☰Nkob

Nkob is itself a stop on a longer southern route, but the surrounding region rewards day-tripping. The Jebel Saghro mountains north of the village offer day walks (and multi-day treks with a local guide) through one of the wildest and least-visited mountain ranges in Morocco. The Drâa Valley to the west, with its long ribbon of palm groves and ksour, can be explored back as far as Agdz in a half-day round trip. East along the N12 the villages of Tazzarine and Alnif lead towards the great erg sand dunes of M'Hamid and Erg Chebbi.

Nkob has only a handful of restaurants, almost all attached to the few small auberges and kasbah hotels in and around the village. Cooking is straightforward Moroccan home food — tagines of lamb with prunes or chicken with preserved lemon, vegetable couscous on Fridays, salads of grilled aubergine and tomato, sweet mint tea. Stop in for lunch at one of the auberges off the main road; dinner is usually included if you are staying at a guesthouse.

Nkob sits on the N12 road that runs east from Agdz (in the Drâa Valley) towards Tazzarine, Alnif and ultimately Rissani — the southern route across pre-Saharan Morocco. The most common approach is from Ouarzazate, around 160 km north-west on the road via Agdz: about three hours by car along a slow but spectacular mountain road.

CTM and other long-distance buses do not generally stop in Nkob, but grands taxis (shared Mercedes saloons) run from Agdz and from Tazzarine. Most travellers drive themselves; the road is paved throughout but narrow, with switchbacks over the Tizi-n-Tinifift pass.

Nkob is more about looking and walking than about ticking off sights. The 45 surviving kasbahs of the village — most still inhabited, a few crumbling — form the visual landscape, and the best thing to do is climb to the hilltop overlooking the oasis to see them rise as a single skyline. From there, paths drop into the palm groves and into the working life of the village.

The Saghro Mountains begin immediately to the north, and serious trekkers use Nkob as a southern base for multi-day walks. Closer to the village, half-day hikes through the date palmery and out to neighbouring hamlets give a satisfying day in their own right.

Nkob sits on the edge of the pre-Sahara and follows the desert's rhythm. The best months are October to April, when daytime temperatures are 18–25°C and the air is clear. Summer (June to September) can be punishing — afternoons in the high thirties or above forty Celsius, with little shade outside the palmery — and most overland travellers avoid the southern Drâa in those months.

The annual Almond Blossom Festival in February (sometimes called the Fête des Amandiers), held in nearby Tafraout but with smaller versions in Drâa villages, marks the start of spring. The almond and date harvest run roughly through autumn.