Route de l'Ourika

As you leave Marrakesh on the P2107, you travel through a rich plain with the Atlas peaks above. This is known as the Route de l'Ourika, and is a good place to spend a night cooling off from the furnace that is Marrakesh. Since the plains are so generously watered by the Atlas slopes above, you'll find a lot of luscious vegetation, much different than the scorched terrain nearby. Anticipate reams of olive, citrus, and fig trees, and boughs bending with flowers. There are a number of guesthouses, kasbahs, and minifarms along the way offering comfy accommodations, home-cooked food, and fresh air.