Rissani's appeal is that there is just enough to fill a long, slow day — the Sijilmassa ruins on the edge of town, the Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif at the centre, and the souk that takes over the medina three days a week. Beyond those, the circuit touristique — a loop of around 22 km signposted as such by the local tourist office — threads through the surrounding palm groves and past half a dozen mostly ruined ksour.
The grandest of them, Ksar Oulad Abdelhalim a few kilometres south, is a 19th-century pisé fortress built for a brother of Sultan Moulay Hassan I and is sometimes called the Alhambra of the Tafilalt (an oversell, but the scale is impressive). The ruined Ksar Tinrheras sits on a low rise above the valley and gives the best wide view over the Tafilalt oasis. Hire a guide at the souk or have your guesthouse organise one — almost nothing here is signposted and the context is most of the point.