This is the Southern Morocco & Western Sahara chapter from Lonely Planet’s Morocco guidebook.

The Souss Valley, where goats climb argan trees beneath the sun-baked Anti Atlas, draws a line across Morocco. South of this fertile valley, the pace of life in mountain villages and Saharan gateways is seductively slow, free from the hassles of mass tourism and modern existence.

• stroll past art-deco relics as a sea-spray sunset settles on Sidi Ifni
• maps
• trek, drive or cycle through the concertinaed granite foothills of the Anti Atlas
• transport
• restaurants & accommodation
• explore green palmeraies beneath ochre cliffs in the Afella-Ighir oasis

 Coverage includes: The Souss Valley, Agadir & around, Souss-Massa National Park, Immouzzer des Ida Outanane, Taroudannt, Taliouine, The Anti Atlas, Tafraoute & around, Ameln Valley & Jebel L’Kest, Tata, Trekking in the Anti Atlas, Jebel Siroua, Southern Atlantic Coast, Tiznit & around, Mirleft, Sidi Ifni & around, Goulimime & around, Tan Tan & Tan Tan Plage, Tarfaya, Western Sahara, Laâyoune (Al-’Uyun) and Dakhla (ad-Dakhla).