3 Day Toubkal Trek with an Acclimatisation Day

Three days is a popular length for Mount Toubkal, and the way you spend those three days matters. This route uses the first day as a warm-up: a hike from Imlil over the small summit of Isk, at 2,700 metres, then down to sleep in a guest house in the village of Aroumd, at about 2,000 metres. Day two climbs to the Toubkal refuge at 3,207 metres, and day three is the summit at 4,167 metres, the highest in North Africa, followed by the long walk down to Imlil and the drive back to Marrakech.

How this route differs from our other 3 day trek

Our 3 day Toubkal trek from Imlil walks up the Mizane valley to the refuge and sleeps there for two nights, with the summit on day two. This route does it differently: the first night is low, in Aroumd, after a warm-up hike, you sleep at the refuge only once, and summit day is also the day you walk all the way back down. That gives you a night at 2,000 metres to settle in, and a harder, longer final day. Choose this one if you want a proper warm-up and a village night. Choose the other if you would rather have two nights up at the refuge before the summit.

Day by day in brief

On day one you meet your guide at Imlil, with a welcome mint tea in a local restaurant and a map briefing on the route. You walk through Berber villages and terraced fields up to the summit of Isk, with wide views of the mountains and valleys, then down to a quiet spot near a shepherd’s goat shelter for lunch and on to Aroumd for the night, with dinner in a traditional guest house. On day two you follow the valley through walnut groves and terraces where farmers grow apples and walnuts, stop for lunch at the pilgrimage site of Sidi Chamarouch, at about 2,350 metres (a shrine closed to non-Muslims) and continue to the refuge for tea, dinner and the night. Day three starts very early for the summit, then the descent to the refuge for lunch, and on down the Toubkal valley to Imlil, where the transfer to Marrakech waits.

Fitness, altitude and weather

This trek asks for moderate to high fitness, and some trekking experience helps, especially for summit day, which is long: the climb, the descent to the refuge and the walk down to Imlil all happen on the same day. The warm-up helps, yet altitude affects people unpredictably: a headache, nausea or a bad night are the usual signs. Say so straight away, stay at the same height until it passes and descend if it gets worse. The weather in the mountains turns fast and nights at the refuge are cold. In the winter months, roughly November to April, the upper slopes can hold snow and ice, and that can mean crampons and an ice axe. Give us your dates and we will tell you what to expect.

Your guide and the plan

Your guide is a licensed, English-speaking mountain guide from the area. Before you leave Imlil the route is explained on a map, and the pace and the turn-back time are agreed with you. On the mountain they may change for the weather or the group. No guide can promise the top, because the conditions and your own condition have the last word.

What is included

The price covers the round-trip transport between your accommodation in Marrakech and the trek, the English-speaking guide, a Berber cook, all meals during the trek, accommodation in the Atlas Mountains on both nights, and mules with muleteers for your luggage. Personal expenses, travel insurance and soft or alcoholic drinks are not included, and neither is transport to and from the airport.

Shorter, longer or different

For the fastest route, see the 2 day trek. For more time at altitude before the summit, look at the 4 day Berber villages trek and the 5 day trek with an acclimatisation day. See every route on the Mount Toubkal trekking page, or ask us to plan your own.