Marrakech & Ourika Valley, Morocco: Jemaa el-Fna, Ben Youssef Madrasa, High Atlas & Setti Fatma

Cascades de Setti Fatma, Ourika Valley

Finally arriving in Marrakech after a wonderful couple of days in Zanzibar, Tanzania, we traded an island for a walled city and, the next day, a mountain road. Marrakech came first; the Ourika Valley and Setti Fatma came next. It was a compact plan. Morocco had other ideas about scale.

The full map below covers our wider Morocco journey. This post stays with Marrakech and our day trip into the High Atlas foothills; the Full Map is there for anyone who enjoys zooming until geography starts filing complaints.

Marrakech & Ourika Valley, Morocco: Jemaa el-Fna, Ben Youssef Madrasa, High Atlas & Setti Fatma — Post Summary

After arriving by ONCF train from Casablanca, we spend two days in Marrakech, walking the Medina, Jemaa el-Fna, the souks, Ben Youssef Madrasa and the city’s tanneries before a wider city circuit past El Badi Palace, the Royal Palace, the Kasbah and Koutoubia Mosque. The next day takes us south on P2017 through the Ourika Valley to Oualmas and Setti Fatma, with an argan-oil mill, a traditional Amazigh house, a riverside lunch and the mountain waterfalls before we return to Marrakech.

What's Covered
🚆	Casablanca Airport to Marrakech by ONCF Train — Casa Oasis connection and Gare de Marrakech arrival
🧭	Marrakech Visitor Areas — Medina, Mellah, Gueliz, Hivernage and Menara
🕌	Jemaa el-Fna and Marrakech Medina — old-city arrival, square and riad
🛍️	Marrakech Souks — Semmarine, Zrabi, Haddadine and Chkayria
🎓	Ben Youssef Madrasa — courtyard, student rooms, carved wood, stucco and zellij
🧴	Marrakech Tanneries — leather workshops and the mint-branch “Moroccan gas mask”
🌙	Jemaa el-Fna After Sunset — night crowds, food stalls and the square after dark
🏛️	Marrakech City Circuit — El Badi, Kasbah, Bab Agnaou and Koutoubia
🏞️	Marrakech to the Ourika Valley — P2017 into the High Atlas foothills
🌰	Oualmas to Setti Fatma — argan oil, traditional Amazigh house, riverside lunch, waterfalls and return

We traveled from Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport to Marrakech by ONCF train, changing at Casa Oasis. The rail journey put the Medina and Jemaa el-Fna ahead of us, followed the next day by a road trip through the Ourika Valley to Setti Fatma. This post follows that arrival, two days around Marrakech and the run into the High Atlas foothills before we returned to the city.

Route: Casablanca Mohammed V Airport → Casa Oasis → Marrakech → Ourika Valley → Oualmas → Setti Fatma → Marrakech
Method: ONCF passenger rail + guided road trip
Distance / Time: Casablanca–Marrakech rail leg about 150 miles / 2½ hours; airport shuttle to Casa Oasis about 25 minutes; Marrakech and Ourika over two days
Themes: Marrakech Medina · souks and Islamic architecture · High Atlas valley route
Vehicle: ONCF passenger train + guided road vehicle

Route at a Glance

1. Casablanca Mohammed V Airport → Casa Oasis → Gare de Marrakech — ONCF rail arrival
2. Marrakech visitor areas — Medina, Mellah, Gueliz, Hivernage and Menara
3. Jemaa el-Fna and Marrakech Medina — old-city arrival and riad
4. Souk Semmarine → Souk Zrabi → Souk Haddadine → Souk Chkayria
5. Ben Youssef Madrasa — courtyard, prayer hall and student rooms
6. Marrakech tanneries — leather-working quarter and shops
7. Jemaa el-Fna after sunset — night return to the square
8. El Badi Palace → Royal Palace area → Kasbah → Bab Agnaou → Koutoubia
9. Marrakech → Ourika Valley on P2017
10. Ourika → Timalizene → Tamezindert → Taljerft → Oualmas
11. Oualmas — argan-oil mill and traditional Amazigh house
12. Oualmas → Setti Fatma — riverside lunch and mountain waterfalls
13. Setti Fatma → Marrakech — return to the city

Casablanca Airport to Marrakech by ONCF Train

July 11, 2023

Our Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lands at Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) after our connection in Doha, Qatar, on the way from Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner at Med V Casablanca airport

Morocco immigration and customs are a breeze. At baggage claim, many passengers are returning from the Hajj pilgrimage in ihram clothing, the simple pilgrimage garments associated with a state of ritual consecration.

