Marrakesh & the Atlas Mountains
Discussion
Morning all. For my (insert great age) birthday my son is very kindly taking his old padre for a week’s biking in and around Marrakesh (I know. Must have done something right) and I wondered whether anyone on here has any experience they can share?
The plan is to hire a couple of small off road bikes (250cc ish) and starting from Marrakesh head off into the hills, staying in riads and small hotels. A quick bit of research shows the following to be worth a visit:
Ait Benhadou
Dades gorges
Ouzoud falls
Bin el Ouidane
Tizin n Test valley
Cathedral Rocks
Tafilalt
Erg Chebbi
There’s lots to see so easy to get carried away trying to get to too many waypoints, especially as we don’t know the terrain. Plus we are both complete novices off road so will need to stick to roads that have at least some surface other than deep sand or rocks.
Any tips? Thanks.
The plan is to hire a couple of small off road bikes (250cc ish) and starting from Marrakesh head off into the hills, staying in riads and small hotels. A quick bit of research shows the following to be worth a visit:
Ait Benhadou
Dades gorges
Ouzoud falls
Bin el Ouidane
Tizin n Test valley
Cathedral Rocks
Tafilalt
Erg Chebbi
There’s lots to see so easy to get carried away trying to get to too many waypoints, especially as we don’t know the terrain. Plus we are both complete novices off road so will need to stick to roads that have at least some surface other than deep sand or rocks.
Any tips? Thanks.
There's a lot of people on https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ who have been to Morocco and often offer useful advice.
This is crying out for The Monkey Bike Chalkenge!
https://www.theadventurists.com/guides/monkey-run-...
https://www.theadventurists.com/guides/monkey-run-...
I’d have a chat with one of the companies that organise trips to make the most of your visit, I went through Wilderness Wheels some years back, they provide the bikes (and kit if you need it), fully supported and some fantastic routes (I’m not sure if I’d want to do some of them if the support wasn’t there).
It was the motorcycling highlight of my life (so far), and prompted me to take the family on a tour of the country a year later, which in turn influenced my daughter to study Arabic and Islamic studies at Uni.
Whatever you do you’ll have a great time, I’m off to essaouira for a weeks winter sun next week, love the place.
It was the motorcycling highlight of my life (so far), and prompted me to take the family on a tour of the country a year later, which in turn influenced my daughter to study Arabic and Islamic studies at Uni.
Whatever you do you’ll have a great time, I’m off to essaouira for a weeks winter sun next week, love the place.
My vote goes to Patsy Quick at Desert Rose Racing!
I have only done a bit of off road training with her in the UK, but they do trips Morocco which look amazing.
I highly rate this outfit.
https://www.desertroseracing.com/
I have only done a bit of off road training with her in the UK, but they do trips Morocco which look amazing.
I highly rate this outfit.
https://www.desertroseracing.com/
I did a tour of Morocco on my own a few years ago. Basically got the ferry over from Spain and rode around for a couple of weeks. Was a cool place and I'd definitely recommend it. I was on my own bike, not sure what the deal would be for hiring when over there. There is plenty of great stuff to see. From what I remember Dades Gorge was pretty amazing a definitely a highlight. I did the R307 over the Atlas moutains which was brilliant, if a little sketchy in places (didn't help I was on a loaded Z1000). Food was good and people were friendly.
It's not the easist place to ride around in that a lot of road surfaces are bad and there is lots of wildlife running around. Also quite a range of temperatures so be prepared. Sounds like a great plan though so have fun!
It's not the easist place to ride around in that a lot of road surfaces are bad and there is lots of wildlife running around. Also quite a range of temperatures so be prepared. Sounds like a great plan though so have fun!
Biker 1 said:
My vote goes to Patsy Quick at Desert Rose Racing!
I have only done a bit of off road training with her in the UK, but they do trips Morocco which look amazing.
I highly rate this outfit.
https://www.desertroseracing.com/
Agreed - I've only done training with them in the UK but I was impressed and they are super-friendly. I have only done a bit of off road training with her in the UK, but they do trips Morocco which look amazing.
I highly rate this outfit.
https://www.desertroseracing.com/
gareth h said:
I’d have a chat with one of the companies that organise trips to make the most of your visit, I went through Wilderness Wheels some years back, they provide the bikes (and kit if you need it), fully supported and some fantastic routes (I’m not sure if I’d want to do some of them if the support wasn’t there).
