The best things to do in Morocco.

About 30 km from Ouarzazate, the fortified ksar of Aït Ben Haddou rises in tiers of red earth above the Ounila River. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987 and a favourite of film crews, it is the single most photographed kasbah in Morocco. Here are the experiences worth your time.

On the edge of Ouarzazate, Atlas Studios is one of the largest film studios in the world by surface area, founded in 1983 by Mohamed Belghmi. Decades of epics have left behind a backlot of pharaonic temples, Tibetan monasteries and Roman streets. Here is how to make the most of a visit.

On the eastern edge of Ouarzazate stands Taourirt, one of the finest kasbahs in southern Morocco and a former seat of the Glaoui dynasty. Behind its tapering earthen towers lies a warren of courtyards and decorated rooms. Here is what to explore.

Hidden in a rocky canyon about 10 km south of Ouarzazate, Fint Oasis is a ribbon of palm groves and small Berber hamlets fed by a year-round river. The sudden burst of green against bare desert hills makes it one of the most rewarding half-day escapes from town. Here is what to do.

Just 8 km west of Ouarzazate, the kasbah of Tifoultoute stands on a bluff above the river, a former residence of the Glaoui clan that once controlled the southern passes. Its terraces look out over palm groves and the Atlas foothills. Here is what to see on a short visit.

Off the old Tizi n'Tichka road between Ouarzazate and Marrakech, the ruined Glaoui palace of Telouet hides astonishingly ornate interiors behind a crumbling earthen shell. At around 1,800 metres in the High Atlas, it is a haunting reminder of the family that once ruled southern Morocco. Here is what to see.

The Tizi n'Tichka is the great mountain road linking Marrakech with Ouarzazate, climbing to 2,260 metres across the High Atlas. Most travellers cross it on the way to or from town, and the route is studded with viewpoints, villages and detours. Here is how to make the drive an experience in itself.

Nicknamed the 'Door of the Desert' and Morocco's Hollywood, Ouarzazate guards mud-brick kasbahs, vast film studios and palm-fringed oases at the edge of the Sahara. Here are twelve experiences worth your time.

Ouarzazate, the 'door of the desert', is the gateway between the High Atlas and the Sahara and the heart of Morocco's film country. One well-planned day takes in the great kasbah, the studios and the UNESCO ksar of Aït Ben Haddou nearby. Here is a practical one-day plan.

The fortified village of Aït Ben Haddou is the most famous ksar in Morocco — a cluster of earthen kasbahs rising above the Ounila river, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a film set known the world over. About 30 km from Ouarzazate, it is the region's essential visit. Here is how to make the most of it.

Ouarzazate has been a hub of international film-making for decades, earning the nickname 'Ouallywood'. Its desert light, kasbah backdrops and big studio lots have stood in for ancient Egypt, Rome, Tibet and biblical lands. Here is what to see for film fans visiting the city.

For decades, film-makers have brought ancient Egypt, Rome, the Holy Land and far-off deserts to life in the kasbahs and dunes around Ouarzazate — the reason the region is nicknamed 'Ouallywood'. This guide looks at the films and series associated with the area, why the southern Moroccan landscape stands in for so many places, and how a film fan can turn a visit into a tour of the locations and studios.

About 40 km east of Ouarzazate along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, the Skoura palm grove is a dense oasis dotted with earthen kasbahs. At its heart stands Kasbah Amridil, one of the best-preserved in Morocco. Here is what to explore.

East of Ouarzazate around the town of Kelaat M'Gouna, the Valley of Roses runs between the High Atlas and the Jbel Saghro. Each spring its hedgerows of Damask roses are harvested for rose water and oil. Here is what to do along this fragrant valley.

North of Boumalne Dadès, on the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs east of Ouarzazate, the Dadès Gorge winds between sculpted red cliffs and rose-growing villages. Its famous switchbacks and rock formations make it one of southern Morocco's great drives. Here is what to do.

South of Ouarzazate, the Draa is Morocco's longest river valley, an unbroken ribbon of palm groves, kasbahs and Berber villages running toward the desert at Zagora. Following it is one of the country's classic drives. Here is what to do along the way.

