Aït Benhaddou: A Slow Guide to Morocco's Golden Ksar

There is a moment, around five in the afternoon, when the coaches pull out of the car park at Aït Benhaddou and the valley exhales. The dust settles. The vendors fold their scarves away. And the great stacked village on the far bank — towers, granary, blank earthen walls the colour of weak tea — turns from beige to apricot to a deep, burnished gold, all in about forty minutes.

Almost nobody sees this. Aït Benhaddou is usually a comfort stop on the long road between Marrakesh and the desert: arrive at noon, climb hard in the heat, photograph, leave. That version of the visit is the one that tires people out and slightly disappoints them.

This guide suggests the other version. Arrive late in the afternoon, sleep on the modern bank of the river, and give the ksar two easy sessions — golden evening and cool morning — with a long, shady lunch in between. It is gentler on the knees, kinder in the heat, and far more beautiful.

A little history

Aït Benhaddou sits in Ouarzazate Province, in Morocco's Drâa-Tafilalet region, roughly 30 km north-west of the town of Ouarzazate. It stands on a hillside above a shallow river, at the point where the High Atlas releases its last foothills onto the pre-Saharan plain.

That position was the whole point. For centuries this was a stage on the caravan routes that carried salt, gold, dates and slaves north from the Sahara towards Marrakesh. The site was fortified as far back as the 11th century, in the Almoravid period, though almost everything you see standing today dates from the 17th century onwards — earth is a living material here, endlessly repaired, rebuilt and remoulded.

A ksar is a fortified village: houses pressed shoulder to shoulder behind a defensive wall, with corner towers, a mosque, a caravanserai, a cemetery, and a communal granary on the summit. Everything is built of pisé — sand, clay, water and straw, shaped and dried in the sun — which is why the whole hill appears to have grown out of the ground rather than been placed on it.

UNESCO inscribed the ksar on the World Heritage List in 1987. By then most families had already moved across the river to the modern village, where there is electricity and running water; only a handful of households now live inside the old walls. Film work has done the rest of the preserving. Aït Benhaddou has stood in for ancient Rome, Jerusalem and the slave city of Yunkai, in Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Game of Thrones among many others — which is why the place can feel oddly familiar before you have ever set foot in it.

Camels at Aït Benhaddou, on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh.

What to see

The ksar is small — this is an hour or two of looking, not a day. What varies enormously is how far up the hill you choose to go.

The river crossing

The old village and the new one face each other across the Assif Mellah, also known as the Oued Ounila. For much of the year the riverbed is dry or barely a trickle, and people cross on stepping stones and sandbags in a couple of minutes. After winter rain or the spring snowmelt the water rises and those stones disappear. A pedestrian bridge was built on the western side in 2011; it is flat, wide and by far the easier option if you are unsteady on your feet. Take it in both directions and don't be talked into the stones.

The lower lanes

Inside the walls, the first level is the gentlest and, to our minds, the loveliest. Narrow passages run between high earthen houses, some with carved brick patterns and painted doors, opening now and then onto a bright courtyard. Several ground-floor rooms are craft shops and painters' studios — the saffron-and-tea 'desert paintings', held over a flame to develop, are a small local theatre worth watching. You can wander this level almost flat.

The kasbahs and the climb

Above the lanes, the taller fortified houses — the kasbahs proper — step up the slope, their towers tapering and decorated near the top. Getting among them means uneven earthen steps, worn ramps and a few awkward stretches. Take it slowly and it is manageable for many people; take it at noon in June and it is not.

The agadir at the summit

Crowning the hill is the agadir, the communal granary, now a roofless shell. It is the classic photograph: the Ounila valley, the palms, the modern village, the dark line of the Atlas behind. Reckon on 20–30 minutes up at an unhurried pace, with little or no shade on the way. It is the reward, not the requirement — and the view from the far bank at sunset is arguably better anyway.

Passages and a shop inside the ksar of Aït Benhaddou.

The quiet hours

Here is the case for staying overnight rather than passing through.

By about four or five in the afternoon the day groups have gone. The ksar empties. The light arrives from the west and rakes across the earthen façades, and for half an hour the whole hill glows. Several small hotels and cafés on the modern bank have roof terraces and gardens pointed straight at it. You can order mint tea, sit down, and watch the best thing in the valley happen without taking a single step.

Mornings are the other gift. Go over early, while the air is still cool and the lanes are in shadow; you may have the lower village largely to yourself, with swallows over the riverbed and someone's donkey being loaded for the fields. If you intend to climb to the granary at all, this is the hour to do it.

Nights are very dark and very quiet here, and the stars are extraordinary. Bring a warm layer: even after a hot day, the desert edge cools fast once the sun is down.

The ksar of Aït Benhaddou seen from a restaurant terrace across the valley.

A day trip nearby

Two easy options, both good, both doable as half or three-quarter days with a driver.

