Forty minutes from Marrakech, a different country
The Ourika is the closest the High Atlas comes to Marrakech — forty minutes of road and the air is already ten degrees cooler. This private day trip follows the river up the valley: a Berber women's argan cooperative, mint tea in a village house, and Setti Fatma, where seven waterfalls step down the mountainside. The walk to the first one takes about forty minutes over rock and stepping stones, and it is entirely optional — plenty of people stay by the river instead. Lunch is a tagine on a terrace over the water, and it is included. You are back in Marrakech by late afternoon, in your own vehicle with your own driver, on whatever date you choose.
The valley starts forty minutes out of Marrakech and the temperature drops with
every kilometre. First stop is a Berber women's argan cooperative, where the nuts
are still cracked between two stones and the oil comes out by hand — you can taste
it, and nobody pushes you to buy. Then mint tea on the roof of a village house, with
the family who lives in it. The road follows the Ourika river up into the High Atlas
until it runs out at Setti Fatma, where seven waterfalls step down the mountainside.
The walk to the first one takes about forty minutes, over rock and across the stream
on stepping stones — a scramble, not a hike, and entirely optional. Lunch is a
tagine on a terrace built out over the water. By late afternoon you are back in
Marrakech with the evening still ahead of you.
The valley runs about 10 °C cooler than the city, so bring a layer from November to March — the best time to visit Marrakech guide has the weather month by month. In summer bring swimwear: the river is the point. If you would rather share the cost, the shared Ourika Valley day trip follows the same road. Want the coast instead? Take the Essaouira day trip, or see all our day trips from Marrakech. Or tell us your dates on the custom tour page and we build the day around you.
