Frequent reader, new poster.
Thanks to this Forum assisting with trip planning, I am paying it forward and sharing this Morocco Trip Report of a self-organized Road Trip (approximately 1,500 km) through the Atlas Mountains and anti-Atlas Mountain to the Atlantic coast by my husband and I.
We organized the trip ourselves, about 2 months in advance, travelled independently November 9-25, 2025.
For context, we are Canadian and both speak French, are fairly experienced and confident independent travellers, having self-organized this type of travel journey in several Europe countries and the Middle East previously. This was our first visit to the African continent.
Skip to the end for summary and travel observations.
Itinerary, hotels, activities:
Arrived in Marrakesh via Air France, stayed for 3 nights in the Medina (Riad Jardin des sens) which was very close to Jemaa El-Fna. The Riad organized a porter to meet us at the gates to escort us with our luggage, which after an overnight journey from Canada was great.
Our initial impressions were of being positively overwhelmed with sights, sounds, smells, and general chaos of traffic: people, horns honking, cars, scooters, motorcycles, bicycles all vying together and everything just worked.
In Marrakech, we spent time exploring the sooks, all truly incredible, visited Bahia Palace, Jardin Majorelle, and Madrassa Ben Youssef. I could go on about how culturally amazing I thought Marrakech is- so different from any place else I have ever visited before- but I have 2 more weeks to still get to! It was amazing. The books and YouTube videos we watched and advice from our Riad all said not to eat street food, but we did! We couldn’t resist. And we’re totally fine! In fact, the sandwiches we got were some of the best street food we’ve had, and that’s saying something; I’ve been to Italy a lot!
Next stop: Ouarzazate
We picked up our rental car in Marrakech just outside the Medina gates. Driving in Marrakech is quite different from driving in north America or Europe (putting it mildly). Safely getting to the highway, Route Nationale, we were on our way!
2 nights in Ouarzazate, driving through incredible mountain scenery and very high mountain passes (Tizi n’Tichka pass, the highest in Morocco) along the way. We visited movie studios, and Ait Ben Haddou.
The Riad was lovely, Riad Chay, staff extremely helpful and friendly, had everything we needed, delicious food at breakfast and dinner.
Regarding Ait Ben Haddou: it is free to enter!!!! Do not get scammed!!!! There is a (homemade) sign pointing to an entry (“Entrance Here”). That’s not the official entrance. The official entrance - which is free- is at the end of the long bridge over the river (which was dry when we went) and the official sign is a UNESCO sign. You can pay the men at the “entrance” to the museum but the site is free.
Next stop: Tinghir & Todra and Dades Gorges
Next stop was deeper into the high Atlas Mountains for hikes, including the Todra Gorge Loop (medium difficulty according to AllTrails, elevation 1,200m with 300-400m elevation change), and Monkey Fingers (Les doigts des singes).
The drive included more incredible scenery, views, mountain passes, awesome switchbacks, and landscapes.
We stayed at Kasbah Petite Nomade, the owner was extremely helpful, it was simple but lovely, extremely comfortable, with amazing views of the mountains and palmerais, and the food (breakfast and dinner) was one of my favourites of the entire trip.
(Continued)