After Marrakech, we headed to the Atlas Mountains – and this might have been my favourite part of the entire trip.

We stayed at Berber Family Lodge just for £20 a night for two people. And when I tell you this place looked like luxury from the outside, I mean it. But it wasn’t luxury in the flashy sense, it was something better. We had a rooftop room, a huge private balcony and direct views of the highest mountain in North Africa. It felt surreal.

The family who run it are Berber and the warmth there is something I won’t forget. We did another cooking class with the owner’s mother; no performance, no show, just real cooking in a real home. Sitting there, learning how they prepare food, understanding the pace of life there… it was grounding.

We also visited Berber villages and spent time just walking, observing, talking. This trip wasn’t about five-star experiences. It was about understanding how people actually live. Middle to lower income communities, real families, real routines.

And that connection. That’s what stays with me. Not the view, even though it was spectacular. Not the price, even though it was crazy good. It was the feeling of being welcomed into someone’s world without pretence.

If I ever went back to Morocco, I’d go back to the Atlas without hesitation.