Ourika Valley is an excursion you must go on during a stay in Morocco. I find that the place has a wild charm with its clay villages clinging to the sides of the mountains and its crops set out in a checked pattern: a huge variety of fruit and vegetables brighten up the valley like a carpet of greenery with apple trees, cherry trees, almond trees and wildflowers.
In winter and spring, it is even possible to see the snow-covered summits of the Atlas Mountains and the shadow of the jebel Toubkal. The coolness of the valley is appreciated during the summer heatwave. What a joy to sit on the banks of the Ourika wadi, with its poplar trees and weeping willows that shade the prairies: a pastoral landscape in the middle of southern Morocco! But if the weather forecast is for a thunderstorm, be careful of the rising water levels of the wadi.
To make the most of the local market, choose to go on Monday for Tnine Ourika with its famous aromatic products.