Village life in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco

Trips & field notes

Three landscapes,
one way to travel

How to move through the mountains, the palm groves and the sand without turning a village into a backdrop — with the field notes we write along the way, all in one place.

Azul & welcome Guided by host families

3 Route regions

9 Seasons guiding

38 Village hosts

The routes

Pick a landscape, walk it slowly

High Atlas Valleys landscape in Morocco

01 Aït Bouguemez, Toubkal & Aït Bougmez

High Atlas Valleys

Terraced barley fields, mule tracks and stone villages that hold snow until April. Walk between douars, sleep in family guesthouses, learn the irrigation calendar.

Best season April – October

Where to base Tabant guesthouse

Read the full guide Plan this route

Draa Palm Groves landscape in Morocco

02 Zagora & the Draa Valley

Draa Palm Groves

A 200-kilometre oasis of date palms, mud-brick ksour and the last caravanserai before the sand. Best explored along the river road by bicycle.

Best season October – March

Where to base Kasbah camp, Zagora

Read the full guide Plan this route

Erg Chegaga Dunes landscape in Morocco

03 Saharan Morocco

Erg Chegaga Dunes

Where the road ends and camels take over. Two-night minimum, water carried in, and camps that pack everything out again.

Best season November – February

Where to base Desert camp, M'hamid

Read the full guide Plan this route

Field notes

Written on the way to every trip

Plan a trip

Photo for the field note: The night the village taught me to bake bread

High Atlas Valleys

Village life · March 2026 · 7 min read

The night the village taught me to bake bread

In Aït Bouguemez the tannour is lit at four in the morning. I was handed a dough ball and a lesson in patience.

Read the note

Photo for the field note: Crossing the Tizi n'Tich pass in a 1987 Land Rover

High Atlas Valleys

Road notes · February 2026 · 9 min read

Crossing the Tizi n'Tich pass in a 1987 Land Rover

Four hours of switchbacks, one overheated radiator, and the best glass of tea in the Atlas at the top.

Read the note

Photo for the field note: What the carpets in Tazenakht are actually saying

Draa Palm Groves

Craft · January 2026 · 6 min read

What the carpets in Tazenakht are actually saying

Every motif has a name. We sat with three weavers who decoded a rug stitch by stitch.

Read the note

Photo for the field note: Three glasses of tea, and what each one means

Draa Palm Groves

Culture · December 2025 · 5 min read

Three glasses of tea, and what each one means

Life, love, death — or so the proverb says. We asked a tea seller in Zagora what he actually thinks.

Read the note

Photo for the field note: A night in Erg Chegaga with no tent

Erg Chegaga Dunes

Desert · November 2025 · 8 min read

A night in Erg Chegaga with no tent

The campsite was full, so we slept on a dune. Here is what the sky did.

Read the note

Photo for the field note: Learning Tifinagh on the back of a bus ticket

Draa Palm Groves

Culture · October 2025 · 6 min read

Learning Tifinagh on the back of a bus ticket

Twenty-two characters, one friendly seatmate and a 90-minute journey out of Ouarzazate.

Read the note