A Morocco Walking Holiday, As Our Guests Saw It

There's a road out of the Anti-Atlas that runs past our Auberge near Tafraoute, and on our last trip it was shared with a herd of goats ambling home for the evening. It's the kind of moment nobody plans for, and exactly the kind our guests remember the longest.

This is a trip built on contrast. In two weeks, we go from the crashing Atlantic surf at Legzira to the terraced villages of the Anti-Atlas, through desert gorges lined with date palms, into the walled port of Essaouira, and on to the colour and noise of Marrakech. Along the way there's a walk through the palm-filled gorge at Ait Mansour, a morning in the oasis at Tiout, and a full day in the Mentaga valley with our local guide, Said, whose knowledge of the land, and its people, runs deep.

"The involvement of highly knowledgeable, personable and skilled local guides took us even deeper into the culture, the land, the people, and the goats," wrote one guest after a recent trip.

Leading the group throughout is our own guide Sarah, whose ease with people is as much a part of the trip as the landscapes themselves. "Sarah was absolutely terrific; not only is she brilliant at her job but she is wonderful company and brings out the best in everyone she encounters," one guest wrote.

Food and hospitality run through every day of the itinerary. Guests are welcomed for lunch in private Berber houses along the route, there's a morning of bread-making in the souk in Marrakech, and one evening a traditional house museum treated the group to a spontaneous musical performance. Breakfasts are particularly delicious and more than one guest has singled out the tagine served on the evening in Essaouira as the best of the whole trip.

The accommodation is chosen to match the landscape at each stage: a converted French Foreign Legion fort above the Atlantic coast, a Kasbah-style hotel in Tafraoute, an elegant Arab-Berber hotel in Taroudant, a historic caravanserai turned riad in Essaouira, and a four-star boutique riad in the heart of Marrakech's medina. There's time built in too, to sit and relax in beautiful hotel gardens or swim if the temperature allows in the late afternoon before dinner, and for the daily gathering for a drink before the evening meal, which guests often mention as a highlight in its own right.

"We had a lovely time. The trip was well organised, and we were impressed by the care taken in selecting the walks, places to visit, hotels and restaurants, and creating the right balance between different types of activities," wrote one guest travelling with us for the first time.

"A wonderfully varied trip with traditional Berber hospitality, amazing food and very comfortable accommodation," wrote another, after a trip that took in the vast sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast, the foothills of the Anti-Atlas, desert landscapes and picturesque Essaouira.

Our next departure runs 23 February to 7 March 2027, guaranteed to go ahead. It's rated ‘Standard’: and includes six walking days of 1.5 to 4 hours, on generally rough underfoot terrain, so a decent pair of walking boots and some hiking poles are worth packing.

Full itinerary, pricing and dates: Walking in Morocco: a Spring Tour in the South, plus Marrakech