The Gateway to the Desert

Six nights and around 603 miles out of Marrakech, and the distinguishing feature is straightforward: this is the only Moroccan route in the operator’s range that is paved from beginning to end, ridden on a Royal Enfield.

Taroudant comes first across the Sous plains, a walled town known locally as Little Marrakech for its ramparts and its souks, with none of the crowds of the real thing. The mud-brick walls run for about seven kilometres and can be circled on foot in an evening.

Tafraoute follows in the Lesser Atlas, set in a bowl of pink granite among almond groves, where the surrounding rock range is some 300 million years old and has weathered into boulders the size of houses. Imouzzer is next through palm groves and fortified villages, on a road that climbs between peaks the operator describes as Indiana Jones country, which is not far off the mark.

Essaouira closes the riding, reached through the Atlas canyons, a fortified eighteenth-century port built by a French architect for a Moroccan sultan and still walled, windy and full of gulls. The return to Marrakech follows. Bike rental is included and the price is quoted per person. For riders who want the landscapes of southern Morocco without any dirt under the tyres, this is the route to take, and it also suits anyone bringing a passenger along. Essaouira is worth a night more than the itinerary gives it if the flights allow, since the Atlantic trade wind keeps the town cool at times of year when Marrakech is barely tolerable.