Baggage carousels at Med V Casablanca intl. airport

We withdraw some Moroccan Dirham from an ATM and pick up local mobile SIMs from a kiosk at the Terminal-1 arrivals area before heading downstairs to the ONCF train station situated conveniently right under Terminal-1.

Arabic and Amazigh/Tamazight are part of the language mix around us, and French is easy to spot here too. The restaurant menu is in French, and the staff use French with us. We get by fine.

A page of the restaurant menu at Med V Casablanca airport train station

We order a breakfast of "Normal Omelette" (omelette normale) and tea while waiting for our train. Both presentation and the food itself are great.

Breakfast at Med V Casablanca airport train station

We bought our first-class tickets from Aéroport Med V to Marrakech in advance on the official ONCF website and carried printed billets. In July 2023, we paid 214 MAD per first-class Flex ticket for the full airport-to-Marrakech journey, about US$22 at the time.

Med V airport is around 20 miles south of Casablanca city. Passengers going by train to Marrakech first take a shuttle train to Casa Oasis station in Casablanca (Gare ONCF de L'oasis) and change to another train to Marrakech.

Watch: Casablanca Airport to Marrakech Desert Trains

The tickets have train numbers, carriage numbers ("Voiture") and, for the second train, assigned seat numbers. We easily find our carriage and seats.

For our July 2023 trip, the first rail leg from the airport to Casa Oasis is a Train Navette Rapide (TNR), or fast shuttle train, also called “Aouita” in the source information we used for the trip.

At Med V airport, we get on the TNR train #16 shuttle to Casa Oasis.

ONCF airport shuttle Train A16, including Voiture 1, on the run from Casablanca Mohammed V Airport to Casa Oasis.

It takes us about 25 minutes to reach Casa Oasis. We change there to train #112 for Marrakech, hauled by an Alstom Prima M4 electric locomotive. The locomotive is rated for roughly 100 mph; that is locomotive capability, not a claim that our train spent the afternoon pretending to be a missile.

Casa Oasis Station Platform

On train #112 from Casa Oasis to Marrakech, we are in Voiture 11, seats 11 and 12.

Inside the ONCF train from Casa Oasis toward Marrakech, with the dry countryside passing outside.

The comfortable ONCF train rolls into Gare de Marrakech after covering about 150 miles from Casablanca in roughly two and a half hours.

Arrival at Gare de Marrakech, from the train to the station forecourt and main facade.

We hire a cab from the station to Jemaa el-Fna, where we have booked a B&B. In July 2023, we pay 50 MAD, about US$5 then, and do not need to haggle.

Road Signs at Gare de Marrakech

Across from the station, the Royal Theatre of Marrakech makes a suitably theatrical first impression.

Two views of the Royal Theatre opposite Gare de Marrakech.

We are soon driving on Boulevard Mohammed VI heading to Jemaa el Fna.

Boulevard Mohammed VI en route from Marrakech Train Station to Jemaa el-Fna

Our cabbie, Abdessamad Ait Mourid (WhatsApp Phone Number), turns out to be soft-spoken, easy-going and friendly. On the way, we ask whether he can take us around Marrakech and into the High Atlas the next day. He says yes. The next morning he shows up right on time, which is a very efficient way to become popular with travelers.

Abdessamad is Amazigh and from the High Atlas. He tells us he has a degree in hotel management, worked in Europe for a while, and later returned to Morocco. He is one of the kindest and most helpful people we meet on the trip.

Abdessamad Ait Mourid (WhatsApp Phone Number)

For the first time on this Africa trip, after Zimbabwe and Tanzania, we are back to driving on the right side of the road.

Marrakech Visitor Areas: Medina, Mellah, Gueliz, Hivernage and Menara

For orientation, these are the Marrakech areas that matter most in this story. They are useful visitor areas, not a claim that the city is formally divided into six tourist “quarters”:

1. Medina — the historic walled core, with Jemaa el-Fna, the souks, Koutoubia Mosque and Ben Youssef Madrasa.
2. Mellah — Marrakech’s historic Jewish quarter; our city circuit also takes us to the Miaara Jewish Cemetery.
3. Gueliz — the modern district around wide avenues, cafés, shops and the Royal Theatre/train-station area.
4. Hivernage — the modern hotel, restaurant and nightlife district we cross on our driving loop west of the Medina.
5. Menara — a useful western city reference around the Menara Gardens; it is orientation here, not a claim about formal administration.

