The Draa Valley Palm Groves

South of Ouarzazate the road crosses a pass and drops into the Draa, and for the next couple of hundred kilometres it follows a continuous belt of date palms along the river, hemmed in by bare rock on both sides. The palm groves are farmed in the old way, in small irrigated plots under the trees, and every few kilometres there is a ksar or kasbah of packed earth, some lived in, many collapsing back into the ground they were built from. Agdz, Tamnougalt, Timidarte and Zagora are the places most people stop. The date harvest fills the roadside markets in autumn. Beyond Zagora the palms thin out and the road runs on towards the sand.

What you actually see

• The palm groves - continuous date palmeraie along the river valley.
• The earth ksour - fortified mud villages such as Tamnougalt, some in ruins.
• The date markets - roadside stalls and souks at harvest time in autumn.
• The pass into the valley - the Tizi n'Tinififft descent from the Ouarzazate side.

When to go

October to April is the sensible window; midsummer in the valley is brutally hot, often above forty degrees. The date harvest runs through September and October and is the liveliest time in the villages. Winter days are warm and the nights cold. Drive the valley slowly and in daylight, because the road is shared with carts and animals.

Honest expectations

It is a long drive with much the same view for hours, and some people find it monotonous rather than romantic. Many of the old kasbahs are unstable ruins that cannot be entered safely; the ones you can visit charge and are only partly restored. Zagora itself is a functional town with little charm. Guides and camel touts work the roadside stops persistently.

Nearby

Ouarzazate and Aït Benhaddou are north over the pass, and Mhamid and the Chigaga dunes lie at the far end of the valley.