Ait Ben Haddou

About Ait Benhaddou

Ait Benhaddou
The Golden Ksar

Ait Benhaddou is one of the most striking earthen architecture sites in the world. The ancient ksar sits on a rocky outcrop above the Ounila River on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech, its tiered towers of mud brick and straw rising in layers of amber and ochre against the desert sky. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1987. It has served as the filming location for over 20 major productions including Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy and Game of Thrones.

The ksar is still partly inhabited. A handful of Berber families continue to live inside the ancient walls, maintaining their homes with the same techniques and materials that have been used here for a thousand years. Walking through the narrow lanes with a local guide, past the granaries and the communal mosque, past the doors carved from cedar and the windows protected by wooden lattice screens, it is possible to understand how this architecture was perfectly adapted to its desert environment: cool in summer, warm in winter, built entirely from the earth beneath it.

The best time to visit is early morning, before the light becomes too harsh and before the day trippers arrive from Ouarzazate. Climbing to the top of the ksar at sunrise, with the Ounila Valley spread below and the High Atlas snow capped on the horizon, is one of the great views in all of Morocco. We combine Ait Benhaddou with the Draa Valley, the Rose Valley and Boumalne Dades on our southern desert routes.

Visiting Ait Benhaddou Without the Coach Crowds

Ait Benhaddou is busiest between eleven and three, when the day trips out of Marrakech all arrive together. Stay the night in the village opposite, or come through early on the way to the desert, and you will have the lanes largely to yourself. The light is better at those hours too: the mud brick turns orange at the end of the day and goes flat grey at noon.

The climb to the granary at the top takes about twenty minutes at an easy pace, and the path is uneven rather than steep. There is no shade on the way up, so a hat matters more than good shoes. In winter the river below runs knee deep and you cross on sandbags; in summer it is usually dry and you walk straight over.

Most people give Ait Benhaddou two hours, which is enough to walk up, look out over the valley and come back down. If you want the kasbah to be more than a photo stop, pair it with Telouet on the same day, or sleep nearby and drive on to the Dades in the morning. We build it into most of our desert routes for exactly that reason.