Green hills, olive and orange groves, Mediterranean atmosphere, fresh air, mountainous peaks covered with snow for half a year, cozy villages among enormous, red-rock formations - it's not the way Morocco is portrayed in the media. First thing that comes to mind about this exciting destination is endless dunes of Sahara, Bedouin houses and even entire villages made from mud. I had a similar image of Morocco before the trip to this North African country. Once again I got a proof on how traveling can change the stereotypes and the way you think about the world. One of the reasons why I love it so much!

Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Atlas Mountains range stretches across three countries: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The easiest way to explore its incredibly diverse scenery is to take a tour in Marrakesh. There are many tours to choose from, however, be careful, do your research, ask many providers beforehand as you are quite likely to get scammed in Morocco.

We had a chance to explore the Atlas Mountains during our 3 day trip to Sahara, Dades Valley and the famous mud town near Ourzazat - Ait-Benhaddou which was featured in a few Hollywood films. (I'll describe them soon). To find out more about the trip, how much we paid and how to avoid con artists, take a look at the post about Sahara adventure - I've described it in detail here.

I liked the Atlas Mountains area especially because it turned out to be so different from what I had expected. Lush green hills, snowy peaks and villages squeezed in the middle of beautiful valleys. The views are magnificent and so changeable that it's impossible to get bored even though the ride is long - 5 hours.

I took most the photos presented here in this article from the window of the mini van we were traveling in. Also, have a look at another post about Morocco which shows how diverse the country is - From Sahara to the Sea where I posted the shots taken during our crazy, 800 km (500 miles) ride in an old taxi where 7 people were squeezed!