Experience the best of Boumalne Dades

Boumalne Dades lies in south-eastern Morocco on the Route of the Thousand Kasbahs, where the Dadès river flows between the High Atlas to the north and the Saghro mountains to the south. It is a small town of cafés, shops and flat-roofed houses, and an important junction on the road between Ouarzazate and the desert.

North of town, the Dadès Gorges are cut into red and ochre rock, with eroded formations nicknamed Monkey Fingers and a steep road of hairpin bends climbing through the cliffs. Mud-brick kasbahs stand in the valley among palm trees and fields. Todra Gorge lies to the east, and the rose-growing valley around Kelaat M'Gouna to the west holds a festival in spring.

Meals are built around tagine, couscous on Fridays, Berber omelette cooked in a clay pot and sweet mint tea, and dates, nuts and rose products are sold in the markets. The valley is high and dry, with hot summers and cold winters, and spring and autumn bring the clearest light on the gorges.