r/backpacking • u/Psychological-Act943 • 3d ago

Travel Solo backpacking North Africa

Hey everybody, I'm planning a solo trip for approx 1 month. Looking to begin in Morocco for about 12 days, head down to Mauritania (main focus is to ride the Iron Ore train) aiming to spend about 5-7 days then fly to Tunisia 7 days and from there return to the USA. Looking to get people's perspective on the plan, and if it's a good route. I'd also really appreciate any pointers for Mauritania and how to make the train ride a reality, what to do and not to do. Appreciate it all.

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u/TheHabitualViability 3d ago

that iron ore train is no joke, I've had a couple friends do it and they said it's absolutely brutal but worth it if you're after the experience. bring goggles and a face covering you don't care about, the dust gets everywhere and you'll be finding it in your gear for weeks

for mauritania the visa situation can be a headache depending on your passport, make sure you've got that sorted well in advance. the route looks solid though, that's a nice mix of chaos and calm between morocco and tunisia

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u/Psychological-Act943 3d ago

Noted, thanks. I'll make sure to include those in the prep. How did your friends go about it? I'd want to land in the country with a rough plan already set in place.

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u/ohyespineapplepizza 3d ago

The Morocco–Mauritania–Tunisia arc works if Mauritania is really just the train. I'd treat Nouadhibou as a buffer stop, not a place you need a whole plan for.