Ouarzazat Travel Guide

Atlas Film Studios is a unique, fun large film studio in Ouarzazate, keeping many film sets - the Hollywood of Morocco. One of the world's largest studios, it preserves grand, realistic sets from films - ancient Egypt, Rome, etc. Visitors explore the sets, learning about filmmaking.

Kasbah Taourirt was the former power centre of the Glaoui clan at Ouarzazate, a cluster of ochre-earth and date-palm-wood built along the trade route. Intricate geometric mud-carving and towering towers form the oldest vestibule before Morocco's southern 'city of cinema'. Maze-like rooms and granaries record the wealth and power network of the Glaoui family at its height.

The Todra Gorge (Gorges du Todra) lies in the south-east of Morocco on the southern side of the High Atlas, at the edge of the Sahara. The Todra River (Oued Todgha) has carved a deep canyon through limestone: the two walls rise up to about 300 m high and narrow to about 10 m at the tightest point, with imposing red-brown vertical cliffs. It is Morocco's leading hiking and rock-climbing destination (with hundreds of climbing routes on the cliff faces) and a classic stop on the route from the Dades Gorge to the Merzouga Sahara circuit.

The Dades Gorge is a spectacular, strange canyon near Ouarzazate, with red cliffs, winding mountain road and oasis villages - spectacular and unique. Carved by the Dades River, the gorge has towering red rock walls (ochre-red, ochre-yellow) with strange folds (like monkey paws or a human brain). The valley floor has the winding Dades River, palm oasis and kasbah villages. The famous winding mountain road snakes along the cliffs.

Kasbah Tifoultoute sits about 10 km outside Ouarzazate in southern Morocco. This old mud-brick castle, built in the 17th-18th century, was once a stronghold of the local Glaoui family and has served as a film location for several movies. Perched on the slope above the Ouarzazate Valley (Wadi Ouarzazate), it looks over the valley oasis, palm groves and the distant Atlas Mountains. Quieter and more serene than Ait Ben Haddou, part of the kasbah has been renovated into a restaurant.

The Cinema Museum is a unique, fun film museum in Ouarzazate, showing props and behind-the-scenes of filmmaking - a vivid sight in this Hollywood of Morocco. Ouarzazate's landscapes make it a favorite film location. The museum displays props, sets and equipment from films shot here - ancient, exotic backdrops. Visitors explore the props and sets, learning about filmmaking and Ouarzazate's film history.