Taroudant is a walled town in the Souss valley of southern Morocco, between the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas, and its red-ochre ramparts, about seven kilometres around, are the first thing you notice. They are made of rammed earth and glow orange in the late afternoon, enclosing a town of seventy thousand people, a maze of lanes, a pair of busy souks, orchards and market gardens. The town is sometimes called the little Marrakesh, and for a time in the sixteenth century it was the Saadian dynasty's capital, before they moved north. The calm, unhurried pace is the contrast with the larger city.
The region is known for argan, the nut of a thorny tree that grows only in this part of the world, pressed into oil by women's cooperatives, and for saffron, grown on the slopes around Taliouine. In the souk you find spices, leather, silver jewellery and carpets from the Atlas villages, and the local orange and lemon orchards scent the air. A horse-drawn calèche takes you around the walls in the evening, which is a very pleasant way to see them.
The ride that ends here comes over the Tizi n'Test, one of the great mountain roads of Morocco. Built by the French in the 1920s, it climbs from Marrakesh through the Atlas foothills to a pass at 2,092 metres, with dozens of hairpins and long drops with no guard rail. On the way you pass the twelfth-century mosque of Tin Mal, in a lonely valley, a rare Almohad building you can enter. The southern descent is spectacular, through red rock and argan forest. Snow and rockfalls can close the road in winter, the surface is rough in places, and cloud can settle at the top, so go in spring or autumn, and in daylight.
Taroudant has fuel, hotels and restaurants, and it is the sensible place to rest after the pass. There is almost nothing for long stretches on the mountain road, so fill in Marrakesh or at Asni before you climb. Try a tagine with local almonds, drink mint tea in the square, and let the evening light settle on the walls.