Need a breather from the souks? This private Ourika Valley day trip takes you from Marrakech into the foothills of the High Atlas in about 75 minutes. The road follows a river lined with walnut trees, clay villages and café terraces built right over the water. It is the easiest mountain escape from the city, and the air up here feels about ten degrees fresher on a summer afternoon.
Your English-speaking driver stops where it makes sense for you: a women’s cooperative that presses argan oil by hand, a Berber family home where tea is poured from a height, and finally Setti Fatma, the village at the end of the road. From there a short, rocky trail climbs to the first of the waterfalls. You set the pace, linger over lunch by the river and head back when you are ready.
Because the tour is private, it works just as well for a couple as for a family with kids or grandparents. Coming from Kingston, Port of Spain or San Juan? Think of it as a cool, green day in the hills before the dry drama of the desert.