Telouet and the Ounila Valley. The old caravan road, the P1506, runs north from Aït Benhaddou up the Ounila valley to the village of Telouet — around 40 km of valley, generally 1 to 1½ hours' driving each way depending on stops and road conditions. It is paved but narrow and winding in places, so it is not a route for nervous drivers; a local driver is money well spent. At the end stands the Kasbah of Telouet, the ruined seat of the Glaoui family who controlled these passes into the 20th century. From the outside it is a crumbling earth fortress. Inside, a few restored reception rooms survive with carved plaster, painted cedar ceilings and tiled walls — a startling flash of luxury in a very austere landscape. Note that visiting involves stairs and uneven floors.

Ouarzazate. About 30 km away, usually 30–45 minutes by road. The Kasbah Taourirt, another Glaoui property, sits right beside the main road and can be enjoyed largely on the flat, with optional stairs inside. Ouarzazate is also Morocco's film capital, and the studios on the edge of town run guided walks around standing sets — Egyptian temples, Tibetan monasteries, Roman streets. The ground there is flat but the sites are wide open and very hot at midday, so go early. Ouarzazate is where you will also find the banks, pharmacies and larger shops.

Honest advice for comfortable travel

• You do not have to climb. The lower lanes and the far bank give you most of the beauty. Decide before you go in how high you want to get, and say so clearly to any guide who offers to lead you 'to the top'.
• The steps are the real issue. Earthen stairs inside the ksar are uneven, sometimes worn smooth, and rarely have handrails. Shoes with grip matter more than anything else you pack. A walking pole is genuinely useful here.
• Use the bridge, not the stepping stones, in both directions — especially after rain, when the crossing can be wet and slippery.
• Heat is the thing that spoils visits. June to August regularly reaches the high thirties and can pass 40°C, with almost no shade on the hill. In summer, visit before about 9.30 in the morning or after 5 in the afternoon, and rest in between.
• Carry more water than feels sensible, plus a hat and high-factor sun cream. There are cafés at the foot of the ksar but almost nothing once you are climbing.
• Sleep on the modern bank. Guesthouses there are a short, mostly level walk or a two-minute drive from the crossing. Ask specifically for a ground-floor room, as many small hotels here are built over two or three floors with stairs and no lift.
• Winter nights get close to freezing. Check that your room has proper heating, not only a brazier or extra blankets.
• Distances in Morocco take longer than the map suggests. Break the Marrakesh drive with a stop; the Tizi n'Tichka pass is a long succession of bends and can be uncomfortable if you are prone to travel sickness.
• Bring cash. Card acceptance is patchy in the village, and cash machines are far more reliable in Ouarzazate.
• Hire a local guide at the entrance if you can. Beyond the history, a good one will route you along the gentlest paths and know where to sit down.

The ksar of Aït Benhaddou seen from above.

What to eat

Food here is southern Moroccan home cooking, and gentle on most digestions: slow, mild, and built around bread.

Tagines are the staple — lamb with prunes and almonds, chicken with preserved lemon and olives, or a vegetable tagine that is often the best thing on the table. Couscous is traditionally a Friday dish, steamed rather than boiled, and served with a mound of soft vegetables and broth. Harira, the tomato and lentil soup, makes a good light supper on a cold evening.

Look out for the omelette berbère, eggs cooked in a tagine dish with tomato, onion and cumin, which arrives bubbling and is perfect for a late breakfast. And if you see medfouna — sometimes called Berber pizza, a round bread stuffed with spiced meat, onion and almonds and baked in embers — order it to share; one is plenty for two.

Mint tea is poured everywhere, poured high, and is generously sweet unless you ask otherwise; you can request it sans sucre or with the sugar on the side. Fresh orange juice, dates and almonds are local and excellent. Alcohol is not widely served in the village, though some hotels have a licence. A small women's cooperative tea house operates near the foot of the ksar and is a pleasant, shaded place to sit with something simple.

Getting there

Our verdict

Aït Benhaddou has every reason to be a let-down. It is famous, it is on every coach itinerary, it has been a film set more often than it has been a home, and for six hours a day it belongs to other people's cameras.

And yet. Give it the evening and the early morning, cross on the bridge, climb only as far as your knees agree to, and it becomes something quite different: a hill of sun-dried earth going gold above a dry river, swallows turning over the granary, and a silence you can hear.

We would happily send any traveller over 60 here, with one condition attached — don't do it in a day from Marrakesh. That version is eight hours in a car for ninety minutes in the heat. Sleep in the valley instead, and the most photographed village in Africa will quietly give you something the day-trippers never get.

Aït Benhaddou above the Assif Mellah river.

“Wait until the coaches leave, and a hill of mud brick turns to gold for no one but you.”

Photo credits

• Aït Benhaddou along river bank: Donar Reiskoffer, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Camels at Aït Benhaddou, Saharan caravan route, Morocco آيت بن حدّو, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵃⴰⴷⴷⵓ: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Aït Benhaddou walk on the streets souvenir shop: Elena Tatiana Chis, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Aït Benhaddou view from a restaurant: Elena Tatiana Chis, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Aït Benhaddou view from above: Elena Tatiana Chis, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Aït Benhaddou 101: Peter in s, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons