Ourika Valley

One Hour, A Different Register

Ourika Valley, 45 km south of Marrakech. Monday souk at Tnine l’Ourika.

Forty kilometres south of the medina, the Ourika Valley cuts through the foothills of the High Atlas along the course of the Ourika river — a drive that changes register within twenty minutes of leaving the city: the ochre of Marrakech gives way to olive groves, then to the red earth of the foothills, then to a narrowing valley of terraced hillsides and Berber villages built directly into the slopes.

As the heat builds in Marrakech through June and July, the valley runs several degrees cooler. The river is audible before it is visible. The pace slows of its own accord.

The Monday souk at Tnine l’Ourika — the village that takes its name from the day it gathers — is one of the most honest markets within reach of the city. Farmers from the surrounding settlements bring produce down the valley: vegetables, fruit, livestock, spices, the kind of transaction that has nothing to perform for anyone passing through. It is worth arriving early, before the heat of the day, and letting the morning take its own time.

Further up the valley, the road narrows and climbs toward Setti Fatma, where the river drops through a series of cascades into a pool below. The walk to the first waterfall takes twenty minutes from the village and passes through terraced gardens and walnut trees. In June the water runs well.

We arrange private transfers from the Riad. The drive takes ninety minutes each way and can be paired with lunch at one of the simple restaurants along the riverbank — fresh trout, Moroccan salads, the unhurried pace of an afternoon with no particular plan.

We arrange private excursions. The drive takes ninety minutes each way.