VISIT AIT BEN HADDOU: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL KSAR OF MOROCCO

You will have seen it a few times when preparing your trip through Morocco, and from the first moment it was sure that it was already very familiar: Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou (or rather the Ksar) is probably the most famous construction in all of Morocco. His fame is such that it was the set of shooting films such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, Gladiator, Prince of Persia and even became the city of Yunkai in Game of Thrones. Do you want to know how to prepare the visit? In this post we tell you how to visit Ait Ben Haddou And we give you a few useful tips.

The Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou It owes its name to the tribe that settled in these lands, and that began its construction there by the seventeenth century (Ben = "children": Sons of Haddou). They took advantage of a hillside to stack small houses made of adobe, some quite modest and others that look like authentic castles (kasbahs). It was a place frequented by the caravans of merchants who embarked on the route between Marrakech and the cities on the other side of the Sahara, on a trip that lasted several months.

With the passage of time the citadel was depopulated, although many of its constructions remained almost intact, which makes it one of the best examples of Presaharan medieval Berber citadel.

That it was named as a UNESCO heritage site in 1987 and that it has been the scene of many high-budget films has also helped to make it look like one of Morocco's wonders today.

Ait Ben Haddou, is divided into two parts: the old city (which would be the famous ksar) and the new city, with several accommodation and restaurant options. It is located about 30 km from Ouarzazate, at the southern end of the Ounila Valley, which crosses a picturesque landscape on the way to Marrakech, and passes through the beautiful Kasbah of Telouet. A few years ago part of the road was a dirt track, but everything is already paved and in perfect condition. So we believe it is the best route to get to Air Ben Haddou.

The old citadel is separated from the new city by the channel of the Ounila river. To get to your feet you will have to cross the river on foot (do not worry that the level is usually low or zero, there is also a bridge).

First you can park the car in a parking which is next to the Hotel La Kasbah, or simply on the main road of the new town. When we visited it, in September, the river was a tiny thread of water in the morning and directly dry in the afternoon. There are two areas to cross the river:

- Through the bridge of relatively new construction (only for pedestrians). It is behind the mosque.

- Going down the alley to the restaurant La Terrazza and from there jumping over the sacks what's up over the river, or taking advantage of the stones. If it's dry you don't have to worry.

Bridge to reach the entrance to the left of Ait Ben Haddou

Sacks and stones that cross the Ounila river towards Ait Ben Haddou

But first you have to know that there are 3 tickets to cross the old walls:

• The first and the one we use was the one from the new bridge. It is in the part of the left.
• The second is about halfway through Ksar, and goes through the most impressive buildings. It's right after sacks in the river.
• The third one is also after crossing the river through the sacks, but then turning to the right. There is a path next to a small oasis and you reach an entrance hall.

In theory entrance is free, although they told us that it depends on where you enter. If you do it through the central entrance, you will go through a private house and they will ask you for some money (or that is what they told us at the reception of the hostel). We entered through the access of the new bridge (first entrance) and left through the right one at all (third entrance) and nobody asked us for anything. We do not know 100% if the access of the center or even the one on the right is paid.

Once inside the walls, Ait Ben Haddou It is presented as a set of cobbled streets, with small houses on both sides, mostly uninhabited, and flights of stairs. It's not a maze, just keep in mind that you first have to go pulling up, to get to agadir that crowns the citadel, and then go down and out, if possible through other streets and another different door.

Among their little houses you will surely see one that stands out from the others: in total there should be some 6 Kasbahs (Some can be visited, entrance of 10 dirhams), a museum, but above all merchant stores where they store their material or use as an exhibition. Of course there is no shortage of souvenir shops (the drawings made with tea and saffron are very handsome that change color when heat is applied, they are very handsome!).

From the top of the hill you will have wonderful views of the region, although the best views are those offered by the Montana that is right in front. You can climb from a small path that leaves from next to the third entrance, and is the ideal place to watch sunset in front of Ait Ben Haddou.

Views from the agadir in Ksar itself

Views from the mountain in front of the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou

There are both excursions that take you and bring you from Marrakech in the day, as well as others from several days also from Marrakech where you visit the most important points in this area south of the Atlas. These are the tours that we recommend:

• Visit of Ait Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate de 1 day. More info
• Excursion of 2 days: Ait Ben Haddou, Draâ Valley and night in the desert of Erg Chigaga. More info
• tour of 3 days: Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, Dades and Todra Valleys and night in the Erg Chebbi desert. More info
• Excursion of 4 days: Ait Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, Dades and Todra Valleys, night in the Erg Chebbi desert, Berber villages and Draa Valley. More info

We recommend you to sleep one night in the village of Ait Ben Haddou to contemplate the old ksar both at sunset from the mountain and to visit it during the next morning. We stayed at the La Baraka Hostel, which has modest rooms but with all the comforts. There are other Riads more pijetes in the surroundings, for larger budgets.

We wanted to go to the Italian restaurant of La Terrazza, more than anything to enjoy its clean views of Ait Ben Haddou, but the menu threw us back (pizzas and pastas from 150 dirhams). So we opted for the Moroccan option and we shot huge and delicious menus in the restaurant and hostel Valentine (110 and 120 dirhams, with salad or soup, main, fruit and tea). The terrace is also very nice and the man very majete.

We leave you this map with the most important points so you can prepare your visit to Ait Ben Haddou for free.

We hope these tips help you in your visit to Ait Ben Haddou, the most famous and best preserved ksar in all of Morocco.

Video: Ait-Ben-Haddou, Morocco in 4K Ultra HD (May 2024).