It was the motorcycling highlight of my life (so far), and prompted me to take the family on a tour of the country a year later, which in turn influenced my daughter to study Arabic and Islamic studies at Uni.
Whatever you do you’ll have a great time, I’m off to essaouira for a weeks winter sun next week, love the place.
I did exactly that with Wilderness Wheels some 20 years ago. Was a fantastic, eye-opening week. Also prompted me to take the family on a "fly in, hire a car and sort accommodation as we go" type tour of the place. They all fell in love with Morocco as well.It was the motorcycling highlight of my life (so far), and prompted me to take the family on a tour of the country a year later, which in turn influenced my daughter to study Arabic and Islamic studies at Uni.
Whatever you do you’ll have a great time, I’m off to essaouira for a weeks winter sun next week, love the place.
I'm off to Morocco next month for a good few weeks with the Camper Truck just for a general wander around. Really looking forward to it.
Search for the Morocco Overland Route Guide book by Chris Scott on Amazon - this book gives you all the off-road routes with a difficulty grading. Many of them are doable in a 2WD van / car. There are gravel roads everywhere!
AlBondigaz said:
Search for the Morocco Overland Route Guide book by Chris Scott on Amazon - this book gives you all the off-road routes with a difficulty grading. Many of them are doable in a 2WD van / car. There are gravel roads everywhere!
Yes, an absolute must - I'm going through it right now.
The only thing I've got left to figure out is how to get the bike to the south of Spain or even Morocco quickly.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 1st February 11:38
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 1st February 11:38
Killboy said:
The only thing I've got left to figure out is how to get the bike to the south of Spain or even Morocco quickly.
I went to Morocco with 3 other mates last year. The others rode down through France & Spain over 4 days, but I had to leave later so took the ferry from Portsmouth-Santander on my own.
I got off the ferry in Santander at 8am and was having pizza and beers in Gibraltar by 10pm. (On a thirsty old KTM 950 Adventure so think I stopped for fuel 5 times) I will admit that 600miles in one hit does require some stamina though.
Regarding Morocco, pay careful attention to the time of year you go. Even in September it was incredibly hot once on the Sahara side of the Atlas. Like 45+ for most of the day and high 30's overnight! We were camping on our trip and it was all very sweaty.
Even on the coastal side of the Atlas it was still hot, but much more bearable.
The twisty mountain passes are incredible. Tizi-n-Test was a highlight for me. I and a mate wild camped somewhere near the highest point of the road so seeing the sunset and sunrise was incredible (there are 'hotels' at the top too)
Erg Chebbi was stunning (we didnt ride in the sand though, too hot and bikes too big) but for us it was a gruelling hot 46°C days ride to get there.
Everywhere you go, you're going to get attention from people. The bigger the town the more hassle from people. A lot of the time it'll be kids just being curious, sometimes it'll be shop owners practically dragging you into their store to part you with money.
The best thing I did was to keep a big bag of haribo style sweets at easy access. These can be quickly handed out to kids, police, boarder guards, shop owners, petrol pumpers etc and save you a fortune and make everyone happy.
Even on the coastal side of the Atlas it was still hot, but much more bearable.
The twisty mountain passes are incredible. Tizi-n-Test was a highlight for me. I and a mate wild camped somewhere near the highest point of the road so seeing the sunset and sunrise was incredible (there are 'hotels' at the top too)
Erg Chebbi was stunning (we didnt ride in the sand though, too hot and bikes too big) but for us it was a gruelling hot 46°C days ride to get there.
Everywhere you go, you're going to get attention from people. The bigger the town the more hassle from people. A lot of the time it'll be kids just being curious, sometimes it'll be shop owners practically dragging you into their store to part you with money.
The best thing I did was to keep a big bag of haribo style sweets at easy access. These can be quickly handed out to kids, police, boarder guards, shop owners, petrol pumpers etc and save you a fortune and make everyone happy.
Thanks all. I’ve ordered the Michelin map (though I don’t think it shows all the minor roads) and will get a copy of that book - a very useful recommendation.
I don’t think we’ll do an organised tour but instead will forge our own path, though we’ll avoid the remotest areas and difficult terrain.
I don’t think we’ll do an organised tour but instead will forge our own path, though we’ll avoid the remotest areas and difficult terrain.
Lungauer said:
Thanks all. I’ve ordered the Michelin map (though I don’t think it shows all the minor roads) and will get a copy of that book - a very useful recommendation.
I don’t think we’ll do an organised tour but instead will forge our own path, though we’ll avoid the remotest areas and difficult terrain.
