I'll be heading down to Morocco from Spain in few days, crossing to Tangier. Was wondering if someone can give me some recommendations on good scenic roads, good places to camp (wild if possible), some cool small towns (not touristy) and anything else that comes to mind. After spending so much time in Central and South America, I'm running out of money and time so probably won't be able to stay much longer that 8-9 days. Appreciate all inputs.

Hi

I'm just back from my first tour de Maroc. I would reccomend the mountains to the south of Taza, fairly good roads, very low on toursit traffic and some fantasitc secenery. the circular tourist route from Taza through the Cork Oak forset was great too. will not be busy yet. I saw about 5 cars in 1 hour on it!

Some roads may be pistes but are generally easy.

West from there, there are some fantasic villages, particularly Bhalil where the houses are caves with a nice front, again not too touristy.

Azrou is a good base to see the cedar forests and the monkeys. Go down the tourist track to the west and keep you eye out in the forst and you will see the monkeys, not by the main road because they are all high on e numbers and smoke fags (appaently!)

From there you could head south into the higher Atlases, Circ to Jaffar and all of that.

Theres a few reccomendations from me anyway, Have a great trip

Dave

Hello Renimus:

Like Dave (above), I have also just finished my first tour of Morocco. I spent 10 days there during early May.

When I got off the ferry, I headed east along the coast road (very scenic, very nice), then rode up through the mountains to Chefchaouen. From there I rode down to Fes, thence down to Zagora. It is notable that that route stays well to the east of the major population centers.

There were very few cars on the road during my trip south, and even fewer tourist vehicles. On average, I saw perhaps 1 or 2 European bikers per day.

After I reached Agadir, I headed north along the west coast of the country. That area is more populous and there were more cars on the road there.

So, my suggestion is to keep to the middle or eastern part of the country if you don't like being crowded.

Be aware that it is starting to get kind of hot down there... temperatures were up in the 30s every day, which was a bit too hot for me. So do pay attention to the weather forecasts. If it is forecast to be hot, you might want to stay up in the mountains, which are considerably cooler.

Michael

Cheers guys! Would appreciate if anyone else has any inputs as well.

I spent 14 days in Morocco last month, 2-up and loaded (the old ball and chain doesn't travel light) on a Super Tenere 1200, so not much in terms of exciting piste riding but some of my favourite routes were: El Kebab - Imilchil via R317, you can carry on down to Todra or swing a left towards Amellagou etc. on the P7103 then P7101 towards Goulmima; great mountain scenery and interesting mountain passes, lots of small settlements.

Further south I enjoyed riding the Tizi 'n Test pass, the scenery was mind-blowing, traffic was sparse.

The R105 from Ait Baha to Tafraoute was fun too, some great rock formations and wild west scenery around Tafraoute.

The P1506 north from Ait Ben Haddou towards the Tizi 'n Tichka pass was also an interesting ride.

I guess others will have much more interesting suggestions for good off road routes if that's what you are after, but as Dave and Michael have said, stick in and around the mountains and you can't go wrong.

I didn't camp so can't comment on good wild camping spots but I guess if you end up following any of the routes outlined in Chris Scott's book you should be able to find some great spots out in the desert/mountains.

Here's a link to some footage I took last month:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GoB49Pwq60

Have a safe trip!

Thanks all. I would add to this R704 between Dades and Agoudal if someone is about to head this way. One of the best rides I had in my last year and half on the road. Half dirt through some fantastic mountains.