Jardin Majorelle Marrakech

The French painter Jacques Majorelle created this garden from the 1920s, filling it with plants from around the world and painting his studio an intense shade of blue now known as Majorelle blue. In 1980 the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought and restored it.

Paths wind between giant cacti, palms, bamboo groves and lily ponds, with splashes of yellow and green against the blue walls. The former studio houses a museum of Berber culture, and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum stands next door.

The garden is small and very popular, so go at opening time and allow about an hour, longer if you visit the museums. Entry is by timed slot, which we arrange in advance, and the café inside is a pleasant place for mint tea.