The High Atlas region is made for outdoor adventures—the perfect antidote to the concentration and animation of Marrakesh. You can hang glide, ski, hot-air balloon, quad bike, and ride mules, but perhaps best of all, you can walk (in the winter, you can even ski).

This is also the heart of Berber mountain culture. so it's the perfect place to experience their hospitality and explore their customs. Or, if trekking isn't your thing, you can relax and wander through the fruit orchards, gorge on fresh peaches and in-season walnuts, and learn about the carpets woven by the women of the region over a cup of hot wild thyme tea.

The High Atlas Mountains rise as a natural fortress between the fertile Haouz Plain around Marrakesh and the deserts of the south. Trapping moisture that blows in from the Atlantic, the mountains pass this bounty along to the land and to the thin rivers that vanish into the southern desert. To reach the mountains, even today's travelers must go through one of the routes guarded by age-old passes: Tizi-n-Test in the west or Tizi-n-Tichka in the east. They benefit from some glorious spots to stay, and the chance to take a quiet look at some intriguing relics of Moroccan history.