Umnya
Marrakech · Atlas · Sahara|Wellness & Culture

Wellness

& Meeting with the Locals

The oldest wellness practice on earth is still alive in Morocco. We will take you to it.

Duration
8 days
Season
Year-round
Group
8-20
Berber man in turban, Morocco - wellness and meeting the locals retreat

Marrakech · Morocco

Location
Marrakech · Atlas · Sahara
Duration
8 days · 7 nights
Season
Year-round
Group size
8-20 guests
Investment
On request

The retreat

Slow down enough
to meet the people.

Most retreats take you to Morocco and give you Morocco as a backdrop. This one takes you to the people who live here. Three days in Marrakech: yoga, medina walks, a morning with Berber women in the cooperatives, the hammam as it has been practiced for five hundred years. Two days in the High Atlas: walking with nomadic shepherds in the mountain valleys, lunching in a Berber household, understanding what the land provides.

Three nights in the Sahara at Umnya Dune Camp: evening fires with the camp's Sahrawi team, walking at dawn in the silence before the heat, a cooking session using only what the desert edge provides. Eight days of yoga, culture and human connection. No agenda beyond the day in front of you.

Apply for this retreat

“The deepest wellness practice in Morocco is the oldest one: slowing down enough to actually meet the people who live here.”

Umnya retreat philosophy
Yoga session at sunrise in Morocco, wellness retreat

Sunrise yoga every morning

Moroccan woman in traditional dress, Marrakech cultural encounter

Meeting the people of Morocco

Moroccan tagine cooking class with local chef

Traditional cooking class

The experience

What awaits you

Yoga and movement

Daily morning yoga in Marrakech, the Atlas and the Sahara. Each setting changes what the practice means. The same postures, three different skies.

Walking with nomads

Two-day walk with Sahrawi nomadic shepherds in the valleys around Erg Chigaga. Understanding the routes, the water sources, the seasonal rhythms of desert life.

Meeting with Berbers

A morning with an Atlas Berber family: their household, their livestock, their argan cooperative, their food. Not a tour - a visit.

Cultural visits

Medina walk in Marrakech with a local guide who grew up here. Pottery cooperatives, spice merchants, the tanneries, the hammam. The city at its own pace.

Pottery workshop

A half-day in a Marrakech pottery studio with a master craftsman. The oldest craft in Morocco, practiced in the same workshops for centuries.

Hammam and cooking

Traditional hammam ceremony mid-retreat. A cooking class with a Marrakech chef: the spices, the tagine, the slow food of a thousand years of Moroccan hospitality.

Day by day

Eight days in Morocco.

01
Day 1

Arrival in Marrakech

  • Welcome dinner in private riad
  • Introduction to Moroccan culture
  • Evening medina walk at dusk
02
Day 2

Marrakech: medina and cooperatives

  • Morning yoga
  • Medina walk with local guide
  • Visit to argan cooperative with Berber women
  • Hammam ceremony
03
Day 3

Marrakech: pottery and cooking

  • Morning yoga
  • Pottery workshop
  • Cooking class with local chef
04
Day 4

Into the High Atlas

  • Transfer to Atlas Berber gite
  • Afternoon walk in the mountain valley
  • Dinner with Atlas family
05
Day 5

Berber family visit and mountain walk

  • Morning yoga at altitude
  • Visit to Berber family household
  • Guided walk to mountain pastures with local shepherd
06
Day 6

Transfer to the Sahara

  • Transfer south via the Draa Valley
  • Arrival at Umnya Dune Camp
  • Evening fire with the Sahrawi team
07
Day 7

Walking with nomads

  • Pre-dawn walk with nomadic guides
  • Morning yoga on the dunes
  • Afternoon rest in camp
  • Nomad storytelling session
08
Day 8

Return to Marrakech

  • Farewell breakfast at camp
  • Return transfer to Marrakech
  • Departure

Included

Everything.

  • 3 nights private riad Marrakech
  • 2 nights Berber gite High Atlas
  • 3 nights Umnya Dune Camp (double)
  • All meals including family lunches
  • Guided walks with nomadic shepherds
  • Berber family cultural visit
  • Medina walk with local guide
  • Daily yoga sessions
  • Traditional hammam ceremony
  • Pottery workshop
  • Moroccan cooking class
  • Private transfers throughout
  • Single supplement on request

Getting there

How to arrive.

Accommodation: double rooms throughout. Single supplement on request. Private riad in Marrakech, Berber gite in the Atlas, Umnya Dune Camp in Erg Chigaga. All meals included - many prepared by local families.

Fly into Marrakech Menara (RAK). Direct connections from London, Paris, Amsterdam and most major European cities. All transfers included. This retreat is designed to move at human pace - no rushing, no connecting flights within Morocco.

Nearest airport

RAKMarrakech Menara
CMNCasablanca Mohammed V

2027 Season

Receive the full programme

8 days · 8 to 14 guests · Morocco. We send the itinerary, dates and availability by return.

No newsletters. One email with the programme, nothing more.

Eight days. Three landscapes. One Morocco.

Submit your application. We respond within 48 hours.

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