Fes, Morocco· Concierge · Mon–Sat · 09:00–18:00 GMT+1
Tinghir · Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0
Tinghir is a market town on the edge of a wide date-palm oasis watered by the Todra river, and the main overnight base for the Todra Gorge narrows. It lies a long way south of Fes, on the southern desert loop. Walk the terraced palmeries, see the Glaoui kasbah and drive the oasis road up to the canyon.
Tinghir sits firmly on the southern circuit rather than the Fes one: a market town and oasis at roughly 1,342 m in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, reached on the Marrakech-side desert loop, set on the northern edge of a wide date-palm oasis watered by the Todra river as it descends from the High Atlas. It sits approximately 180 km east of Ouarzazate and 33 km west of the Todra Gorge's most dramatic narrows, making it the principal overnight base for visitors to the canyon. The town itself — its terraced palmeries, the Glaoui kasbah on the hill, the weekly Tuesday souk and the cluster of Berber village quarters — is a rewarding destination in its own right beyond its role as a gorge gateway. Tinghir's palmery is one of the widest and most fertile in southern Morocco, some 50 km long.
The Todra Gorge is a slot canyon where the Todra river has cut through 300-metre-high walls of limestone to a passage as narrow as 10 metres at its tightest point. The main narrows are 33 km north-east of Tinghir, reached by a scenic road through the palm oasis; the drive itself is part of the spectacle.
One of the longest and most productive oases in southern Morocco — the palmery stretches roughly 50 km along the Todra river, with terraced plots of dates, alfalfa, henna, figs and pomegranates worked by Berber farmers using traditional irrigation channels.
The 19th-century Glaoui fortress on the hill above Tinghir overlooks a cluster of old village quarters — Ait Ouaarda, Ait Bou Oulli and others — of earthen architecture with distinctive defensive towers and painted doors.
The vertical limestone walls of the Todra Gorge host more than 150 bolted sport-climbing routes from 5a to 8b, making it one of the premier rock-climbing destinations in Africa. Several guiding outfits in the gorge hire equipment and lead climbers of all levels.
Trips we build around Tinghir. Tell us which one fits and we'll write the days and quote them for your group.
3 days
Tinghir and the Todra Gorge narrows are a key overnight stop on the private desert route from the Atlas to the dunes.
2 days
A private two-day circuit: the Dadès switchbacks and monkey-finger formations on day one, Tinghir and the Todra narrows on day two.
Getting there. About 2h (180 km) east of Ouarzazate on the N10; or 1h30 west of Errachidia on the same road
The gorge road. The 33 km road from Tinghir to the Todra narrows winds through the palm oasis — an easy and beautiful drive in any vehicle
Best combined with. Aït Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, Skoura and the Dadès Gorge on the full southern kasbah loop
Read next. Is Volubilis Worth Visiting, and How Do You Do a Meknes & Volubilis Day Trip from Fes?; Can You See Wild Monkeys Near Fes, and Is the Ifrane & Azrou Cedar Forest Day Trip Worth It?; Is the Fes Medina Overwhelming, and How Do You Avoid Getting Lost?.
The places closest to Tinghir, easy to join on one private route.
Read these before you add Tinghir to a trip.
