Don't be a tourist, be a traveler, world in motion
EnglishUSDNewsletterWimup Videos ↗
Top 10AfricaMorocco

Top 10 Things To Do in Ouarzazate

Country
Morocco
Best months
Mar · Apr · Oct
Population
~79,200
Language
Tashelhit and Arabic
Budget / day
$40–80
Quick answer

Ouarzazate is the door to the Moroccan south and the country’s film town at the same time. Two studio backlots and a Glaoui kasbah fill a day inside the town itself. The reason to stay longer is everything around it: Ait Ben Haddou half an hour west, the Skoura palm grove forty minutes east, and the Draa valley, the gorges and the dunes all starting here.

The plateau town where the High Atlas stops and the pre-Sahara starts, built up as a French garrison post from 1928 and turned into a studio town in the 1960s. Nobody comes for the boulevards. They come for what is parked around it.

The 10 best things to do in Ouarzazate

1

Walk the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou before the coaches

UNESCO ksar· Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

The most filmed village in Morocco is a stack of earthen houses climbing to a communal granary, and the climb is the point: the terrace at the top reads the whole Ounila valley. Cross the footbridge, take the stepped lanes up, come down through the houses. The Marrakech coaches own the middle of the day.

Time2 to 3 hr
CostFree to enter the ksar
Best atFirst light or the last hour
TipUse the footbridge rather than the stepping stones after rain
↗ UNESCO listingMap
2

Tour the standing sets at Atlas Studios

Film studio· Route de Marrakech N9, Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco

The backlot that turned this town into Ouallywood. A Tibetan monastery, an Egyptian tomb and a Roman street stand in the gravel, plywood and painted plaster up close and entirely convincing at thirty metres. Visits go in guided groups and take about an hour.

Time1 hr
CostTicket at the gate
Best atMorning
TipAsk at the desk what is shooting; sets close with no notice
Map
3

Read the Glaoui century at Taourirt Kasbah

Kasbah· Avenue Mohammed V, Taourirt, Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco

The Glaoui family’s Ouarzazate seat: a rammed-earth pile of towers, narrow stairs and painted cedar ceilings on the town’s main avenue. Earthquake repairs have kept part of the interior shut, and the lived-in mud-brick quarter behind it is the better half of the visit anyway.

Time45 min
CostTicket at the door
Best atLate afternoon
TipKeep walking into the old quarter behind the kasbah
Map
4

Drop off the plateau into the Fint oasis

Oasis· Oasis de Fint, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

Fifteen kilometres south of town the hammada splits open and a green river valley appears with four small villages along it. The last stretch in is rough piste, which is why most people arrive by 4x4 or with a driver. Kingdom of Heaven and Babel both shot here.

TimeHalf a day
CostFree, driver or 4x4 extra
Best atLate afternoon
TipA saloon car makes it in dry weather and should not try after rain
Map
5

See a kasbah still in the family at Amridil

Kasbah· Palmeraie de Skoura, Skoura 45500, Morocco

Forty kilometres east, inside the Skoura palm grove, a seventeenth-century kasbah still held by the Nassiri family who built it and run as a museum of oasis life: olive press, grain measures, a well with its wooden gear. This is the kasbah printed on the 50 dirham note.

Time1 hr
CostTicket at the door
Best atMorning
TipPair it with the piste north to Kasbah Ait Ben Abou
Map
6

Cross to Telouet through the Ounila valley

Kasbah· Telouet, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

The Glaoui stronghold that once controlled the pass stands half ruined, and the reception rooms that survive hold the best plasterwork and zellij in the south. The road in from Ait Ben Haddou follows the Ounila valley, which is the reason to go rather than the way to save time.

TimeFull day with the valley
CostTicket at the door
Best atSpring
TipDo it as a loop to the N9, not out and back
Map
7

Take the Draa road over the Tizi n’Tinififft

Scenic drive· N9 towards Agdz, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

The N9 south climbs a bare pass, then drops into the first palm groves of the Draa, the longest river in Morocco. Agdz, about 68 kilometres out, is where the palmeraie starts in earnest and the mud-brick ksour begin to line the valley floor.