Jemaa el-Fna and Marrakech Medina

Abdessamad drops us off at the Arset El Bilk park on Av. El Mouahidine on the south-west side of Jemaa el-Fnaa square. We walk from there towards our B&B which is on the square.

Approaching Jemaa el-Fna from Arset El Bilk in Marrakech.

As we walk towards Jemaa el-Fnaa square, we see Marrakech's iconic minaret towers of Koutoubia Mosque and Ben Youssef Mosque.

Jemaa el-Fna with the Koutoubia and Ben Youssef minarets above the square.

It is the hottest part of the day, brutally hot even by Marrakech standards. Jemaa el-Fna is subdued, with only a few cold-drink and souvenir stalls doing much business. The square is saving its main act for sunset.

A quieter midday view across Jemaa el-Fna.

We find our B&B through a couple of narrow Medina alleys. When we ask a man for directions, expecting a turn and a distance, he says, “I’ll help you,” walks a few steps into our alley, and then asks for money. We tell him the price should have been mentioned before the guided portion began. We still give him a couple of dollars to end the conversation. A tiny navigation fee had materialized from nowhere, as fees sometimes do.

It happens more than once during this trip, so after that we make it clear when asking for directions that we want verbal instructions, not an escorted walk. In the maze-like lanes of Marrakech Medina and later Fes el-Bali, that simple distinction saves confusion. This is our experience with a paid-direction hustle, not a verdict on everyone who offers help.

An alley in Marrakech Medina

A riad commonly refers to a traditional Moroccan house organized around an interior courtyard or garden, and many have been adapted as guesthouses. Ours is one of them.

Our riad turns out to be a pretty place constructed in classic Moroccan architecture with a pool in the middle surrounded by date palms. We are told the property is relatively new at just about one hundred years in age.

Inside our riad near Jemaa el-Fna, including the courtyard, pool and guest rooms.

Marrakech Souks: Semmarine, Zrabi, Haddadine and Chkayria

After checking in and taking a short break, we head back to Jemaa el-Fna and the souks around it. The Medina of Marrakech is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the market lanes around the square form one of Morocco’s best-known traditional souk complexes.

The souks historically specialized by trade, although those boundaries and merchandise mixes have blurred. That is more useful than pretending there is a universally agreed count of precisely eighteen shops-within-shops, which would be wonderfully tidy and not especially helpful here.

Souk Semmarine

Souk Semmarine is one of the main arteries through the market, packed with narrow lanes and shelves spilling color into the walkway. We see both locally made craft and mass-produced tourist goods. The useful rule is to look closely at what is actually being sold, rather than assign a passport to every souvenir.

Covered lanes and merchandise in Souk Semmarine.

Continuing north, we reach Souk Zrabi, the carpet souk, with the entrance to Souk des Tapis here. Carpets and rugs dominate this corner, and we keep walking north through the market.

Carpet and textile displays in Souk Zrabi.

North of Souk Zrabi is Souk Haddadine. Metal workers build and sell metalware and colorful lampshades and lanterns here.

Metalwork stalls and lanes in Souk Haddadine.

Souk Chkayria is up next. This was originally a bazaar where leather craftsmen and bag makers sold their goods.

Souk Chkayria (Souk des sacochiers)

Leaving the souks, we proceed to Ben Youssef Square to visit the famous Madrasa next.

The open square gives us a brief patch of breathing room after the souk lanes. The madrasa entrance is much more restrained than the courtyard waiting inside. Marrakech, for once, is providing a before-and-after comparison without charging extra.

Ben Youssef Madrasa entrance

Ben Youssef Madrasa

Ben Youssef Madrasa is a 16th-century Saadian Islamic school and one of the largest madrasas in the Maghreb. Its cedarwood, carved stucco and zellige have a much better marketing department than any adjective we could add.

Ben Youssef Madrasa visitor information board

The madrasa takes its name from the neighboring Ben Youssef Mosque. An Almoravid predecessor of that mosque was founded under Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf; the madrasa standing today is the later Saadian building.

Layout of Medersa Ben Youssef

We pay 40 MAD, about US$4 each in July 2023, and enter through a relatively modest passage. Then the central courtyard opens up and does exactly what a good reveal should do: our jaws drop. A reflective pool runs through the courtyard, with the prayer hall at one end and two levels of student rooms around it.

