Is Tinghir worth a stop?

Tinghir is a definite yes, and like several stops on this stretch, the value isn't really the town centre — it's what Tinghir gives you access to. The town itself is a busy, ordinary southern market town, but it sits at the mouth of the Todra Gorge and beside a long, gorgeous palm oasis, and those two things make it one of the most worthwhile stops between Ouarzazate and the desert.

The Todra Gorge is the headline. Just north of Tinghir, the road runs into a canyon where the rock walls soar up to around 300m and narrow to a slot barely wide enough for the road and the river at the bottom — standing on the canyon floor looking up is genuinely awe-inspiring, and it's a magnet for rock climbers from all over the world. The most dramatic narrows are easy to reach by car, and you can walk through them and continue on foot up the valley past Berber villages if you want more. Early morning or late afternoon, when the light angles into the gorge, is the time to be there.

Tinghir's other gift is its oasis. The palmeraie stretching below the town is one of the lushest and most photogenic in Morocco — a deep green ribbon of date palms and irrigated gardens against bare red mountains, dotted with old kasbahs and the crumbling Glaoui kasbah above. A walk or guided stroll through the palm groves and villages, seeing how the irrigation and farming still work, is a lovely, gentle counterpoint to the drama of the gorge.

My verdict: well worth a stop, and ideally an overnight — there are good guesthouses both in town and up in the gorge itself. Tinghir pairs naturally with the Dades Gorge an hour west (the classic 'two gorges' leg) and slots perfectly into the journey towards Merzouga. Of the gateway towns on this route, Tinghir is one I'd never skip — the Todra Gorge alone earns the stop.