Carpets from the south

Kilims and wool rugs from the Saghro area, plainer than the ones in Marrakech. Look at the back: tight, even knots mean it was made by hand.

• Check the back
• Have it shipped if it's big

Berber omelette

Eggs set in a tagine with tomato, onion and cumin. Almost every stop offers it, and it's usually the quickest and cheapest thing on the menu.

• Quick and cheap
• With oven-baked bread

Almonds, walnuts and figs

Sold in bags along the Dades road after the harvest. They're cheaper than in the cities and travel well.

• After the harvest
• Cheaper than in town

Bread from clay ovens

In many villages in the valley, bread is still baked in wood-fired clay ovens. If you stop at a guesthouse, ask to watch it being made in the morning: it comes out flat, round and hot.

• In the morning
• Ask at your guesthouse

Zagora by the southern route

From Tinghir you drop down to Alnif and carry on through Tazzarine and N'kob to the Draa. Black-stone landscape and very little traffic.

• Little traffic
• Fill up before you set off

Jbel Saghro massif

Dark volcanic mountains south of the Dades, with multi-day routes from village to village. You walk with a guide and mules, and in summer it's too hot.

• 3- to 6-day routes
• With a guide and mules

New Year in the Dades

On our New Year's Eve trip the first night is here, on the way to Merzouga. In December the valley is cold, so we choose hotels with heating.

• 29 December
• Hotel with heating

Boutique kasbah in Skoura

If you'd rather sleep better than closer, our luxury trip spends the night in the Skoura palm grove and crosses the Dades and the Todra the next day.

• Night in the palm grove
• Dades and Todra the next day

Arriving via Skoura

From Ouarzazate through Skoura and Kelaa M'Gouna to Boumalne Dades.

One day from Marrakech

About seven hours over the Tichka with stops at Aït Ben Haddou. You reach the valley late in the afternoon.

Link with Merzouga

From Tinghir to the dunes via Tinejdad and Erfoud. That's why so many routes sleep here the night before or after the desert.

Bus and car

Buses stop in Boumalne and Tinghir but don't go up into the valleys. To see them properly you need a car or a driver.

Hotels by the Dades river

We prefer this stretch, between the Monkey Fingers and the bends. Quiet, with views of the rock.

• Away from the main road
• Dinner at the hotel

Boumalne Dades

Cheaper and with services, but it's a roadside town without the valley scenery.

Tinghir and the Todra

A good option if you're coming from Merzouga and want to walk the empty gorge first thing.

A stop on the route

If you're only passing through, at least go into the Todra Gorge. It's a 30-minute detour from the N10.

The usual plan

You reach the Dades in the afternoon, sleep in the valley and see the Todra in the morning on the way to Merzouga.

For walking

A free day for a walk in either valley. Few routes include it, and it's what people who do it remember most.

Marrakech to Fez

A night in the Dades and through the Todra before the dunes.

Fez to Marrakech

From Erg Chebbi to the Todra and a night in the Dades.

Grand tour from Tangier

North to south with a night in the Dades.