At the southern end of the Draa Valley, a few hours from Ouarzazate, Zagora is the historic gateway to the Sahara, marked by the famous 'Timbuktu 52 days' camel sign. Palm groves, dunes and old kasbahs surround the town. Here is what to do.

At the very end of the Draa Valley south of Ouarzazate, M'Hamid el Ghizlane is the last village before the open Sahara, and beyond it lie the towering dunes of Erg Chegaga. This is the deep desert experience of southern Morocco. Here is what to do.

About 70 km south of Ouarzazate, Agdz is the first real town of the Draa Valley, where the palm groves begin beneath the pyramid-shaped Jbel Kissane. Surrounded by historic kasbahs, it makes a relaxed stop on the road to the desert. Here is what to do.

Reached by a spectacular mountain road from the Draa Valley south of Ouarzazate, the village of Nkob sits at the foot of the rugged Jbel Saghro. Famous for its many kasbahs and as a trekking gateway, it offers a wild, little-visited side of the south. Here is what to do.

Just east of Ouarzazate, the El Mansour Eddahbi dam holds back the Draa River to form a wide reservoir that supplies the region's water and draws birds to the desert edge. Its open water and mountain backdrop offer a calm contrast to the arid plateau. Here is what to do.

Cut into the eastern High Atlas near Tinghir, the Todra Gorge funnels travellers between sheer limestone walls rising up to roughly 300 metres. River, palm groves and Berber villages reward those who linger here.

Running between Telouet and Aït Ben Haddou north of Ouarzazate, the Ounila Valley follows an old caravan route through terraced villages, granaries and earthen kasbahs. The unpaved road that threads it is one of the region's most scenic back ways. Here is what to do.

On the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs east of Ouarzazate, Tinghir is a lively oasis town wrapped around a long palm grove and watched over by an old kasbah quarter. It is best known as the gateway to the nearby Todra Gorge. Here is what to do.

Out on the southern edge of the desert beyond the Draa, Foum Zguid is a remote oasis town and the eastern approach to the great dunes of Erg Chegaga and the Iriqui lakebed. Quiet and uncommercial, it offers a raw taste of the deep south. Here is what to do.

South of Ouarzazate, the Drâa Valley follows Morocco's longest river through the country's longest palm grove, a green ribbon strung with mud-brick kasbahs and walled ksour on the old caravan road to Zagora and M'Hamid. It is the classic overland route from the Atlas to the edge of the Sahara. Here are the experiences worth slowing down for.

East of Ouarzazate the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs runs through two of Morocco's most dramatic canyons: the sheer-walled Todra Gorge above Tinghir and the switchbacking Dadès Gorge with its strange eroded rock. Between them lie the Skoura oasis and the rose-growing villages of the M'Goun valley. Here are the experiences worth planning a day or two around.

The country around Ouarzazate is made for four-wheel-drive: rough pistes thread between palm oases, mud-brick kasbahs, film locations and open stony desert that ordinary cars cannot reach. A 4x4 day or overnight from the 'door of the desert' links the Fint Oasis, the old kasbah trail and the tracks toward the Drâa and Dadès. Here are the off-road experiences worth booking.

On the edge of the pre-Sahara, the Ouarzazate region has some of the darkest, clearest skies in Morocco. Dry desert air, high altitude and very little light pollution beyond the town mean the Milky Way is often visible to the naked eye. Pair a night under the stars with a kasbah or oasis stay and the south becomes one of the country's best places to look up. Here is what to know.

Tucked in the High Atlas off the old Tizi n'Tichka road, the Kasbah of Telouet is one of Morocco's great might-have-beens — a faded mud-brick stronghold of the Glaoua (el Glaoui) clan whose crumbling exterior hides astonishingly ornate reception rooms. Once a seat of power that controlled a key Atlas pass, it has stood largely abandoned since the family's fall in the 1950s. Here is what to know before you visit.

In the mountains around Telouet, off the old Tizi n'Tichka road north of Aït Ben Haddou, rock salt has been cut from the hillsides for generations. Control of salt and the trans-Atlas trade routes was part of what made the Glaoua (el Glaoui) clan — the 'Lords of the Atlas' — so wealthy and powerful in the early 20th century. Today a few small workings near Telouet can still be seen, where salt is hewn by hand from galleries in the rock. Far quieter than any kasbah, they make an unusual side-trip for travellers who want to dig a little deeper into the valley's story. Here is what to know.

