Travel to Imlil:
Trekking Mount Toubkal - High Atlas
- Imlil things to see: Imlil has become a real trekking base for hikes in the High Altas and to the mount Toubkal in particular. There are plenty of cheap hotels and guesthouses, which get packed in july and august. With the new road and kasbah, tourism has gone up a lot and tour buses and tourist 4WD can choke the one road village during the day. Outside the high season, the village becomes calm again in the evening when the busloads of tourists have left. Several hiking trails are starting in the village, among them the 5 hour walk (one way) to mount Toubkal, the highest mountain of Morocco.
- Getting to Imlil by car, bus or taxi : Thanks to the re-surfacing of the road from Asni to Imlil, the journey from Marrakesh now takes less than 1,5 hours. The road is now in good condition without potholes, it's just annoying that those taxis have to drive so fast on a road not much wider than a car and with plenty of sharp turns. It's a bit hard to find your way out of Marrakech, as there are few signs or arrows in the centre. Once you get to the new southern ring road, follow the few signs to Taroudannt (Oukaimeden is a lot better indicated, but that's a different road). Asni is not signposted. From Tahanaoute the mountains are starting and the road winds its way up.
- Parking: Next to the budget hotel Al Aine, at the right side of the road when entering the village, there is a guarded parking which costs 10 dirham per night and 5 dirham per day. It is not recommended to leave your car in the main (and only) street of Imlil, as there is no real parking space and lots of taxi and donkey activity.
- Hotels - accommodation: there are plenty of budget guesthouses en hotels along the main road. They all seem to offer about the same standard small rooms which cost about 80 - 100 dirham for a double room. If you intend to stay a bit longer you probably will appreciate the rest of the guesthouses at the end of the surfaced road. The main street of Imlil gets very busy during the day when plenty of coaches, jeeps and taxis arrive.
- Kasbah
du Toubkal: The kasbah has now been completely restored and has
amazing views on the High Atlas mountains and berber villages. A British
family started the restauration of the Kasbah in 1994, and the place now
organises tours, provides luxurious accommodation and food and receives a
lot of British visitors. The owners of the Kasbah du Toubkal also support
sustainable tourism. Part of the money goes back to the local berber community
of Imlil.
Don't forget to look in the picture book at the reception which shows the whole
transformation of ruin, via Tibetan monastery (for Martin Scorsese's film
Kundun in 1996) to luxury mountain refuge.
- Walking up to the Kasbah: it's quite a steep climb of about 15 minutes to the Kasbah from the end of the surfaced road. You can rent a donkey, but be aware that it's not so comfortably on the way down.
- Accommodation - hotel services: rooms are nicely restaurated in traditional Maroccan style. Prices are steep, starting at 130 euro for a double room. Individual travellers can also get a bed in a 12-bed dorm for 300 dirham, which is good value.
- Cafe: if you come to Imlil, you should at least drink a tea of coffee on the wonderful terrace of the Kasbah and enjoy the surrounding views of mountains and villages.
- Restaurant lunch - dinner: the lunch menu consists of a huge Moroccan salad, delicious tajine (with caramelized figs, roasted wallnuts and sesame seeds) and couscous (as extra main course), melon and tea or coffee. Dinner has only one main course. Dinner costs 200 dirham, lunch 300 dirham. Rather expensive, but we could arrange that the use of their great hammam was included in the price of the lunch.
- Traditional hammam: The kasbah du Toubkal also has a very nice and quite large hammam with several rooms with steaming hot water and cold baths. If you can get the usage of the hammam included in the dinner price, this must be the ultimate place to end a long trekking.
- Practical details: email: kasbah@discover.ltd.uk, telephone: 044-485611, there is a lot of information on their website www.kasbahdutoubkal.com.
