Accommodation on trek in the Atlas Mountains

Tourdust on 27th August 2011 | 0 comments |

A question we commonly get asked is what the accommodation is like in the Atlas Mountains. Leaving the glamour of the Kasbah Du Toubkal aside this article is devoted to the kind of places trekkers typically overnight in the Atlas Mountains.

#1 Mountain Refuges

Anybody tackling Toubkal is going to have to deal with the mountain refuges. There are two refuges at 3207m that most trekkers stay at before tackling the peak early the next morning. There are also several refuges in the neighbouring Azzaden Valley. Whichever refuge you end up at, you can expect fairly crammed in dormitories, shared bathrooms and plenty of noisy trekkers spoiling your hard earned sleep. So no different really than mountain huts in the rest of the world.

The two Toubkal refuges stand alongside each other in a dramatic position at the head of the Toubkal / Imlil Valley. Both huts tend to be full in the summer, with trekkers of all nationality swarming the place, all waking between 3 and 5am to tackle Toubkal – this isn’t the place to come for a good night’s sleep!;

The original Refuge du Toubkal or Neltner Hut was built and run by Club Alpin Francais. Whilst it lacks some of the nicer touches of the alternative (see below), it is a warmer building (which means it is popular with the guides and muleteers) and is marginally cheaper. There is a dining room, a small shop selling snacks, soft drinks and mineral water, a sitting room with a fireplace and lots of large dorms. All dorms have bunk beds, with mattresses laid side by side with barely space to fit a book between. The mattresses are tired and the bathroom facilities over-used, but the management are making efforts to spruce up the place and it can be endured.

The newer Les Mouflons do Toubkal benefits from its more recent construction and offers a degree of welcome ambience at first glance. However that large open plan space with tiered galleries above, whilst pleasing on the eye, does mean it can get rather cold at night. The dormitory bedrooms and shared bathrooms otherwise are of a similar level as those at the Neltner Hut (see above). There is a small shop, dining room and large open plan sitting room.

#2 Gites

The mountain gites can be real gems. Each village in the Atlas Mountains has a gite. The gites are part government funded part locally owned guesthouses and are simple traditional buildings with a number of private rooms and shared facilities. The rooms in some are little more than Berber salons - bare bones rooms with soft cushions placed around the room, which serve as a dining area for your group and sleeping area. You would typically expect a private room for your group. The bathroom facilities are usually bearable (clean but not exactly welcoming) with hot showers on offer for 1 or 2 Euros. The best thing about the gites is that you can usually get a private room for your party (even if there are only two of you) and they usually have outdoor terraces with wonderful views. 

#3 Camping

During the summer months, camping is a great option. There are some fantastic sites available and although few offer any facilities to talk of, except for a mountain stream to wash in, they can be a welcome alternative to sleeping in a crowded dorm room full of other trekkers. It is even possible to camp in the grounds of the Toubkal refuges and avail yourself of the bathroom, kitchen and sitting room facilities in the buildings. Modern dome tents are provided along with roll up sponge mattresses for sleeping on.

 

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