Ouarzazate Guide: Film Studios, Kasbahs and Desert Gate

Some towns you pass through; Ouarzazate you arrive at with the feeling of crossing a threshold. Its Berber name means “the door”, and for centuries this sun-baked town on the southern slope of the High Atlas has been exactly that — the door of the desert, where the green valleys of the Atlas give way to the pre-Saharan steppe and, eventually, the great dunes of the Sahara.

Most travelers know Ouarzazate for two things: the film studios that earned it the nickname “the Hollywood of Africa”, and the red-clay kasbahs that star in those films. Give it two days, though, and the town reveals more — a Glaoui palace in its center, a UNESCO-listed ksar half an hour away, and the start of the famous Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. Here is how to make the most of it.

Atlas Film Studios: the Hollywood of Africa

Since the 1960s, directors have come to Ouarzazate for its impossible light — more than 300 days of sunshine a year — and its ready-made scenery of desert, mountains and ancient-looking towns. Lawrence of Arabia filmed here in 1962, and the cameras never really left: Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, The Mummy, Babel and seasons of Game of Thrones all shot scenes around Ouarzazate.

Atlas Studios, founded in 1983 about five kilometers west of town, is one of the largest film studios in the world. Guided tours walk you through Egyptian temples, a Tibetan monastery and Roman villas — plywood and plaster, convincingly ancient on camera. Next door, CLA Studios, built for the series Cleopatra, offers a second lot of sets. Allow two to three hours, go in the morning before the heat builds, and bring your camera: the half-built sets are wonderfully surreal.

Taourirt Kasbah: the palace in the middle of town

You do not need to leave Ouarzazate to see a great kasbah. The Taourirt Kasbah rises right in the center of town — a 19th-century mud-brick palace of the powerful Glaoui family, who once controlled the caravan routes between Marrakech and the Sahara. At its peak it held more than 300 rooms.

Take the guided tour, about an hour for a small fee. The maze of staircases, painted ceilings and cool courtyards shows how desert architecture beats the heat, and the rooftop terrace gives a fine panorama over the town and the Atlas foothills. Come in the late afternoon, when the low sun turns the pisé walls deep red.

Ait Ben Haddou: the famous ksar, 30 minutes away

Morocco’s most photographed village sits just 30 kilometers northwest of Ouarzazate, along the old caravan road. Ait Ben Haddou is a fortified earthen ksar — a cluster of red-clay tower houses stacked up a hillside above the Ounila River — and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987.

Cross by the footbridge, or the stepping stones when the water is low, climb to the hilltop granary, and look back over the valley: the view from a dozen films, from Gladiator’s opening scenes to Game of Thrones’ Yunkai. Half a day is enough — arrive early to beat the tour buses from Marrakech, or stay for sunset, when the day-trippers leave and the ksar glows.

The Road of a Thousand Kasbahs

East of Ouarzazate runs one of Morocco’s great drives: the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, following the Dades River through palm groves and rose valleys toward the Dades Gorges. The name is only slightly exaggerated — fortified villages and lone kasbah towers appear around nearly every bend.

First stop is Skoura, 40 kilometers east, where the Amridil Kasbah stands in a vast palm grove — one of Morocco’s best-preserved kasbahs, with a small museum of traditional life inside. Continue to Kelaat M’Gouna, the Valley of Roses, where millions of Damask roses bloom each May. The road ends at the Dades Gorges, where the river carved a red canyon whose switchbacks were made for photographs.

You can drive the route in a long day from Ouarzazate, but one night in the Dades Valley — in a kasbah-style guesthouse — is the better version.

Getting there and where to stay

Most visitors arrive from Marrakech: 200 kilometers over the 2,260-meter Tizi n’Tichka pass, a spectacular four-to-five-hour drive of endless switchbacks. CTM and Supratours buses make the trip daily, grand taxis run when full, and a rental car gives the most freedom. Royal Air Maroc also flies between Casablanca and Ouarzazate several times a week.

Sleep in a kasbah-style hotel or family-run dar — dozens have pools for the hot afternoons. The best months are October to April, when days are warm and nights are cool. In July and August temperatures pass 40°C; sightsee at dawn and dusk, and rest at midday.