Cycling in Morocco: Where the locals take you

Cycling Morocco's Atlantic coast: the Taghazout stage

After the High Atlas and the Sahara, the second stage of the Morocco Long-Term Challenge turns towards the Atlantic. It follows Morocco's N1 coastal road from Tamri to Imi Ouaddar, north of Agadir.

This stage shows a different side of road cycling in Morocco. The road runs between the western foothills of the High Atlas and the ocean, climbing above the coast before dropping towards small fishing and surf communities.

Look out for these places along the way:

• Tamri: The route begins near this small town between the Atlantic and the western end of the High Atlas. The landscape is open and dry, with the mountains still visible behind the coast.

• Borj Daou and Cap Rhir: The road climbs above the cliffs here, with dunes on one side and wide views across the Atlantic on the other.

• Aghroud: The route then reaches this small coastal village, known for its beaches and surfing.

• Imi Ouaddar: The stage finishes in this relaxed coastal town, where fishing boats, sandy beaches and Atlantic waves meet along the shoreline.

Coastal roads can look fairly easy on a map, but they feel very different once the wind picks up. Riding this one indoors means you can concentrate on the scenery instead.

Four days cycling in Morocco with a local guide

Above: The route team adjusts cameras on the filming vehicle.

The video follows four days of filming across Morocco, beginning beneath the country's highest mountain and ending among the dunes of Erg Chebbi. It shows how quickly the setting can change when cycling in Morocco, from high mountain roads to rocky tracks and desert sand.

These places are spread across the Long-Term Challenge and the separate Easy and Hard Challenges, so the adventure continues beyond the main four-stage challenge. The landscapes changed quickly, and the days did not always go according to plan.

Above: The route team films a remote road beneath the snow-covered High Atlas.

Day one: Cycling beneath Mount Toubkal

The team began beneath Mount Toubkal, Morocco's highest mountain at 4,167 metres. The narrow asphalt road passed through the traditional Amazigh villages of Douar Agdour and Taddert before continuing towards Tacheddirt, the highest point reached on this part of the trip. Riders can return to this area on the Imlil route, which forms part of the Great World Adventure Hard Challenge.

Above: Rashid guides a member of the ROUVY route team through the High Atlas.

Rashid had cycled these roads since childhood and knew the mountain villages, local people and changing conditions. The roads looked inviting on camera, although the team soon found they were much harder than they appeared.

Only an hour earlier, the team had been riding in sunshine. Then rain began moving across the mountains, leaving too little time to return to Imlil before the weather worsened. When your local guide starts worrying about mountain weather, it is generally a good time to listen.

The plan changed. The team stopped, met local people and drank tea before trying again the following day. It was not the day they had expected, but waiting until the following morning was the sensible choice.

Day two: Dadès Gorge and Jbel Saghro

The next stage moved into Dadès Gorge, passing the rounded formations known as Monkey Fingers and the earth-coloured buildings around Aït Youl. Below the red rock walls, trees and cultivated fields fill the valley floor, creating a strip of green through the otherwise dry terrain.

Above: The Monkey Fingers rock formations rise above the green Dadès Valley.

Nearby, Rashid led the team onto a remote road through Jbel Saghro, part of the separate Saharo Mountain route. Around 120 km of rocky off-road terrain stretched through the mountains, with no villages and few people. Nomadic communities still cross this region between the Sahara and the High Atlas. It was isolated, considerably harder than it looked and, as the team soon discovered, contained rather a lot of stones.

A separate route towards Tilmi

Closer to the Dadès and Todra valleys, another route crosses Col du Ouano towards Tilmi and the waterfall beside La Grotte d'Akhiam. Most of the road is asphalt, but the final approach changes to gravel as it enters the more remote mountain terrain. According to a local Amazigh legend, the cave and spring were formed by the tears of a woman mourning her lost love.

Above: A local rider and ROUVY route team member tackle the gravel road to Tilmi.

Day three: Wildflowers on the Plateau du Kik (and drone trouble)

On day three, the team returned to the Long-Term Challenge and the Douar Agdour route. From there, they reached a high plateau above Asni, where wildflowers covered the ground beneath the snow-capped Atlas peaks. This colour lasts only briefly around late April and early May. Once the summer heat arrives, the plateau returns to dry steppe.

The planned drone filming did not get far. The team did not have the required permit for that area, and local rangers intervened shortly after the drone was launched. A fast descent followed, with the brakes close to failing before an urgent repair in town.

Above: Wildflowers spread across the Plateau du Kik beneath the snow-covered High Atlas.

Day four: Ouarzazate, Erg Chebbi and a sandstorm

On the fourth day, the team passed through Ouarzazate, Morocco's centre for international film production, before continuing towards Merzouga and the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Near the Sahara, their vehicle became stuck deep in the dunes, well away from the road. Lowering the tyre pressure was not enough, so the team walked to a nearby desert camp to find help. Local people returned with them, and everyone used shovels to clear enough sand to free the vehicle.

Above: The ROUVY vehicle among the dunes during the desert route scout.

A sandstorm then swept across the dunes. Dust reached everything, and the planned closing interview had to be abandoned.

What you'll discover on the routes beyond the film

The video did not include every location waiting on the routes. Among those left out were an ancient fortified settlement used in major films, an old trade road through the Ounila Valley and more of the desert around Merzouga.

Aït Benhaddou: the Gladiator and Game of Thrones filming location

Above: The fortified ksar of Aït Benhaddou stands along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh.

The studios around Ouarzazate appear in the video, but Aït Benhaddou is not a constructed set. It is a historic ksar, a fortified group of earthen buildings surrounded by walls and corner towers.

Aït Benhaddou is included in the Great World Adventure Easy Challenge, giving riders another way to explore a place that did not appear in the opening film.

The settlement stands beside the former caravan road between the Sahara and Marrakesh. Added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987, it is also one of Morocco's most recognisable filming locations. It appeared in Gladiator, while Game of Thrones viewers may know it as Yunkai.

On the route, look out for:

• the earthen defensive walls and towers

• houses clustered inside the fortifications

• the former caravan road through the valley

• the bare High Atlas foothills behind the ksar

Seeing Aït Benhaddou within the wider landscape gives you a different view from the tightly framed version seen on screen. Film crews chose it because the historic architecture already did most of the work.

When a promising route does not work

The route team had also planned to film a road from Aït Benhaddou to Gas Haven in Ouarzazate, linking two recognisable Moroccan filming locations. On a map, it looked like an obvious choice. On the ground, most of the route crossed a flat and fairly featureless stretch of arid land, with little to hold a rider's attention between the start and finish.

The route was dropped. Scouting sometimes means accepting that a road which looks good on a map does not make a rewarding indoor ride.

Tamndakhte and the Ounila Valley

Beyond Aït Benhaddou, the route follows the old trade road through the Tamndakhte oasis, where palms and cultivated land interrupt the dry terrain. A ruined kasbah stands above the valley before the road climbs into the Ounila Valley.

Above: Village houses in the Ounila Valley in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.

Look out for:

• the oasis and ruined kasbah at Tamndakhte
• villages built against the cliffs
• deep gullies and exposed ridges
• rock faces ranging from deep ochre and red to pale gold

The major landmarks may appear on a map, but many of the smaller roads and settlements between them are easy to pass without someone who knows where to look.

Back to Merzouga

The video takes you to Merzouga, but there is more to see on the routes. Riders will pass Hotel Nasser Palace and its camel stables before heading back towards Erg Chebbi.

Above: Camels wander beside a desert road near Merzouga.

The stables provide a glimpse behind the familiar pictures of camel trains crossing the dunes. You can also return to the desert without sand finding its way into your cameras, clothes and every available gap. The route team did that part for you.

Moroccan hospitality: more than the roads

The team encountered another act of local kindness near Merzouga. After spending most of the day freeing the vehicle from the sand, one member of the team reached a local restaurant without having eaten. He ordered a Berber pizza and began filming some final behind-the-scenes footage.

When he asked for the bill, the restaurant refused to accept payment. The staff said it was their way of thanking the team for showing Morocco to people around the world. It was a small gesture after a difficult day, and the team did not forget it.

Rashid knew the landscape, villages, people and stories behind them. A map might have found some good roads, but it would not have shown Morocco through the eyes of someone who had cycled there since childhood.

Rashid shared the roads and mountains he knows so well with the team. Now you can ride some of them too.

Many of these roads would take careful planning and local knowledge to reach outdoors, especially the remote mountain and desert sections. On ROUVY, you can ride them indoors using footage recorded on location. The gradients are still yours to ride, but you can leave the mountain weather, deep sand and route-finding to the team who filmed them.