Beating the line at Jardin Majorelle, YSL museum, & dinner at Azar

Today would be our last full day in Marrakech before venturing out to the Agafay desert tomorrow for a relaxing time at Oxygen Lodge. We had saved Jardin Majorelle and the YSL museum for the end of our trip because today was the day the YSL museum would be reopening after being closed for renovations. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Beating the line at Jardin Majorelle

As one of Marrakech’s most Instagram-worthy tourist attractions, Jardin Majorelle attracts massive lines daily. The lines are full of tourists dressed to the nines and ready to snap the perfect photo in front of the garden’s iconic blue mansion. You don’t want to end up waiting, so here are my tips for avoiding the line!

Arrive early! – Getting there when the gardens open are one of the best ways to beat the line. Not only is the line short, but there are also way fewer people inside, making it easier to snap the perfect photo.
Buy your tickets online before you arrive. – Tickets can be purchased online here. Doing this will allow you to skip the line at the box office altogether and head straight to the entrance.
Buy your tickets at the YSL Museum instead! – Online tickets need to be purchased at least 24 hours in advance. If you forget or don’t have enough time, that’s okay! Just head one minute down the street to the YSL museum (where the line is usually always short) and you can a ticket there in person.

About the Gardens

Jardin Majorelle (translates to Majorelle Garden) is a beautiful sprawling two-acre botanical garden located in Marrakech. This garden was commissioned by French artist Jacques Majorelle in 1923. Its defining feature is a gorgeous Moroccan blue villa in the middle of the gardens designed by French architect Paul Sinoir.

The richness of the cobalt blue hue of the villa combined with its striking yellow and teal accents behind a lush garden backdrop make Jardin Majorelle a must-see stop for tourists. I was personally in awe at just how rich the colors appeared in person and really enjoyed capturing photos of it all.

Majorelle’s villa was purchased by famous fashion designers Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé in the 1980s and was owned the villa until Saint-Laurent’s death in 2008. It is now owned by Foundation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent. This is a French non-profit organization now managed by the Foundation Jardin Majorelle.

A Quick Stop at the Berber Museum

The Berber Museum is located inside Jardin Majorelle on the main floor of the villa. You can get tickets to the exhibit along with your purchase of tickets for the garden and YSL museum. After spending time in Jardin Majorelle’s courtyard, we slipped inside to get a break from the hot sun.

The Berber museum is a small collection of Berber cultural pieces. This included traditional clothing, jewelry, carpets, tools, and many artifacts from their culture. This exhibit takes about 15-20 minutes to walk through and is worth a stop to learn more about Berber culture. My favorite part was the display room for jewelry. It was amazing and looked like was lit up with thousands of stars.

Checking Out the YSL Museum

After wrapping up at the garden, we walked down the street to the YSL Museum. Although not always open, we were lucky enough to stop by the day it was reopening with a new exhibit. This museum opened in 2017 and contains exhibits of work from Saint-Laurent’s personal collection, including fashion show looks, photos, videos, sketches, and more.

We decided to stop at the museum’s café for lunch before heading back to the medina. The food was good but the service was a little bit slow, this seemed to be due to a lack of staffing.

Dinner at Azar

Tonight’s dinner was at Azar! Out of all the restaurants we’ve enjoyed during our trip so far, Azar was hands down my favorite. Although Comptoir Darna would be a close second. The atmosphere was wonderful, the performers were fun, and the service was impeccable. They even brought us a complimentary dessert to celebrate our engagement!

What We Ate

Honestly, at this point, I was too busy enjoying our dinner to take photos of the food. But, I promise it was delicious! To start we had a mix of their unique mezzés chauds. Then, I had the lamb tajine as my main while devon enjoyed the grilled kabobs. To finish we tried their signature Mojito hookah at the end and were surprised by a desert cake as well! You can view their amazing menu here.