Taroudant

A town within its walls

Taroudant sits in the Souss plain, between the High Atlas to the north and the Anti-Atlas to the south; on clear days, the town's rooftop terraces look out to the peaks of Awlim (3,482 m) and Tinerghwet (3,551 m). The town has about 70,000 inhabitants.

In the 16th century the Saadian sultans made it their capital, before moving to Marrakesh. From that era and the centuries that followed, the town keeps its ramparts: about 7.5 km of ochre earth walls reinforced with towers, among the longest in Morocco, standing for more than five centuries. You enter through monumental gates, including Bab el-Kasbah, Bab el-Khemis and Bab Zarkan.

The September 2023 earthquake damaged part of the walls; more than 40 million dirhams were allocated in 2026 to their restoration.

Going round the ramparts. The circuit is done by horse-drawn carriage, in three to four hours with stops. Sabaro recommends the late afternoon, when the low light colours the earth and the heat eases.

The rhythm of the medina

Taroudant is a lively trading town. Its centre lies between two squares.

• Place Assarag (officially Place Alaouyine), pedestrianised, comes alive in the late afternoon: storytellers, snake charmers and musicians have returned, on a much smaller scale than Jemaa el-Fna in Marrakesh.
• Place Talmoklate (officially Place En-Nasr) closes the centre on the other side.
• The souks, between the two squares, sell leather, terracotta objects and Amazigh (Berber) jewellery; bargaining is expected. The Amazigh souk is one of the five places the tourist office highlights.
• The tanneries work the leather the town is known for.

The town also lives from the argan tree: outside the ramparts, cooperatives and families crack argan nuts and press the oil.

Around Taroudant

• The Tioute oasis, about 25 km to the south-east, keeps a stone Glaoui kasbah, one of the most imposing in the South, still owned by the local caid (the local representative of the administration). Jacques Becker filmed Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves there in 1954. Tour groups arrive around lunchtime: it is best to come in the morning. Next door, the Taitmatine women's cooperative produces argan oil.
• The Claudio Bravo palace, outside the town, is the former home of the Chilean painter, now partly a museum; it is visited with a guide.
• The mountains. Taroudant is a starting point for hikes in the High Atlas and towards Jebel Sirwa, a circuit of which takes at least a week.

A stop or a stay

Taroudant is 82.9 km from Agadir, about 1 h 30 by road, and 275.6 km from Marrakesh, about 3 h 15. It fits naturally between the Agadir coast and the mountains, or on a loop towards Tafraout and the Anti-Atlas.

• One night is enough for the medina and the ramparts.
• Two or three nights let you add Tioute, a hike and some rest in a garden hotel.

The hotels in the Sabaro selection are garden houses. Dar Zitoune, about 55 minutes from Agadir airport, gathers Berber-style bungalows in a one-and-a-half-hectare garden, with a heated pool and spa; it suits families. Dar al Hossoun, an eighteen-room rammed-earth house a few minutes from the ramparts, among fields and olive groves, spreads through a botanical garden of 900 varieties, with two pools; the medina is reached by taxi. The house organises the carriage tour of the town and the visit to Tioute.