If you are looking for a quick and easy day trip from Marrakech to get away from the hustle and bustle, an Imlil day trip is a great choice! Imlil is a lovely place to take in some cooler fresh air (temperatures are often 10 degrees Celsius cooler here!), go on peaceful walks and check out the waterfalls. It is easily considered one of the best day trips from Marrakech. Below is our full review of what to expect on your Imlil day trip and how to book it!
Imlil Day Trip from Marrakech: A full review
Where is Imlil?
Imlil is a small village only about 65km away from Marrakech. It is located 1800m above sea level at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. The village mostly serves as a trekking base as it sits at the base of Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa at 4167m tall.
How to get to Imlil
You can reach Imlil by taxi from Marrakech and hire a guide once you get there if you wish to do some guided walks or trekking.
We found it easiest for our Imlil day trip to just book a guided tour which included transportation from Marrakech. Our driver picked us up from our riad and chatted with us for the 1.5 hour journey. It was nice talking to him and learning more about Berber culture along the way.
Our driver also shared with us that the road we were driving on to Imlil was featured in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation for Tom Cruise’s motorcycle chase! Check it out and see if you recognize it 🙂
Booking your Imlil Day Trip
There are tons of tour companies offering day trips to Imlil from Marrakech. It’s often hard to decide which one to go with because there are just so many to choose from! We ended up booking our tour with Marrakech Day Trips due to their great reviews on Trip Advisor. We were not disappointed – they were great!
To book, you just fill out their online form and they get back to you by email super quick! I emailed and then heard back from the owner, Ibrahim, the same day. No payment was needed to book the tour – only a contact number and our accommodation info. Payment was due in cash on the day of the tour.
For the Imlil day trip the cost was €60/person, including roundtrip transportation, English-speaking guide, lunch and tea/coffee. They accept payment in Euros, US Dollars or Moroccan Dirhams.
If you have more time and are interested in more than just a day trip, the company also offers longer tours and excursions from Marrakech, such as multi-day Atlas Mountains treks and camel treks in the Sahara.
Wondering where to stay in Marrakech? Check out Riad Dar Dialkoum
Imlil Day Trip Itinerary:
Pick up from hotel
Our driver picked us up from our riad at 9am sharp. We began our journey by car to Imlil. The drive took about an hour and a half. Some parts of the road were pretty curvy and narrow. If you often get car sick you may need to be prepared for this.
Visiting an Argan Oil Cooperative
I’m sure we are all familiar with Moroccan argan oil! It has certainly gained popularity in recent years, especially in women’s hair care products.
On the drive to Imlil, your driver will stop at a local women’s cooperative where they make all kinds of argan oil products. It is pretty neat to see them extracting the oil from the argan nut and turning it into all kinds of products, like make up, lib balm, lotions, soaps, etc. You’ll get to learn about the entire process from the local women and it’s pretty interesting to see it all in action.
You of course will have the opportunity to purchase the products as well. They had a great selection with decent prices. The women weren’t pushy but we did feel a bit obligated to buy something. We weren’t prepared with enough dirhams, but luckily they accepted credit card as well.
Moroccan Tea in Imlil
Upon arriving in the little village of Imlil you will be greeted with some Moroccan mint tea. We sat out on the terrace and enjoyed the nice view before beginning our hike.
Hiking the Atlas Mountains
We had an English-speaking guide and he asked us what type of hike we wished to do. Did we want something short and easy, a little moderate or more strenuous? There are a number of different hikes you can do in the area so it depends on your preference. We opted for a longer, more moderate hike, which ended up being about 5 hours long.
Our hike took us beneath walnut trees, which I had never seen in person before! Our guide happily picked walnuts for us along the way, shelled them and fed them to us for energy. They were delicious! A great snack for our hike.
We hiked through the valley, through olive groves, past little villages and fields, and some small waterfalls. It was a very peaceful hike. Our guide talked to us along the way about life growing up in the mountains and other interesting facts (such as pointing out Sir Richard Branson‘s luxurious off the beaten path hotel where Mark Zuckerberg supposedly stayed), but he also walked ahead and gave us some space to enjoy the hike in peace.
Once we reached one of the larger waterfalls, we stopped for a bit to admire the lovely views of the valley and take photos by the falls.
There were also some little cafes here where you could get some nice, fresh orange juice.
Visiting a Berber Village
We eventually made it to the largest Berber village, and one of the highest villages in Africa at 2100 metres! This village was actually wiped out by a huge landslide awhile back – our guide pointed out the dark rocks to the right of the village in the photo below.
Our guide took us through the town where we got to observe locals going about their day. It was super windy while we were there and it knocked over a pile of harvested apples so we stopped to help pick them up.
As we explored the town, our guide showed us the caves where Berbers used to live before houses were built. A highlight for us on our Imlil day trip was witnessing a family getting electricity hooked up to their home for the first time ever! How special.
Lunch at a Berber Guest House
After our long hike we stopped at a Berber guest house for a late lunch. We were served a traditional tagine with Moroccan and Berber bread.
The Berber bread was absolutely delicious and I preferred it over the Moroccan bread. It reminded me of naan, but bigger and thicker. It was crispy on the outside and really doughy and chewy on the inside, whereas the Moroccan bread was more dry.
For dessert we had apples with yogurt and cardamom, and of course Arabic tea 🙂
Camel Ride near Marrakech
After our lunch we started our drive back to Marrakech but stopped at the Moulay Brahim Gorges for a short camel ride. We rode camels along the river bed and fields. These camels were actually a lot comfier to ride than others we had been on before.
If you’ve never ridden a camel before and don’t have the time to make it to the Sahara, then this is a good opportunity to try it out. However the Atlas Mountains hike was definitely more of the highlight of our Imlil day trip.
This Imlil day trip was a great little getaway from Marrakech and a nice contrast from the city. We highly recommend it as one of the best day trips from Marrakech!
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Marrakech Itinerary: The Perfect 3 Days in Marrakech
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