TimeHalf a day to Agdz
CostFuel
Best atMorning light on the pass
TipFill the tank in Ouarzazate; stations thin out past Agdz
Map
8

Compare the newer backlot at CLA Studios

Film studio· Route de Marrakech, Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco

The second studio in town, younger and built for the productions Atlas could not hold. The standing sets lean Egyptian and Roman, the crowds are thinner, and a visit answers the question the first tour raises: how much of this town actually works in film.

Time1 hr
CostTicket at the gate
Best atMorning
TipAccess depends on what is shooting, so check on the day
Map
9

Find the storks on the towers at Tamdaght

Kasbah· Tamdaght, Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

Seven kilometres past Ait Ben Haddou, another Glaoui kasbah crumbles quietly with stork nests on its towers. Gladiator filmed here. There is no ticket desk and usually nobody else, which after the ksar is the whole argument for driving on.

Time30 min
CostA tip for the caretaker
Best atSpring
TipAdd it to the ksar rather than making a second trip out
Map
10

Watch the water and the birds at Mansour Eddahbi

Reservoir· Barrage Mansour Eddahbi, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco

The dam on the Draa holds the reservoir that made the modern town possible, and its shallows pull in flamingos and waders on migration. It sits a short drive east, and it works best as a stop on the way to Skoura rather than a trip of its own.

Time1 hr
CostFree
Best atWinter and early spring for birds
TipBring binoculars; the birds sit well out from the shore
Map

3 of the 10, mapped

Ouarzazate · 3 spots
AllLandmarksStudiosOases & valleysFree

Ouarzazate travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Ouarzazate?+
Two if the town is the point: one for the studios and Taourirt, one for Ait Ben Haddou and Tamdaght. Three or four if you use it the way most people do, as the base for Skoura, the Draa valley and the gorges.
Is Ouarzazate worth stopping in, or only worth passing through?+
Worth stopping in, but for what it opens rather than what it is. The town itself is one kasbah, two backlots and a long avenue. Everything that makes the trip is within two hours of it, and nothing else in the south is as well connected.
When is the best time to visit Ouarzazate?+
March to April and October to November. Summer runs past 40C on the plateau and the pistes are punishing in it. Winter days are fine and bright, but the town is at 1,151 metres and nights get cold enough to want a heated room.
How do you get from Marrakech to Ouarzazate?+
The N9 over the Tizi n’Tichka, about 200 kilometres and four hours by car. Supratours and CTM run the same road in four to five hours with morning and afternoon departures. There is no railway; the nearest railhead is Marrakech.
Can you actually visit the film studios?+
Yes. Atlas Studios and CLA Studios both take visitors on guided tours of the standing sets, and both close areas without warning when a production is shooting. Check what is on at the gate rather than planning a day around it.
Kasbahs & ksour

Best kasbahs & ksour in Ouarzazate

Four more earthen strongholds within an hour of town, none of them on the coach circuit.
All 4 kasbahs & ksour →
Tifoultoute

Kasbah Tifoultoute

Kasbah

A Glaoui kasbah eight kilometres west, used to house the Lawrence of Arabia crew. The terrace is the reason.

Map
Skoura

Kasbah Ait Ben Moro

Kasbah

A seventeenth-century kasbah at the western edge of Skoura, restored as a small guesthouse looking across to Amridil.

Map
Skoura

Kasbah Ait Ben Abou

Kasbah

The second largest kasbah in the Skoura palm grove, largely unrestored and reached on foot through the gardens.

Map
Skoura

Dar Lahsoune

Ruin

A former Glaoui residence on the piste north of Skoura, empty and unstaffed, on the way to Ait Ben Abou.

Map
Restaurants

Best restaurants in Ouarzazate

Six kitchens in a town where most visitors eat at the hotel, which is the argument for walking out.
All 6 restaurants →
Centre

La Kasbah des Sables

French-Moroccan

French and Moroccan cooking in six small rooms around a lantern-lit pool. The room is as much of the evening as the plate.

Map
Taourirt

Restaurant Douyria

Moroccan

A restored mud-brick house beside the Taourirt Kasbah. Camel and goat tagines, and a terrace facing the reservoir.

Map
22 Avenue Mohammed V

Chez Dimitri

Moroccan and Mediterranean

On the main avenue since 1928, when it was also the town’s shop and petrol pump. Moroccan and Mediterranean, film stills on the walls.

Map
13 Boulevard Moulay Abdellah

Le Relais de Saint-Exupéry

French

A French kitchen on Boulevard Moulay Abdellah, run by a Bordeaux chef. The most formal cooking in town.

