Day excursion · from Marrakech
The High Atlas & Imlil
An hour and a half from the Jemaa el-Fna and you are at the foot of the highest mountain in North Africa, in a walnut valley where the road runs out and the mule track starts.
Route
- Marrakech
- Asni
- Imlil
- Armed
- Marrakech
At a glance
- Length
- 1 dayOut and back in a day
- From
- MarrakechReturns to the start
- Going
- moderateSome walking on uneven ground, early starts, a night under canvas.
- Group size
- to confirmIzil has not set a party size for this route yet.
- From
- on enquiryNo price has been set. Nothing on this page is a quotation — ask and we will send you one.
- Best season
- April – JuneBlossom, then green. Snow still on the tops, water in the river, and the walking at its best.
The Atlas is visible from most of Marrakech and almost nobody goes into it. This is the day that fixes that — a valley of walnut terraces and flat-roofed Amazigh villages under Toubkal, walked rather than driven past.
Imlil is where the tarmac gives up. It is the roadhead for Jebel Toubkal, so the village runs on mules, guides and refuge traffic, and it has the particular working atmosphere of a place that exists because of the mountain behind it rather than because of the people who come to look at it.
The day is built around walking. From Imlil a graded track climbs through walnut and cherry terraces to Armed, the highest permanently inhabited village in the valley, stacked up the hillside in stone and earth with irrigation channels running between the houses. It is not a hard walk, but it is uphill, at altitude, on uneven ground — this is the one excursion on the list where the shoes you brought actually matter.
Lunch is in the valley, usually on a terrace with the mountain in front of you, and usually tagine, because that is what is cooked. The drive back drops through Asni in the late afternoon, when the light comes across the plain sideways and the Atlas turns the colour it is famous for.
The day
The route, day by day
Day 1 · last day
Marrakech, Asni, Imlil, and back
Marrakech → Asni → Imlil → Armed → Marrakech
South out of the city on the Taroudant road, through the argan and olive country of the Haouz, and up. Asni sits at the mouth of the valley — Saturday is market day, and if you are here on one, it is worth the stop. From Asni the road follows the Rheraya upstream past Ouirgane and into the walnut terraces, narrowing until it stops at Imlil. From there you walk: up the track through the terraces to Armed, with the villages on the far side of the valley at eye level and Toubkal closing the head of it. Lunch in the valley, tea afterwards, and back down through Asni in the last of the light.
timings to confirm
No overnight — the route ends today.
Covered
What is included
- Private vehicle and driver for the day, from and back to your address in Marrakech
- A local mountain guide from the valley for the walk
- Mint tea in the village
Not covered
What is not
- Lunch — reckon on a set price at a valley terrace, and we will tell you what it is when you ask
- A mule, if you would rather ride the climb than walk it
- Tips for the driver and the guide
When
Best season
- April – June
- Blossom, then green. Snow still on the tops, water in the river, and the walking at its best.
- September – November
- Clear and cool, walnut harvest in the terraces, very few people.
- July – August
- The valley is the reason Marrakech empties in summer — it is cooler up here by a long way. Start early anyway.
- December – March
- Cold, sometimes snowbound above Imlil. Beautiful, and a different day: less walking, more fire.
Before you book
Good to know
- The walk is uphill on a rough track. It is not technical and there is no scrambling, but trainers with some grip beat anything else you own.
- You are at altitude. Not enough to be a problem, enough to notice on the climb.
- The mule is not a novelty — it is how everything moves in the valley, and taking one is normal rather than a concession.
- Villages here are lived in, not exhibited. Ask before photographing people, and expect the answer to sometimes be no.
- This runs as a two-day trip with a night in a valley gîte, which is a substantially better version of it if you have the time.
Next
Ask about this route
Dates, party size and what you actually want out of it. Izil will come back with a price and, if the route needs changing to suit you, will say so.
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