Morocco
Draa Valley
An ancient caravan trail threading through palm groves and crumbling kasbahs toward the Sahara.
The road follows Morocco's longest river through what feels like a biblical landscape — date palms by the million, their fronds rustling above crumbling pisé kasbahs, the occasional minaret rising from a village that has looked the same for centuries. Dust hangs in the afternoon light. Donkeys carry fodder along irrigation channels. The valley stretches south from Ouarzazate toward Zagora and the Sahara, growing drier and more dramatic with every kilometre, until the palms thin and the hamada takes over.
The Draa Valley follows Morocco's longest river for approximately 200 kilometres from Ouarzazate to Zagora, passing through the largest date-palm grove in the country — an estimated two million palms producing over fifty varieties of dates. The valley was a key trans-Saharan caravan route, and its ksour and kasbahs reflect centuries of trade wealth. The N9 road runs the valley's length, passing through Agdz, Tamnougalt, and Zagora — each with its own architectural and cultural character. Water management in the valley relies on ancient khettara irrigation channels, an underground aqueduct system similar to Persian qanats.
Solo
The N9 is one of Morocco's great driving roads — the valley unfolds over hours, each stop revealing a different kasbah, a different light, a different variety of date.
Couple
Kasbah guesthouses in the palmery offer a silence and simplicity that strips everything back to essentials — good food, starlight, and each other.
Family
The drive down the N9 is an adventure in itself for children — kasbahs, palm groves, and the gradual transition from green valley to Saharan edge. Stops are frequent and the pace is dictated by curiosity.
- Morocco's longest river feeds a thirty-kilometre palmery — the largest date-palm oasis in the country.
- The N9 road threads through crumbling kasbahs, each one a different stage of poetic collapse.
- Over fifty date varieties grow here, from sweet Medjool to chewy Boufeggous.
- The valley was the main caravan route to Timbuktu — the trading history is still visible in every settlement.
Dates plucked warm from the palm — Medjool, Boufeggous, Jihel — in a valley that grows fifty varieties.
Berber bread baked in earth ovens in villages along the N9 road to Zagora.
Wistman's Wood
England
Twisted ancient oaks dripping with moss in a silence so deep it hums.
Imber
England
A ghost village frozen in 1943 where wildlife has reclaimed the empty cottages.
Nawamis
Egypt
Circular stone tombs a thousand years older than the pyramids, strewn across empty Sinai plateau.
Qaret el-Muzawwaqa
Egypt
Painted Roman tombs in golden cliffs where zodiac ceilings survive in desert-sealed air.
Chefchaouen
Morocco
Blue-washed walls dripping with bougainvillea in a mountain medina where cats outnumber cars.
Fes el-Bali
Morocco
Nine thousand alleys where the smell of cedar, leather, and centuries of spice never fades.
Essaouira
Morocco
Atlantic gales rattle shutters on a fortified port where Hendrix once jammed with Gnawa musicians.
Erg Chebbi
Morocco
Saharan dunes taller than apartment blocks turning from gold to crimson as the sun drops.