Exploring Morocco: Marrakech and its Majestic Foothills

By Monique Burns

Morocco’s largest city, Marrakech, is a garden of palm, orange and olive groves flourishing in the shadow of the snowcapped High Atlas. At 13,671 feet, about half that of Mount Everest, Jebel Toubkal is the tallest peak in North Africa’s tallest peak. Local Berber tribesmen refer to the High Atlas as “the mountains of mountains.” And to get a taste of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains, travelers need only arrange a day trip to the foothills of the Ourika Valley, located just 20 miles outside of Marrakech.

Exotic Pleasures, Grand Hotels
Djemma el Fna, the main square of this lively city, is a three-ring circus where snake charmers, jugglers and musicians perform from dawn to dusk. At sunset, food-sellers appear, filling the square with the mingled scent of acrid smoke and spicy Moroccan specialties. In the souks of the old Arab quarter, or medina, haggle for stained-glass lanterns, colorful hooded caftans called “djellabas,” soft leather slippers and other goods.
West of the medina lies the “Nouvelle Ville”, or New City, created by the French, who occupied Morocco from 1912 to 1956. On its northern edge, the Jardin Majorelle (www.jardinmajorelle.com) is an oasis of flowering plants, trees and cacti, punctuated by a neon-blue villa once owned by designer Yves St. Laurent and now housing the Islamic Art Museum.

Marrakech is called the “city of riads” – both traditional townhouses and elaborate hotel villas. But the talk of the town remains the 2009 reopening of five-star La Mamounia (www.mamounia.com) after a $180 million renovation. In 2010, another standout opened, the Royal Mansour Marrakech (www.royalmansour.ma), with 53 lavishly decorated riads, and three restaurants, two overseen by three-star Michelin chef Yannick Alléno. Accommodations at both hotels start at $600.

This summer’s newcomers are also sure to set tongues wagging. In mid-June, the Four Seasons Marrakech (www.fourseasons.com) opens near the Menara Gardens on the Nouvelle Ville’s southern edge. Amid its own 40-acre gardens, the hotel is a contemporary-style walled sanctuary with spacious, art-filled rooms, a spa with two indoor pools, and two restaurants: Bleu d’Orange for Provençal dishes, and Solano for Andalusian, Italian and Moroccan specialties. Doubles start at $500.

Also expected to open this summer are Pearl and Pure, sister hotels to 69-room Hivernage Hotel & Spa (www.hivernage-hotel.com), a five-star design hotel known for La Table du Marché’s innovative French and Moroccan dishes. Doubles start at about $300. Next door, the new Pearl (www.hivernage-collection.com) has 75 neo-Baroque suites awash in precious marbles and sumptuous fabrics, restaurants presided over by French two-star Michelin chef Michel Rostang and Italian two-star chef Giancarlo Morelli, and a rooftop “sky-pool” offering Atlas panoramas. Pure (www.hivernage-collection.com) will have a 75-room boutique hotel, and an extensive spa village and fitness complex, complete with tennis and squash courts, a heated pool and dietetic restaurants. Room rates were unavailable at press time.

The Road Through the Ourika Valley
You could spend days on your hotel balcony contemplating the snow-capped Atlas over cups of strong Moroccan coffee or mint tea. But for a closer look, the Ourika Valley’s dramatic foothills lie just 45 minutes from Marrakech.

Start early, heading southeast along route P2017, the Route de l’Ourika. About 20 miles from Marrakech, the orchards and olive groves of the Haouz plain give way to the ochre-colored flanks of the High Atlas. For another 50 miles, the road threads its way through typical Berber villages, with pressed-mud houses clinging to hillsides, and roadsides lined with pottery studios, inns, restaurants and outdoor food stalls where meat-and-vegetable “tagines” (stews) braise in cone-shaped pots.

In Tafza village, 23 miles from Marrakech, is the Ecomusée Berbère de l’Ourika (www.ecomuseeberbere.com). Here hand-woven carpets, pottery and photos capture the rich culture of the Berbers, driven to these foothills centuries ago by Arab invaders.
About 6 miles farther, west of Tnine de l’Ourika village, tour La Safranière de l’Ourika (www.safran-ourika.com), an organic farm where precious saffron, known as “red gold,” is grown.

Not far away is a government-run Women’s Argan Cooperative, where widowed and divorced Berber women collect the prized argan oil, derived from an endangered tree that grows only in Morocco. Watch the women crack open and grind the seeds, then visit the shop, which sells bottles of the culinary oil used in couscous, tagines and salads as well as cosmetic oil and soaps, believed to have anti-aging properties. At Poterie Ourika, in nearby Anrar village, cheerful Omar El Maazi, using a traditional foot-driven potter’s wheel and a wood-burning kiln, creates cups and vases with colorful Berber designs as well as authentic clay tagines.

Continue to Aghbalou, the valley’s largest village, at kilometer 49, for a tour of Arom Montagne. At this remarkable government-run facility dozens of aromatic herbs are grown for medicinal oils and infusions like Jacaranda rose to prevent dark under-eye circles, cactus oil to soothe burns, and teas to heal liver, bladder and prostate problems.

At kilometer 68, the end of the Ourika Valley, is Setti Fatma, known for its four-day religious festival in August and its seven waterfalls. Cross one of many rope bridges strung across the Ourika River to open-air Le Noyer to feast on couscous, Atlas Mountain trout drizzled with Argan oil, or hearty Berber-style tagine, chicken or beef braised with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, hot peppers and olives.

For More Information
Royal Air Maroc (www.royalairmaroc.com), Morocco’s national carrier, has the most frequent flights from New York’s JFK Airport to Marrakech, with stopovers in Casablanca. Air France (www.airfrance.com), Delta Air Lines (www.delta.com) and Iberia Airlines (www.iberia.com) also have connecting flights from JFK Airport to Marrakech. Minimum flight time to Marrakech is 11 1/2 hours. By train (www.oncf.ma), Marrakech is 3 hours from Casablanca.

The best way to explore the Ourika Valley is by car. Winding mountain roads can be dangerous, so consider hiring a car and driver (about $250-$300 daily). Local tour operators offer half or full-day tours (about $30-$100). Your hotel concierge can arrange car rentals, chauffeur hire or local tours. Tour operators specializing in Morocco—Casablanca Tours (www.casablancatour.com), Foreign Independent Tours (www.fittours.com) and Oussaden Tours (www.oussadentours.com)—often include the Ourika Valley in Marrakech itineraries.

For more information, contact the Moroccan Tourist Office, 212-221-1583; E-mail info@mnto-usa.org; www.visitmorocco.com