4-day round trip Marrakech, High Atlas, Oasis Timidarte

Day 1

Arrival in Marrakech late afternoon. (enter on the immigration card as address in Morocco: Riad Michel, Quartier Azbezt, Marrakech). You will be collected at the airport directly behind the customs. The chauffeur stands directly behind the customs and has a sheet “Riad Michel”. He brings you as close as possible to the riad. My friend Lucien will receive you. He will also make breakfast for you and accompany you on the first day for dinner if you want. You can then go with him to exchange money at the best rate in hotel Ali. Phone Lucien mobil 00212 607194042 or fix: 00212 524 38 98 76. First night with us in the riad.

Day 2 Drive to Quarzazarte (about 200 km) and Timidarte (120km)

The route is fantastic and invites you to linger. At 6.00 am you get a spacious Dacia Logan diesel with air conditioning supplied, meeting place 7 clock in front of the Café de France. Rental: Wafajet, Mobil 00212 661084548. Price 28 Euro per day. Please enter 2nd driver. Payment with credit card or cash as well as guarantee for the deposit (with a credit card). Please discuss where and when you return the car. From the Hotel de France, you drive out of the square between hotel Ali and the park and refuel at the first gas station (left). Turn right into the main street (5-lane one-way street) and after 100 m turn left at the Kentucky Fried Chicken and go to the next intersection. Turn right and keep straight until you reach the hotel Mamounia (left) and then go through the city wall-gate and turn left into the big boulevard and continue straight along the city wall (Schild’Ouarzarzate). Half-left and reach after about 500m again to the city wall and a gate. Do not drive in, but keep to the right, always along the city wall, along the city wall and always straight ahead until the first big roundabout. At the first roundabout, turn left towards Quarzazarte, through the royal Agdalgarden and at the end turn right to the Golf Royal, which you leave at your right and drive around. Then at a signposted turn to the left, direction Ouarzazarte. Take it and follow the N9 national road in about 2 hours to the Tizin Tichka, the 2150 m high pass. Approximately 20 km before the pass near the village Taddart there is a nice coffee: Jardin Berbere, where you can have a small break with good coffee and clean toilets. After the pass, about 10 km a small descent to the left (the first possible) direction Telouet. Take the small road to Telouet, which is not very good, about 30 km to the village (not stop in the village!) And 500 m after the village center turn right downhill to the Kasbah Telouet, which you have seen already from far. You should be there until 10.30 clock. Tell them that you are friends of Michael d’Allemagne. My friends (Rachid or Mohammed, also known as Ramon) will give you a very interesting guide in English and you can also lunch there very well (before guided tour !!!). Very good tajine with dried fruit, the best in Morocco. For the private guidance one should give a tip between 50 and 100 Dirham. Its worth it. It is one of the most historical and interesting places in Morocco. My friends can also tell you something about real Berber carpets. They have a small cooperative where offended women make great carpets at reasonable prices. You can negotiate, but not 50%. But do not stay too long, because there is still a lot to see on the track !!!! Please leave in time (not after 12.30 clock) and take the direction Ouarzazarte. The scenery is fantastic. Make Fotostop in Tamdakte, best motive on the Kasbas at the end at football field!! After a few kilometers you are in Ait Benhaddou, world cultural heritage and most beautiful Ksar of Morocco, very touristic but a MUST. Leave the car right at the entrance of the village at the Hotel Rose de Sable (right), drink a refreshment and say that you are friends of Ramon from Telouet. Walk down the street on your own and down to the river, then over the bridge (best photo view) to the Ksar, explore the alleys, do not take a guide and do not go into the shops (expensive and bad) because you find everything by yourself easily and it does not cost an entrance. Walk up to the top of the hill, fantastic view over the desert and high Atlas and Ksar. Many films have been shot here like Gladiator. Then drive to Ouarzazarte approximately 30 km by 15.30h at the latest. At the entrance you can see the Atlas Filmstudios with Pharaohs statues in front of the CLA Filmstudios. On the big avenue in front of the village center, turn left, go down to the ATLAS film studios (not the CIA filmstudios, which you have passed about 1 km before!), You can already see the wall with Egyptian statues. If you arrive late start straight to the guided tour through studios, last tour around 5.30 pm depending on the season.
Drive through the quartz road through the city center and after 2 petrol stations turn right towards “Zagora, Agdsz”. Always on the N9 over bridge over dry river bed and in the city behind it turn off at a large T-junction with traffic light to the left. Through fantastic Mondlandschaft about 50 km up to the Tinzn Tinififft, great view, then down to Agdsz. Through Agdsz through direction Zagora and about 20 km past Agdsz after a hill turn left towards Oasental TIMIDARTE. An inconspicuous brownish shield points them down a slope to the oasis of the Kasbah Timidarte (http://www.kasbahtimidarte.com/), which you can already see from the national road (less than 1 km) at the village square at the mosque, turn to the right to the Kasbah Timidarte, contact person is Abdou or Hussein 00212 668680047. You can probably still do in the afternoon with Abdou or Hussein (who speaks well English) a very interesting hike through the most beautiful of all oases I also know, to the swimming place on the river, to eat in the Kasbah, to walk through the village outside the old semi-decayed Ksar to a magnificent viewpoint over the valley or enjoy the fantastic sunset from the roof of the Kasbah.

