When is the best time to ride in Morocco?

After 13 years of visiting Morocco , and I don´t mean just once or twice a year, I mean  spending 5-8 weeks there, every year, at different times of the year I have some experience on this subject. I have been running motorcycle tours throughout this country in every thinkable month of the year, apart of July and August. I have had customers that went during summer! I do not recommend going in July or August, unless you either stay by the coast or in the mountains. Or you travel in a car with air conditioning. These guys went to Zagora and the tyres on one of the bikes disintegrated due to the heat, so I suggest not to bother. Once, when I spent 10 days riding in June, the temperatures reached 48ºC on most days. Trust me, it was not pleasant, and I do like heat.

My favorite time to visit the country is late September or October. The air is still  warm and the swimming pools haven`t had time to cool down, after the heat of the summer.

In these months you can travel light with summer clothes and an additional fleece for the evening and days are still long with daylight lasting till 21.00 or later.

Also March and April  are fabulous, when the trees are in blossom, there is still snow around the peaks of the High Atlas and the weather starts to be warm again.

And then there is always the “surprise “factor, when you get rain and you end up crossing rivers, or you get cut off from your destination completely. This mostly happens in the High Atlas or in the valley between the High Atlas and the Anti Atlas.You can get cut off by rivers on occasion but that`s just part of the adventure.

Most roads pass through dry river beds, which fill with water as soon as it starts raining in the mountains. The arrival of the water is generally very violent and an impressive event, but as soon the rain stops, the level drops and vehicles can continue their journey. Also  places, like Tinghir and Boumalne du Dades, where bridges were regularly washed away each winter, have built heavy duty bridges, that should not be affected by heavy rain any longer.

I have been in Morocco in December, January and February many times and it does get cold sometimes. You can also end up stuck in the snow, but that is a rare occurance .This has only happened to me once in 13 years.

It might take a day or two for the snow to stop and for the mountain passes to be cleared, so if you plan to go in winter, check the weather forecast  and avoid secondary roads crossing the High Atlas mountains and stick to the main Passes.

Whatever time of year you choose to travel in Morocco, if you decide to cross over any of the main mountain ranges remember to bring your waterproofs and a spare warm layer.

This applies for every season. In the last few years there has been snow even in the desert.

I could go on  about everything to keep in mind when traveling to Morocco but that is not the subject of this article .I hope you find this information of an interest.

If you have any question to the subject, feel free to contact me at [email protected]