On the edge of Ouarzazate town stands the Kasbah of Taourirt — a sprawling 19th-century mud-brick stronghold long associated with the powerful Glaoui clan who controlled the southern caravan routes. Behind its earthen ramparts lies a labyrinth of towers, alleys and rooms: some restored to show off carved plaster and painted ceilings, others left weathered, with parts of the old quarter still lived in. Because it sits right in town, it is one of the easiest kasbah visits in the region. Here is what to know before you go.

A few kilometres west of Ouarzazate, on the road toward Marrakech, the Kasbah of Tiffoultoute rises in packed earth above a green palmeraie and the river that runs out toward the Atlas. Like several of the great strongholds in this region, it is associated with the powerful Glaoui family who once controlled the southern caravan routes. Part of the kasbah has been restored, and a section has operated as a hotel and restaurant, with a panoramic rooftop terrace that has long made it a favourite stop for tea and a view at the end of the day. Here is what to know before you go.

South of Zagora, on the Drâa Valley road toward M'Hamid and the Sahara, the small oasis town of Tamegroute holds two of southern Morocco's most singular sights. The first is the Naciri zaouia, a centuries-old Sufi religious complex whose famous library preserves rare old manuscripts. The second is the cluster of underground kilns that produce Tamegroute's distinctive green-glazed pottery, found nowhere else quite like this. Together they make Tamegroute a worthwhile stop on the long drive between Ouarzazate and the desert. Here is what to know before you go.

Set among the date palms of the Skoura oasis, about 40 km east of Ouarzazate on the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, Kasbah Amridil is one of Morocco's most famous and best-preserved earthen kasbahs. Built of pisé (rammed earth) and dating from around the 17th–18th centuries, it became widely recognised because it featured on the old 50-dirham banknote. Part of the kasbah now works as a living museum of traditional Berber oasis life — old tools, an oil press, a Quranic school room, storerooms, the bread oven and the water systems — while the lush palmeraie around it shelters other kasbahs and gardens. Here is what to know before you go.

Right in the centre of Ouarzazate, set opposite the Taourirt Kasbah, the Cinema Museum (Musée du Cinéma) gathers up the sets, props, costumes and old cameras left behind by the many productions shot in and around the city — the region nicknamed 'Ouallywood'. It is a small, fun, easy in-town stop rather than a grand institution: you wander through reconstructed film sets and decor, from ancient-world thrones to Egyptian-temple-style props and sci-fi pieces, getting a behind-the-scenes feel for how the desert around Ouarzazate has stood in for so many other worlds. Here is what to know before you go.

A few kilometres up the Ounila Valley beyond Aït Ben Haddou, the crumbling Glaoui kasbah of Tamdaght rises among almond and palm groves, its earthen towers famously topped with stork nests. Far quieter than the great ksar nearby, it rewards travellers who carry on past the crowds with mud-brick architecture, a green riverside setting and a film history of its own. Here is what to do.

Each year, usually around May, the small town of Kelaat M'Gouna in the Valley of Roses celebrates its rose harvest with the Rose Festival — known locally as the Moussem of Roses (Festival des Roses). The valley sits in the Dadès region, east of Ouarzazate on the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs toward Boumalne Dadès, and is famous for its hedgerows of fragrant Damask roses, which are distilled into rosewater and oil. The festival fills the town with parades and floats, Amazigh (Berber) music and dance, souks of rose products and showers of rose petals, and it traditionally crowns a "Rose Queen." Exact dates shift from year to year to follow the harvest, so always confirm timing locally before you plan around it. Here is what to know.

Just east of Ouarzazate, the El Mansour Eddahbi dam holds back the Drâa river to form a broad reservoir that is the lifeline of the surrounding oases. Built in the 1970s to store water for irrigation and supply, the lake spreads across the arid plateau with the High Atlas rising behind it — an unexpected sheet of open water in the desert. It draws migratory birds, makes a calm sunset stop close to town and offers a quiet contrast to the kasbahs and film studios. Here is what to know before you go.