The Wonders of the Atlas Mountains

Six nights and around 621 miles from Marrakech through the High Atlas on a Royal Enfield, and this is the operator’s most booked and most reviewed trip, pitched at riders new to this kind of travel.

Marrakech opens it in the medina souk, then the route climbs over the High Atlas to Ait Benhaddou, a fortified village of rammed earth below the pass that is UNESCO listed and has stood in for half the ancient world on film. Berber food and a night there set the tone before the desert road.

The Dades Gorges follow by way of the Skoura oasis, then the climb to Imilchil, taking in the Tinghir medina and the Todgha Gorges, where limestone walls close to a few metres apart and rise several hundred feet on either side. It is one of the most photographed stretches of road in the country and deservedly so. Ozoud comes next through farmland, with visits to local farmers along the way.

The return to Marrakech includes a community and social enterprise visit, which is a consistent feature of this operator’s Moroccan routes rather than an afterthought, and an evening in the old quarter. Bike rental is included and the price is quoted per person. Six nights is short enough to take as a long weekend extended by a couple of days, and the riding is deliberately undemanding: proper tarmac, moderate daily distances, and a support arrangement that suits a first guided trip abroad. Anyone wanting trail riding and high passes should look at the Berber Raid instead, which covers similar country with considerably more dirt under the wheels.