Marrakech & the Atlas, Morocco
A riad you'd never find alone, a High Atlas valley, and two nights in the Agafay under actual dark sky.
The medina is overwhelming for exactly two days and then it clicks. This trip gives it those two days with someone who knows which door to knock on, then gets you out into the Atlas before the noise wears thin.
Imlil is ninety minutes and a different country. You walk between Berber villages, eat where you're invited, and sleep somewhere with no wifi and a view of Toubkal.
The Agafay nights are not a Sahara substitute and we won't pretend they are — it's stone desert, an hour from the city, and the sky is genuinely extraordinary because there's nothing between you and it.
Riad check-in, mint tea on the roof, and a short orientation walk before dark.
Full day with a guide — souks, the tanneries from upwind, Bahia Palace, and lunch somewhere with no sign outside.
Morning cooking class, afternoon at leisure. Hammam if you want it.
Drive to Imlil, then walk between villages for four hours. Guesthouse dinner with the family.
Morning walk, then transfer to the stone desert. Camp set-up, dinner under the sky.
Camels or bikes in the morning, then nothing at all. The point of the day is the sky at the end of it.
Back to Marrakech for the flight.