I appreciate you don't want to do an organised tour & I have no idea about your level of experience/confidence, but if it was me, I would definitely do some sort of off road course before doing this kind of adventure!I don’t think we’ll do an organised tour but instead will forge our own path, though we’ll avoid the remotest areas and difficult terrain.
JonnyCutCorners said:
I went to Morocco with 3 other mates last year.
The others rode down through France & Spain over 4 days, but I had to leave later so took the ferry from Portsmouth-Santander on my own.
I got off the ferry in Santander at 8am and was having pizza and beers in Gibraltar by 10pm. (On a thirsty old KTM 950 Adventure so think I stopped for fuel 5 times) I will admit that 600miles in one hit does require some stamina though.
Yeah, thats what I'm looking at. Whatever way it works, its 7-8 days (3/4 there, 3/4 back) before you're even on Moroccan soil. And I'm sure the knobblies will be gone by the time you hit the Atlas mountains.The others rode down through France & Spain over 4 days, but I had to leave later so took the ferry from Portsmouth-Santander on my own.
I got off the ferry in Santander at 8am and was having pizza and beers in Gibraltar by 10pm. (On a thirsty old KTM 950 Adventure so think I stopped for fuel 5 times) I will admit that 600miles in one hit does require some stamina though.
(will be a 990 ADV
)Some more pointers;
Visiting the Medina in Marakesh is well worth it. I highly recommend getting a guide, we got acosted by one as we walked there and were initially a bit skeptical but he proved invaluable. Its an absolute maze and they’ll be able to take you to the best bits and hidden little gems. Also whenever our guide was near us we didn’t get any hassle from anyone, however if we split up by 10m or so then we’d start to get hassled a bit. Think we paid him about £15 each and paid for his lunch with us.
Morocco has a closed currency, meaning you can only gets Dirhams once you’re there. Its predomently a cash economy, including fuel stations so make sure you have plenty of cash to last a few days at a time. Especially once your over the Atlas mountains where ATM’s become less common.
Main roads are generally good, but expect to see the odd donkey drawn cart on the main ‘motorways’ and every single truck you see will be carrying at least double its max payload and crawling up hills!
We bumped into some helpful guys in Zagora that run a rally support garage; Garage Iriki Zagora http://www.garageiriki.com/ (Instagram @zacarias.officiel.team )
Could be an ideal place to get new tyres fitted.
They also do tours if you do want some guides for a part of your trip.
French is the second language over there so will go a long way. But the deeper into the country you go the less prevalent it is.
Regarding tyres, I did my 5k mile trip on new Heidenau Scout K60 tyres and they’re still absolutely fine at the end. Whilst I didn’t do any off roading they are fine for dry gravelly conditions.
My mate set off on a cheap VeeRubber tyre on his F650 and had to change it half way. The high tarmac temps (and trying to keep up with a KTM 950) killed it.
Visiting the Medina in Marakesh is well worth it. I highly recommend getting a guide, we got acosted by one as we walked there and were initially a bit skeptical but he proved invaluable. Its an absolute maze and they’ll be able to take you to the best bits and hidden little gems. Also whenever our guide was near us we didn’t get any hassle from anyone, however if we split up by 10m or so then we’d start to get hassled a bit. Think we paid him about £15 each and paid for his lunch with us.
Morocco has a closed currency, meaning you can only gets Dirhams once you’re there. Its predomently a cash economy, including fuel stations so make sure you have plenty of cash to last a few days at a time. Especially once your over the Atlas mountains where ATM’s become less common.
Main roads are generally good, but expect to see the odd donkey drawn cart on the main ‘motorways’ and every single truck you see will be carrying at least double its max payload and crawling up hills!
We bumped into some helpful guys in Zagora that run a rally support garage; Garage Iriki Zagora http://www.garageiriki.com/ (Instagram @zacarias.officiel.team )
Could be an ideal place to get new tyres fitted.
They also do tours if you do want some guides for a part of your trip.
French is the second language over there so will go a long way. But the deeper into the country you go the less prevalent it is.
Regarding tyres, I did my 5k mile trip on new Heidenau Scout K60 tyres and they’re still absolutely fine at the end. Whilst I didn’t do any off roading they are fine for dry gravelly conditions.
My mate set off on a cheap VeeRubber tyre on his F650 and had to change it half way. The high tarmac temps (and trying to keep up with a KTM 950) killed it.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff