The National Route 8 (N8) is one of Morocco’s national highways and it will take you through through a number of cities, including Fes, Chichaoua, Khenifra, Beni Mellal and Ifrane in the Atlas Mountains, and Marrakech. The road is paved all the way, and you will be treated to a great variety of both vegetation and topography. Also, being a less-travelled route, you won’t have to rush and worry too much about fighting traffic like you would on a major dual carriage motorway.
Planning your Ride on the N8
If your point of arrival is around Tangier, which it most likely will be if you’re arriving from Europe, get your bike across to Morocco by ferry from Gibraltar. By all accounts it’s smoothest and easiest to arrive at the port of Tanger Med rather than Tangier itself. From there you can take the A4 and then N2 to Targuist, where you can get onto the N8 and follow it all the way down to the Atlantic coast, where it passes through Marrakech and ends in Agadir.
Fuel, Accommodation, Weather and other Concerns
Petrol is readily available and of a generally high quality in Morocco. As long as you keep an eye on your fuel levels and fill up in towns, you shouldn’t have to worry very much about getting stranded. Driving in Morocco can be dangerous, as other road users may regard the rules of the road as “flexible” rather than set in stone, and you’ll need to be alert at all times for dangerous overtaking and other such behaviour. Also, while you can get by with English in the major centres, when heading off the beaten track you may find Arabic or French to be the only languages the locals understand. Regarding weather, rain isn’t a major concern but extremes of temperatures, hot and cold, can make riding uncomfortable in summer and winter. Accommodation varies from five star hotels to very basic camps.
