5-Day Berber Villages Toubkal Hike from Marrakech

Day 1: Marrakech – Imi Oughlad – Tizi n'Tichka – Tiziane (L, D)

After your morning pick up, you will be transferred to the trail-head of Imi Oughlad (1450m). Here you will leave your vehicle behind and meet up with a Berber muleteer crew. Set off in north-westerly direction for a 2 hour acclimatization hike up switchback mule tracks, passing by cornfields, pine woods and juniper to the Tiz n'Tichka (2000m). Stop to look back down on the Iimlil and Assif n'ait Oussaden valleys before carrying on for another half hour to Imi n'Ifri and a field picnic. Then it's a slow 2.5 hour hike south-west down along a dirt trail to Assif n'ait Oussaden and the red clay terraced village of Tiziane (1750 m) where you will spend the night in a Berber house.

Day 2: Tiziane – Tizi n'Taghrhourte – D'knt (B, L, D)

 After breakfast, set off on your hike up along the Assif n'ait Oussaden Valley, passing through walnut groves, up to Tizi n'Taghrhourte (1995m) and through to a rare, almost flat, stretch to arrive at some springs, where you will stop for today's picnic. Enjoy the absolute silence after about 2.5 hours of relatively easy walking. The afternoon hike takes you down along the edges of the forest until reaching the Berber village of D'knt (1870m) or Agouns n'Assoul, where you will have dinner and spent the night in a Berber house.

Day 3: D'knt – Tizi Oussem – Azib Tamsoult (B, L, D)

This morning's 3 hour hike takes you up through groves of walnut trees and corn and barley fields to greet the many sheep and goat herders in the area. On the descent, you will be among juniper trees until reaching a small spring set amongst the trees, where you will stop for your picnic. Once refreshed, head down winding tracks of the upper slopes for about 3 hours to come to a small river at the beginning of the Assif n'ait Oussaden valley. From here, you enter the village of Tizi Oussem (1850m), then up to the Refuge Azib Tamsoult hut where you spend the night.

Day 4: Azib Tamsoult – Tizi Aguelzim Pass – Toubkal Refuge (B, L, D)

After breakfast, set out eastward on a moderately difficult hike up winding mule trails to the Tizi Aguelzim Pass (3550m), then it's a further 3 hours south-east to the Toubkal Refuge at over 10,500 feet (3207m). Overnight at Toubkal Refuge.

Day 5: Refuge Toubkal – Toubkal Summit – Imlil – Marrakech (B, L)

 After a very early breakfast, set out around 6am to attain the highest peak in the Maghreb. The panoramic views from here are simply stunning. Then it's back down to the refuge. After lunch, set off towards the north along steeply descending, zigzagging trails of the higher slopes of the valley towards the Shrine of Sidi Chamharouch, then downhill to the village of Imlil. Transfer back to Marrakech in the late afternoon.