Panorama of Main Courtyard of Medersa Ben Youssef

Hand-cut zellige, carved wood and stucco cover the courtyard and prayer spaces. The work belongs to the Moroccan and wider Maghrebi-Andalusi decorative tradition. The geometry is precise enough to make a ruler feel underdressed.

Carved stucco arches, painted wood and a chandelier inside Ben Youssef Madrasa.

The architecture is Moroccan and Andalusi-Maghrebi. We can see why the patios and courtyards remind us of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, but that is a visual comparison, not a family tree involving half of late antiquity.

The main courtyard, carved surfaces, zellij and tiled corridors of Ben Youssef Madrasa.

The visible material palette includes cedarwood, carved gypsum and stucco, zellige and marble.

Small courtyards, wooden balustrades, tiled passages and painted ceilings inside Ben Youssef Madrasa.

The Moroccan historian al-Ifrani (Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ifrani al-Susi al-Marrakushi) associated an earlier Marinid madrasa here with Sultan Abu al-Hasan. The present Saadian building was completed under Sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib in 1564–65.

Carved plaster, tiled rooms, stairs and latticework on the upper levels of Ben Youssef Madrasa.

The madrasa has 130 small student rooms arranged around the courtyard and upper galleries. Historical accounts report that it could house up to roughly 800 students. Cozy, in the same sense that a packed train carriage is cozy.

A former student room, courtyard views, painted ceilings and the upper gallery at Ben Youssef Madrasa.

The madrasa closed for a major restoration in 2018 and reopened in 2022. We are visiting in 2023, so the restoration is recent without pretending anyone has a time machine back to inauguration day.

Carved capitals, tiled stairs, decorated corridors and geometric doors inside Ben Youssef Madrasa.

One of the unusual pieces here is an early-11th-century marble basin made in Córdoba. Scholarship has suggested that Ali ibn Yusuf may have brought it to Marrakech; that transfer is an attribution, not a settled travel receipt. Ali ibn Yusuf’s commission of the celebrated Koutoubia minbar from Cordoban craftsmen is much better established, and we will see that minbar later at El Badi Palace.

Carved marble basin crafted in Cordoba at the beginning of the 11th century
By Robert Prazeres - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Marrakech Tanneries

We walk east on Rue Bin Lafnadek toward Oued Issil and the tannery quarter at the Medina’s eastern edge by Bab Debbagh, the Gate of the Tanners. Oued Issil belongs to the wider Tensift watershed.

Medina streets on our walk from Ben Youssef Madrasa toward the Marrakech tanneries.

The open-air tanning quarter around Bab Debbagh has associations with Almoravid-era Marrakech. Not every tannery is open all the time, but Chez Hassan Tannery and Leather Shop is open, so in we go.

A tannery in Medina Marrakech Old City (Chez Hassan Tannery)

The smell arrives before subtlety does. At the tannery door we are handed little mint branches—the jokingly named “Moroccan gas masks”—to hold under our noses. We get a useful tour of the leather process and are then shown two shops. During the tour, we are told that this cooperative grew from a family tannery inherited by Chez Hassan from his father; we keep that lineage where it belongs, as information given to us on site.

Inside the Chez Hassan leather shops near the Marrakech tanneries.

We buy a pair of leather slippers and manage to navigate the narrow alleys back to our riad at Jemaa el-Fna Square. It is dinner time when we get back. Moroccan couscous and tagine for dinner, of course!

Three menu boards later, the difficult part is no longer finding dinner but deciding which version of dinner wins. We surrender to the table and let the plates settle the argument. Navigation can wait until morning.

Dinner in the Marrakech Medina, including tagine, couscous, falafel and fries.

Jemaa el-Fna After Sunset

On a hot day like this, Jemaa el-Fna comes into its own after sunset. Crowds pour into the souks while food stalls fire up grills and cooking stands in the open air. Daytime restraint has left the building.

That nightly change has formal heritage status. UNESCO lists Jemaa el-Fna's cultural space as intangible heritage, a status also recorded by Morocco's Ministry of Culture. UNESCO and Marrakech's official tourism guide both describe the square's activity extending into the evening, with the official tourism guide noting that it comes alive from late afternoon. Our sunset return was therefore right on schedule. The living traditions are what give the designation its meaning. Apparently even a public square can keep night-shift hours.

Jemaa el-Fna after sunset, with food stalls and crowds filling the square.

Street performers, including snake charmers, monkey handlers, acrobats and water sellers, work the crowded square and surrounding lanes.

Night scenes from Jemaa el-Fna as lights, stalls and people fill the square.

Marrakech City Circuit: El Badi, Kasbah, Bab Agnaou and Koutoubia

July 12, 2023

The next morning, after breakfast on our riad terrace, we walk a couple of blocks to Hôtel Restaurant Café de France at the corner of Avenue Jamaa el-Fna and Rue des Banques. It is a common meeting point for taxis and tours. The souks are still mostly asleep, though a few mini-marts are already selling juice, cold drinks and cappuccino.

Jemaa el-Fna, Medina, Marrakech at 10 AM in the morning

We had arranged for Abdessamad to pick us up here for a loop around Marrakech and a drive into the Atlas foothills. He arrives at 10 AM in his Dacia taxi, looking sharp and proving that the previous day’s plan was a real plan rather than travel folklore.

There are a lot of Dacia vehicles in Morocco thanks to Dacia Maroc producing cars locally at factories in Tangier and Casablanca operated by their parent Renault. The Dacia Lodgy is an especially popular model.

It is already 91 degrees fahrenheit and going to be another hot day!

Marrakech mid July temperatures!

Our first stop is the historic Miaara Jewish Cemetery (Cimetière Juif de Miaara), more than 500 years old. It is a serene place maintained by the Jewish community, with densely packed graves and mausoleums of rabbis inside its walls. There is a nominal entry fee.

Visitor information board at Al Miara Square

We drive down Av. Taoulat El Miara.

Av. Taoulat El Miara

Our next stop is El Badi Palace on Rue de Berrima.

Watch: El Badii Palace, Marrakech

El Badi Palace is the ruined 16th-century palace of Saadian Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur. Enough survives to make the lost scale obvious, and the site remains one of the major stops on our city circuit.

Approaching and entering El Badi Palace, ending at the palace entrance.

The entrance sequence gets us inside; the visitor board handles the formal orientation once we are there. We pause at the board before continuing into the ruins. Even a palace visit occasionally benefits from instructions.

Badi Palace, Marrakech Visitor Information Board

Among the major objects displayed at El Badi is the Koutoubia minbar, commissioned by Ali ibn Yusuf from craftsmen in Córdoba. The Cordoban marble basin we saw at Ben Youssef Madrasa is another remarkable piece, although its transfer to Marrakech under Ali ibn Yusuf is a scholarly attribution rather than settled fact.

Almoravid minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque
By إيان (Minor retouching by Robert Prazeres), CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

From El Badi Palace, we head toward the Royal Palace of Marrakech, Dar al-Makhzen (الإقامة الملكية).

Rue Dar Daou toward Rue Sidi Mamoun and the Royal Palace area.

The Royal Palace is behind high walls. At a gate near Rte Dar Daou and Rue Sidi Mamoun, guards wave us onward when we slow down, while a man in a dark suit watches closely. We obey. Royal-palace security is not a promising place to debate parking etiquette.

Two views of the guarded Royal Palace gate, Dar al-Makhzen, in Marrakech.

We drive south on Rte d'Ourika. Just before Marrakech's southern gate of Bab er Robb, we make a left crossing the historic Bab Agnaou gate into the famous Kasbah of Marrakech. The Kasbah is the large walled citadel district of southern Medina. We will loop back here later and stop to pick up some water and cold drinks.

Bab er Robb gate

We enter Kasbah on eastbound Rue Bab Agnaou and turn right on southbound Rue de La Kasbah. Crossing Moulay el Yazid Mosque and Saadian Tombs on our left, we drive through the charming Kasbah district.

Street scenes through the Kasbah quarter of Marrakech.

We eventually make a right on Rue Bab Ksiba and exit the Kasbah through Bab Ksiba Gate, getting back on Rte d'Ourika.

Bab Ksiba Gate

Now we swing through modern Marrakech outside the Medina walls. Heading north on Rte d’Ourika with the wall on our right, we turn left onto Rte du Barrage just before Bab Er Robb.

Route d’Ourika beside the city walls, ending at the south side of Bab er-Robb near Route du Barrage.

We curve around the west side of Imam Souhaili Cemetery on Boulevard Al Yarmouk / Avenue Guemassa and reach the traffic circle at Place Bab Jdid.

Driving through the Boulevard Al Yarmouk and Avenue Guemassa corridor.

The city opens into broad boulevards, hotels, restaurants and shops. Bab Jdid—the New Gate—sits on the Medina’s western side near the Mamounia and Hivernage area.