Day 3

Cozy breakfast, visit of the oasis and swimming in the river, at 10:30 am departure in the direction of Agdsz, about 4 km before the right to the very nice Kasbah Tamnougalte. Drive up to the city wall and turn right the narrow slope along the city wall a sign: Chez Yakoub. They park in front of the Kasbah and ask for the leader Abdou, who also speaks English and shows you this most important and powerful Kasbas in the Draatal, crossing point of the caravans to Timbouktu! Here Bertolucci turned the “Sky over the desert” and also many other films were filmed here. Abdou has the number 00212 662403568 or 00212 673019330. Entrance is only 2 euro as everywhere, so ridiculous, give the guide a tip of 60-100 Dirham. At about 12 o’clock, go back to the main road, through the unseen Agdsz through the direction of Quarzazarte, go up about 10 km towards the pass and then come to the right (long before the pass) an inconspicuous turnoff, very good wide slope to the oasis and waterfalls of Tizgui. You drive about 10 km through impressive lunar landscape and then down steeply And they see a lonely little football field and half right a village. At the bottom of the road, you will find a stone which is almost unreadable on the left “Cascade”, turn left in the direction of the football field and drive to the end, leave the car and go left over a concrete path to the oasis where you will meet Omar , who is always there and will make you tea. Bring him a box of cigarettes (marquise), which you can buy in Agdsz. You can call him the day before and ask him to make a tajine for you at lunch, take fruit for the dessert. Tel 00212 623186235. You can swim and relax wonderfully and enjoy the fantastic scenery or walk down a little in the canyon to the village or up. It is a very special place, rarely discovered by tourists, a little waterfall in the midst of majestic stone deserts. You should leave Tizgui by 2 pm at the latest and turn right on the N9 main road towards Quarzazarte through lunar landscapes and impressive canyons and a great pass, the Tizin Tinififft from which you have an extraordinary view. You are then at about 3pm in Quarzazarte and from there take the national road N9 over the Tizin Tichka back to Marrakech (about 4 hours, 190 Km) same incidence. ATTENTION: after the Golf Royal keep left and do not go straight, otherwise you will come from the wrong side to Marrakech. Drive back just as you came, leave Marrakesh on the right. Continue along the city wall until you come to the Bab Aganaou, the beautiful city gate, leave it to the right, drive straight from the direction Kotubiamosquee. Return of the car best before Kentucky fried chicken opposite the bus stop at the Jemaa el Fnaa. If you get lost, ask a taxi driver to guide you. This may cost about 50 Dirham. Tell him “la place”, Kentucky fried chicken. In the evening maybe to Guiliz, the colonial “newtown”, great and cheap Fish meal in the restaurant Al Bahria, music on roof terrace of the hotel de la renaissance or clubbing Overnight with me in the house.

Day 4

Marrakech Medina: 9 am Tombeaux Saadiens, Dar Cherifa, Mederse Ben Youssuf, Musée de Marrakech, Musée de la Photographie, Souks, Musée de la Boucherouite, Jamma el Fna…..