Map
Centre

Accord Majeur

French

A small French-run dining room near the Berbère Palace, and the place locals send you for a change from tagine.

Map
Avenue Mohammed V

Patisserie Habous

Cafe and patisserie

A pavement terrace on the avenue for cake, pastries and coffee. The best people-watching in Ouarzazate.

Map
Crafts & markets

Best crafts & markets in Ouarzazate

Four places to buy something made in the province rather than trucked in for the coaches.
All 4 crafts & markets →
Avenue Mohammed V

Centre Artisanal de Ouarzazate

Crafts

The state craft centre on the avenue, with fixed prices. Useful as a benchmark before you haggle anywhere else.

Map
Taznakht

Taznakht carpet weavers

Carpets

The Ait Ouaouzguite weaving country, about 80 kilometres west on the N10, and the source of the flatweaves sold in Marrakech.

Map
Taliouine

Taliouine saffron cooperatives

Saffron

Morocco’s saffron town, west along the N10. Harvest and sale run from late October into November.

Map
Centre

Ouarzazate municipal market

Produce

Dates from the Draa, almonds, olives and spices, bought where the town buys them rather than off a tour stop.

Map
Day trips

Best day trips in Ouarzazate

Six runs out, from an hour and a half away to a long day on the road.
All 6 day trips →
Boumalne Dades

Dades Gorge

Gorge

Red canyon walls and the switchback road above Boumalne Dades, about two hours east.

Map
Tinghir

Todra Gorge

Gorge

A 300-metre limestone slot near Tinghir, wide enough for a road and a river. Climbers work the walls.

Map
Kelaat M’Gouna

Valley of Roses

Valley

The Damask rose terraces around Kelaat M’Gouna, at their best in the weeks either side of the May harvest.

Map
Agdz

Tamnougalt

Ksar

A ksar in the Draa palmeraie just past Agdz, still partly inhabited and far quieter than Ait Ben Haddou.

Map
Zagora

Zagora and the lower Draa

Oasis town

Three hours south down the palm valley, and the last town before the piste to M’Hamid and the dunes.

Map
Nkob

Jbel Saghro

Mountains

The black volcanic range between the Draa and the Dades, walked on multi-day traverses out of Nkob or Boumalne.

Map
Desert trips

Best desert trips in Ouarzazate

Three ways to reach sand from here, and only one of them is a day trip.
All 3 desert trips →
M’Hamid

Erg Chegaga

Dunes

The bigger, emptier dune field, reached by piste beyond M’Hamid. Two nights out is the honest minimum.

Map
Merzouga

Erg Chebbi

Dunes

The postcard dunes at Merzouga, five to six hours east on tarmac the whole way. Easier to reach, busier at sunrise.

Map
Fint

4x4 and quad tracks around Fint

Adventure

Half-day runs on the pistes south of town, sold by most Ouarzazate agencies and hotels.

Map
Neighborhoods

Best neighborhoods in Ouarzazate

A town of 79,000 has three parts worth naming, and the guide books only mention one.
All 3 neighborhoods →
East

Taourirt

Old quarter

The kasbah quarter at the east end of the avenue, and the only part of town with lanes rather than blocks.

Map
Centre

Avenue Mohammed V

Centre

The centre: banks, bus offices, the craft centre and the pavement cafes where the film crews sit between calls.

Map
South

Tabounte

Residential

Across the river on the Zagora road, with its own kasbah and palm gardens, and no visitors in them.

Map
Kasbah stays

Best kasbah stays in Ouarzazate

Five places to sleep, from a town hotel to a palm-grove kasbah forty minutes out.
All 5 kasbah stays →
Centre

Le Berbère Palace

Hotel

The big town hotel, close to Taourirt and the airport, with a pool and a hammam. Where crews are put up.

↗ WebsiteMap
Centre

Le Temple des Arts

Riad

A riad in town with rooms decorated as film sets, which in Ouarzazate is less of a gimmick than it sounds.

Map
Talmasla

Dar Daif

Guesthouse

A mud-brick guesthouse in the gardens at Talmasla, on the far side of the river from the centre.

Map
Ait Ben Haddou

Ksar Ighnda

Hotel

A garden hotel at Ait Ben Haddou, which buys you the ksar at first light before the coaches arrive.