This is one of those junctions where a road view is more useful than another paragraph of lefts and rights. The Street View gives us the visual checkpoint. Marrakech has now made cartography part of the sightseeing.

Bab Jdid and its traffic circle on our Marrakech city route.

At Bab Jdid we take a short detour into Hivernage: the third exit onto Rue Haroun Errachid toward Place de l’Hivernage, passing a Tesla Supercharger on the way.

Novotel Marrakech Hivernage at Place de l'Hivernage

From Place de l’Hivernage we take the first exit onto Avenue Echouhada, cross Avenue El Kadissia, and continue until Echouhada rejoins Avenue Guemassa / Boulevard Al Yarmouk. That ends our little loop.

Av. Echouhada and Av. El Kadissia intersection

A right on Boulevard Al Yarmouk takes us past a Carrefour to Avenue Ahmed Ouaqala, where we turn left.

Left into Av. Ahmed Ouaqala from Bd. Al Yarmouk

From there the route goes right onto Avenue Mohammed V, left by the Municipal Palace, right onto Rue el Adala, left toward Rue Fatima Zahra, right onto Rue Fatima Zahra, and finally left onto Rue Dar el Glaoui for Karim Bouriad Bazar. The Full Map is available for anyone still cheerfully following every turn.

Rue el Adala

Karim Bouriad Bazar is a garment shop with caftans, djellabas, dresses, vests and tunics, plus jewelry, leather goods and decorative items. Staff bring garments out of glass cases for customers, and the displays make the high-end pricing lesson fairly clear without a spreadsheet.

Views along Rue Dar el Glaoui from across Karim Bouriad Bazar.

Abdessamad says he brought us here so we can see high-end prices before he later takes us to a more ordinary garment shop. Mannequins wear elaborate caftans, photographs of customers cover parts of the walls, and stacks of clothing sit in glass showcases. It is all very pretty. Our wallets remain spectators.

Vagabond #1 exiting Karim Bouriad Bazar

We return to Rue Fatima Zahra, head south, turn right onto Rue Jbel Lakhdar and left past Cyber Park onto Avenue Mohammed V. That road becomes Rue Ibn Khaldoun / Avenue El Mouahidine, bringing us to Esplanade de la Koutoubia with Koutoubia Mosque across the open square.

Koutoubia Mosque dates to the Almohad 12th century. Caliph Abd al-Mu’min built the first sanctuary and then a second mosque beside it; the famous minaret belongs to that Almohad rebuilding and rises about 77 meters, or 253 feet. It is an icon of Marrakech, and it does not need a disputed construction credit to improve the view.

Koutoubia Mosque at Esplanade de la Koutoubia

The small white koubba near the esplanade is associated with Lalla Zohra. Local legend says she takes the form of a dove at night and performs miracles; local tradition also links visits to her tomb with requests for blessings. We leave those claims where they belong: in the city’s folklore, not in a police report from the supernatural department.

Domed saint tombs, or qubbas, are part of Moroccan saint-veneration traditions. Later today, Setti Fatma brings us another saint story in the mountains, also carried by local tradition rather than documented biography.

Kutubiyya Mosque and Qubba (Tomb) of Lalla Zohra

We continue south on Av. El Mouahidine/Rue Ibn Khaldoun, make a right on Av. Houmane El fetouaki and left on southbound Rue Sidi Mimoun. 

Intersection of Av. El Mouahidine/Rue Ibn Khaldoun and Av. Houmane El fetouaki

Continuing south, Rue Sidi Mimoun becomes Rte d’Ourika. This is our third pass on this stretch today, and we go by the Royal Palace / Dar al-Makhzen again on the way toward Bab Er Robb.

This time we pull over just before Bab Er Robb, across from Bab Agnaou, to buy water and cold drinks before leaving Marrakech for the countryside and High Atlas foothills.

Water and flower shops on the roadside across Bab Agnaou Gate just before Bab Er Robb Gate

Across the road, Bab Agnaou marks the entrance into the Kasbah. We crossed it earlier in the city loop; now we get a closer look before turning south again.

Two views of Bab Agnaou, the historic gate into the Marrakech Medina.

We pass through Bab Er Robb and take P2017 south toward Setti Fatma, following our 2023 route through Ourika, Timalizene, Tamezindert, Taljerft and Oualmas.

P2017 leaving Marrakech toward the Ourika Valley and High Atlas foothills.

Marrakech to the Ourika Valley

Once through Bab Er Robb, urban Marrakech falls away quickly. Ourika is about 25 miles south of the city; on our July 2023 drive we reach the valley in under an hour. Along P2017 we begin seeing camels lined up with handlers for tourist rides.

South of Marrakech, the road soon began answering to the river. Academic studies place the Ourika basin in the Marrakech High Atlas and describe a steep, deeply cut mountain catchment. Geological studies also show the Ourika River flowing north and incising the High Atlas. That geography fits the route we drove: after Bab Er Robb, P2017 tightened into a mountain corridor and kept following the valley toward Oualmas. The river was doing the route planning. The Atlas handled the scenery without needing help. Mountains are famously bad at taking suggestions from highway engineers.

Camels beside Highway P2017 on our route into the Ourika Valley.

The mountains get closer as we cross Timalizene.

The P2017 valley road, Timalizene and views toward the Atlas Mountains.

We continue through small mountain settlements with names including Tamezindert and Taljerft.

Roadside scenes at Tamezindert and Taljerft in the Ourika Valley.

Oualmas to Setti Fatma in the Ourika Valley

We reach Oualmas just over an hour after leaving Bab Er Robb, about 32 miles south on our July 2023 drive.

Two views of Oualmas on our P2017 route through the Ourika Valley.

Argan Oil at Mishkat Extraction Mills

Argan oil is the main reason for our stop at Mishkat, where we get a close look at the equipment and hand work behind the product. The bottle already has enough jobs; we do not need to hand it a medical degree.

Argan’s native range is centered in southern Morocco and extends into western Algeria, northern Western Sahara and northern Mauritania. The reference image below shows an argan tree near Tafraoute; back in Oualmas, our attention is on the work that turns its fruit’s kernels into oil.

Argan tree in a valley near Tafraoute
By Bjørn Christian Tørrissen - Own work by uploader, http://bjornfree.com/galleries.html, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Mishkat Moulins d’extractions (Mishkat Extraction Mills) sells argan oil and other extracts and oils, including almond and avocado.

A traditional oven and metal sculptures outside Mishkat in Oualmas.

Inside Mishkat, a water-powered mechanism drives a large grinder. Nuts, leaves, herbal powders, perfumes, cosmetics and spices fill the room, while several women sit in one corner grinding and mixing ingredients by hand.

Those manual steps belong to a much larger production chain. UNESCO and a peer-reviewed life-cycle study both describe traditional argan oil as a multi-step process that begins with fruit collection and drying, then moves through depulping or cracking, grinding and hand extraction. The work has long been strongly associated with rural women. FAO's agricultural-heritage program and a peer-reviewed review both describe argan systems adapted to arid conditions, limited water and poor soils. Argan oil belongs in the kitchen as well as the cosmetics cabinet; UNESCO and peer-reviewed research both document culinary use. That was plenty impressive. Eczema can keep its own medical appointment.

Argan processing, displays and products inside Mishkat in Oualmas.

Oil massages are offered to visitors. One of us gets one and later describes it as rejuvenating and refreshing, which is a perfectly respectable review and still not a clinical trial.

Mishkat Moulins d'extractions, Oulmès

After the massage and a substantial purchase of argan and other oils, we drive only a few houses farther along P2017 to a traditional Amazigh (Berber) miller’s house that is open to visitors.

Oulmès, Ourika

Traditional Amazigh House

At the miller’s house (Maison du meunier berbère), our host walks us through the rooms and explains local Amazigh traditions as he knows them. The house is built of adobe, using mud and straw. We have seen similar earth construction on the other side of the planet in villages of the Atacama Desert and the Andean Altiplano.

We enter a large room with a traditional mill and millstones used to grind nuts and seeds for oils, cosmetics and powders like those we have just seen at Mishkat.

With a millstone like this, raw material drops from the feed box through the hole in the upper runner stone. Turning the runner by hand grinds the material against the lower bedstone and pushes the ground product toward the edge, where it can be collected for further processing. The mechanism is wonderfully direct.

Traditional millstone grinder in an Amazigh home in the Ourika Valley.

Behind this milling room, there is a patio at one side of which we see worn-out round millstones used in the grinder.

Used worn-out millstones

There is also a rectangular wash tub with a corrugated wooden beater.

Wash Tub with Beater

On the other side of the patio there is a traditional heated hammam bath. Hot water is provided in the bath by lighting firewood in the furnace below.

The hammam room and its wood-heated hot-water system in a traditional Ourika Valley home.

