MAROCCO: FROM MARRAKECH TO ESSAOUIRA

My journey lasted 10 days, 8 by bike, from Marrakech to Essaouira, climbing the spectacular Tizi’n Tést Pass to cross the Atlas Mountains, the Souss Plain, and then up and down the coast to the final destination. A total of 616 km with 8,130 meters of elevation gain, a challenging journey, not suitable for inexperienced cyclists.

It has been an amazing experience, in which I never felt unsafe, despite being a woman alone in an Islamic country, and despite the fact that outside the main centers all the other women were veiled or often even wore burka.

Here below you’ll find the GPX tracks of my adventure, my travel tips and photos. I hope they’ll help you enjoy this beautiful country!

Since the tour begins and ends in Marrakech, I traveled with a hard-sided bike bag, which I then left at the Riad where I slept in Marrakech, and returned to it for the last night after the tour. The currency is the Moroccan Dirham: it’s best to change money in the city, where the rates are better than at the airport, but they also accept euros everywhere. I also purchased a Maroc Telecom phone card in the city (200 MAD for 20 GB of data). To return from Essaouira to Marrakech, I took a bus: it costs 70 MAD and takes about 3 hours. I stowed my bike in the luggage compartment without disassembling it, paying an additional 20 MAD. WARNING: you cannot bring drones into Morocco (unless you request it before your trip). They confiscated mine at the airport… but I got it back upon departure for a 100 MAD deposit.

You leave Marrakech on a very wide and busy road, but with a small bike lane. As you get further away from the city, traffic thins out and you begin to climb secondary roads through barren hills. In Lalla Takarkoust there are many accommodations, both in the village and on the lake side. I cycled a few more kilometers to stay at Le Petit Hotel du Flouka, a little more expensive than the Moroccan average but truly beautiful, with a lake view, a pool, and delicious food.

The first 15 kilometers are all gravel and very fun along the lake and through small villages. Amizmiz is the largest town where you can buy food and refill your water, which you’ll struggle to find later. The descent overlooking Lake Ouirgane makes up for the effort and heat (it was 35 degrees Celsius when I went in late October!). In Ouirgane, there are plenty of accommodations for all budgets: I slept and dined at Riad Malak, but also consider Auberge Le Mouflone, which was full when I passed through, but seemed very nice.

Today we’re crossing the Atlas Mountains, so it’s best to get an early start! The first 45 kilometers are a fairly up-and-down ride, but there are plenty of construction sites, trucks, and dust. Along the way, there are several villages where you can buy food and water, but when the climb gets challenging—after Mouldikht—you’ll find nothing until the top of the Tizi n’ Test Pass at 2,100m, where there’s a hotel/restaurant. The descent is wonderful, but it’s still another 11 kilometers of straight road to Oulad Berhil. I didn’t find many lodging options in town; I stayed at the sumptuous Palais Riad Hida… remember to always bargain! Here the IG reel of the pass!

We’re now in the Sousse Plain, and this is the easiest (and a bit boring) leg of the journey: you start on gravel to cross the Souss River, but then there’s a 35km road. The advantage is that you’ll arrive in Taroudant, known as Little Marrakech, for lunch, where it’s worth taking a stroll to visit the souk and the walls. There are plenty of accommodation options: I stayed at the simple and affordable Riad Benjara, which also has a pool on the terrace, and had lunch/dinner at one of the little restaurants in Place Assarage. 

The first 50 km are partly on road (there’s a bike lane) and partly on gravel roads through small villages. Then you start climbing through hills covered in argan trees; it’s truly stunning. The arrival in Agadir is downhill! Agadir is huge, and there are plenty of accommodations, but since it’s a tourist hotspot, prices are higher. I chose to stay near the beach to take a stroll and enjoy the sunset, but the Swiss neighborhood also offers good options. Dinner and overnight stay at Hotel Atlantic.

This was one of the most spectacular days, but definitely the most challenging. We immediately start climbing towards Paradise Valley, the last place to buy food and water is Tamzeroute, after which begins a very long climb with gradients often exceeding 10%. Once we reach the top, the hard work isn’t over, because the first 20km of descent are all on a nice but crunchy gravel road, almost more like mountain biking in some sections… The scenery, however, is wonderful, and once back on asphalt, the hairpin descent towards the sea is fantastic! I stayed and had dinner at the Hotel Lux Hotel (from the outside, you can’t tell it’s a hotel, but if you knock, the owner is very kind and will even cook for you).

This is the last bike stage of this journey, which features a lot of gravel (about 20 km immediately after the start) and beautiful views of the coast. The stage is fairly easy; I stopped at Sidi M’barek beach and arrived in Essaouira for lunch. If you have time, I recommend staying overnight in Essaouira, a beautiful city with plenty to offer. I instead took a bus at 3:30 PM back to Marrakech, where I stayed in the same Riad as the first night, where I had left my bike bag, before flying home the following day. The Riad where I stayed is the simple but very welcoming Riad Laksiba, in the Kasbah. There are plenty of dining options nearby, and if you’re up for a 1 km stroll, you can find everything you could possibly want at the stalls in Jemaa el-Fna Square (you can’t leave Marrakech without visiting it)!