Map
Skoura

Ksar El Kabbaba

Kasbah hotel

A restored kasbah in the Skoura palm grove, with a pool under the palms and the oasis to walk into.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Ouarzazate (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Jan

Yennayer, the Amazigh new year

A public holiday since 2024, and a real one here: this is Tashelhit country, marked at home rather than with parades.

Feb

Almond blossom in the oases

The palm groves at Skoura and along the Draa go white for a fortnight, and the light is at its cleanest.

Apr

Marathon des Sables

The six-stage desert ultramarathon assembles in Ouarzazate before moving out to the start line in the south.

May

Rose Festival, Kelaat M’Gouna

Three days of floats, music and rose water at the head of the Dades valley, timed to the Damask rose harvest.

Varies

Ramadan

The date moves back about eleven days a year. Kitchens shut in daylight, the town wakes properly after sunset.

Varies

Eid al-Fitr

Two days that close almost everything. Buses and shared taxis fill days ahead, so book or wait it out.

Jul

Throne Day

The national holiday on 30 July, marked with flags along the avenue and official ceremonies at the province.

Oct

Date harvest in the Draa

The palm groves south of town are picked through October, and the market fills with the year’s Boufeggous.

Getting around

Ouarzazate transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
OZZ

Ouarzazate Airport

A couple of kilometres north-east of the centre, so a taxi in is a five-minute run. Royal Air Maroc links it with Casablanca, and European charters come and go by season.

↗ WebsiteMap
Coach

Supratours and CTM buses

Marrakech is four to five hours over the Tizi n’Tichka, with departures morning and afternoon. Supratours is ONCF’s coach arm, so a rail ticket can be booked through to here.

↗ Website↗ CTM
Shared

Grands taxis

Shared saloons leave from the ranks when they fill, and cover Ait Ben Haddou, Skoura, Agdz and Boumalne. Pay per seat, or buy the empty seats to leave sooner.

Map
Drive

Hire car and the N9

The region only really opens up with a car. The N9 north crosses the Tichka to Marrakech in about four hours, the N10 runs east to the gorges, and fuel thins out south of Agdz.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Ouarzazate, Morocco

The classics to order before you leave.

Tagine berbère

The vegetable pyramid of the south: carrot, potato, courgette and tomato steamed over onion and oil.

Medfouna

The stuffed flatbread of the pre-Sahara, filled with spiced meat and almonds and baked in the ashes.

Couscous with seven vegetables

Friday lunch across Morocco, and the one meal a household will always cook properly.

Harira

Tomato, lentil and chickpea soup, eaten year round and first at every table after sunset in Ramadan.

Khobz mella

Nomad bread, cooked buried in hot sand and ash. Gritty crust, and the point of a desert night.

Draa dates

Boufeggous is the valley’s prize variety, soft and dark. Bought by the kilo at the town market.

Amlou

Ground almonds, argan oil and honey, spread on bread at breakfast. A Souss export, sold all over the province.

Atay

Green tea with mint and a great deal of sugar, poured from height. Refusing the third glass is rude.

Ouarzazate fact sheet

Ouarzazate at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Morocco
Region
Drâa-Tafilalet
Population
About 79,200 (city, 2024 census)
Founded
French garrison and administrative post, from the late 1920s
Nickname
The door of the desert
Language
Tashelhit and Arabic, French widely spoken
Currency
Moroccan dirham (MAD)
Time zone
UTC+1
Calling code
+212 524
Airports
Ouarzazate (OZZ)
Power
220V, types C and E
Emergency
19 police, 15 ambulance, 177 gendarmerie outside cities
Ideal length
2 to 3 days
Getting around
On foot along Avenue Mohammed V, hired car or grand taxi beyond
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • The Noor solar complex north-east of town was built to a design capacity of 580 MW.
  • Kasbah Amridil, in the Skoura palm grove, is the kasbah printed on the 50 dirham note.
  • The ksar of Ait Ben Haddou has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1987.
  • The town sits at 1,151 metres, which is why winter nights here drop close to freezing.
  • Chez Dimitri has been on the avenue since 1928, when it was also the shop and the petrol pump.

Headed to Ouarzazate?

Get our one-page Ouarzazate cheat sheet plus a fresh destination every Thursday.