Rooms open around an inner patio. In the kitchen, clay ovens sit with a tea kettle, heating stand and everyday utensils. This is a lived-in house, not a museum set, which makes the details more interesting and the urge to poke around less defensible.

The kitchen, hearth and utensils inside a traditional Amazigh home in the Ourika Valley.

There are a few storage jars outside the rooms and a lot inside in storage rooms.

Storage rooms and large jars inside the traditional Amazigh home.

The house feels peaceful. We could sit here for a long time with tea and no agenda, a travel plan of suspicious quality.

Interior passages, doorways and rooms inside the traditional Amazigh home.

The carpeted living room has a television. “Traditional” is not another word for frozen in time.

The living room and seating area inside the traditional Amazigh home.

We do not feel comfortable photographing the bedrooms of people who actually live here. The back of the house reaches the Ourika River, which we can see and access from the yard.

The rocky Ourika River bank behind the traditional home.

It has been a fascinating stop, and Abdessamad deserves a large share of the credit for getting us here.

Abdessamad (left) with the Vagabond Couple in a traditional Amazigh home.

Setti Fatma

We leave the traditional home and keep following P2017 uphill. At the next stop, the panorama gives us Setti Fatma all at once before the road puts us back among buildings and people. Wide-angle diplomacy.

Panorama of Setti Fatma in the Ourika Valley.

Setti Fatma lies about 38 miles southeast of Marrakech on our route, at roughly 5,000 feet in the High Atlas. The Ourika River runs through the village in lively rapids. Above it, the well-known hiking route climbs toward a series of seven waterfalls; getting to them requires a steep walk, with mules also available locally.

Riverside restaurant at Setti Fatma

Local legend links Setti Fatma to a holy woman named Fatima, said to have come from Egypt as a child bride and to have lost both her children. The story connects her grief and search for water with the falls above the village. It is a legend, not a documented biography.

In the same local tradition, Fatima is remembered for helping the poor and for wisdom and healing powers. The story also places her koubba on the mountainside above the village. Folklore gets to be interesting without being promoted to a birth certificate.

Restaurants sit along the riverbanks with tables practically on top of the rapids. We have lunch at one of them, which is an unusually effective combination of food and cold mountain water.

Lunch at a riverside restaurant beside the Ourika River at Setti Fatma.

Amazigh musicians sing traditional songs for visitors too—for a fee, of course. Culture may be ancient; the tip economy remains fully operational.

Traditional musicians perform at a riverside restaurant in Setti Fatma.

Marrakech is hot, but the mountain air here is cooler. Schools are out for summer vacation, and Setti Fatma is busy with families escaping the city heat.

Street traffic, animals and the main road through Setti Fatma.

Back to Marrakech

We turn around at Setti Fatma and follow P2017 back to Marrakech. In the city we pass the big traffic circle at Hassan II Avenue and Mohammed VI Boulevard, by the train station and Royal Theatre. Bombay Marrakech restaurant is also on our route at Rue Ibn Zaidoun / Rue el Alaouiyne and Rue Mohammed el Beqal.

Bombay Marrakech restaurant

Our last shopping stop is Galerie Palm Menara. We buy Moroccan caftans, djellabas and headscarves for the Sahara over the next few days. Later in Fes, one of us gets comfortable enough in a djellaba that strangers walk up and ask for directions in Arabic, apparently assuming local knowledge. That is a fairly strong review of the outfit.

Galerie Palm Menara Shopping Center

Abdessamad finally drops us at the KFC next to Jemaa el-Fna. It is still oppressively hot. We collect a bucket of chicken and sides and walk back to the riad for the night.

Marrakech opened our 2023 Morocco route before the road turned southeast over the High Atlas toward Ouarzazate. The Medina gave us the dense urban version first—souks, Ben Youssef Madrasa, tanneries and late-night Jemaa el-Fna—while Ourika put the mountains into the story before we crossed them on the next leg. The journey did not begin with desert dunes or postcard kasbahs. It began with a train, a walled city and a road pointing toward the Atlas. Morocco was already setting the terms.

On a separate overland journey in 2025, we returned to Morocco through Tangier; that later trip came from the north and belonged to a different journey.

Back on the 2023 route, the next morning takes us from Marrakech over the High Atlas toward Ouarzazate in “Morocco: Marrakech to Ouarzazate - Tizi n’Tichka pass over High Atlas Mountains, Aït Benhaddou & the Film Studios.”