Museums in Marrakech: which ones to visit and what they cost

Which museum to choose for your interests

With two or three days in town, you will not see everything. Start by choosing according to what draws you:

• Fashion and design: the Yves Saint Laurent Museum Marrakech, best combined with the neighbouring Jardin Majorelle.
• Amazigh arts and cultures: the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts, housed in the blue studio of the Jardin Majorelle.
• Palace architecture: Dar el-Bacha – Museum of Confluences and the Marrakech Museum, where the setting matters as much as the collections.
• Photography and history: the Maison de la Photographie, which shows Morocco between the late 19th century and 1960.
• Music: the Mouassine Museum, now the Museum of Music, with concerts in its douiria.
• Contemporary art: MACAAL, the Dar Bellarj foundation and the Palmeraie Museum.
• Understanding the city: the Museum of Intangible Heritage, devoted to Jemaa el-Fna square, and the Water Museum, which explains the gardens and the palm grove.
• With children: the Water Museum, with its large animated model, and the Jardin Majorelle, whose paths keep younger visitors busy.

Gueliz: Majorelle, the Berber museum and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum

The three sites on Rue Yves Saint Laurent make up the most visited cluster in the city. The Jardin Majorelle opens daily from 8am to 6:30pm; the painter's former studio houses the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts (jewellery, textiles and objects from Amazigh cultures), open from 8:30am to 6pm. This small museum has no separate ticket: you need the garden and Berber museum ticket.

A few metres away, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, opened in 2017 in a brick building designed by Studio KO, shows around fifty of the couturier's designs, rotated regularly. It opens from 10am to 6pm and closes on Wednesdays. All tickets are sold online only, on the official Jardin Majorelle ticket office, for a set date and time slot. The district is covered in our guide to Gueliz and Hivernage.

The northern medina: Ben Youssef, photography and foundations

Around the Ben Youssef Madrasa, three places can be visited on foot in a morning:

• The Marrakech Museum, in the Dar Mnebhi palace, run by the Omar Benjelloun Foundation: a patio covered by a glass roof, a giant brass chandelier and a former hammam. No official source confirms that it is open; visitors describe it as open in 2025 and 2026, daily from 9am to 6pm, for about 50 MAD. Ask on site before counting on it.
• The Maison de la Photographie, a private museum opened in 2009 in a former fondouk, with a rooftop café. It opens daily from 9:30am to 7pm.
• The Dar Bellarj foundation, the "house of storks", opposite the madrasa: a cultural centre with free entry, whose exhibition "Archéologies" runs until 25 December 2027. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30am to 3pm and closes during the summer holidays.

The Women's Museum, opened in 2018 in the neighbouring Sidi Abdelaziz quarter, was reported permanently closed in 2026: do not rely on older guides that recommend it. Our guide to the Marrakech medina helps you find your way through the souks to this quarter.

Mouassine and Dar el-Bacha: palaces and music

In the west of the medina, Dar el-Bacha is the former residence of Pasha Thami El Glaoui, built in 1910 and turned in 2017 into the Museum of Confluences of the National Museums Foundation. Its temporary exhibitions change several times a year, but the patio planted with orange trees and the painted cedar ceilings justify the visit on their own. The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm, for 60 MAD. Bacha Coffee, set in one of the palace rooms, requires the museum ticket and a long wait: arrive before opening time if it matters to you.

Ten minutes' walk away, the Mouassine Museum occupies a house of Saadian origin whose douiria, the upstairs reception apartment, has recovered its stucco and painted woodwork. It is devoted to the music of Morocco and hosts short concerts, usually on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6pm to 7pm, by reservation. It opens daily from 10am to 7pm.

Jemaa el-Fna and the southern medina

On Jemaa el-Fna square, the former Bank al-Maghrib building, built in 1922, has housed the Museum of Intangible Heritage since 2023. It tells the history of the square and of the halqa, the circles of spectators around storytellers and musicians. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm and costs 40 MAD. Visit in mid-afternoon, then stay on the square as it comes to life.

Further south, two museums have remained closed since the September 2023 earthquake, according to our checks in October 2026:

• The Dar Si Said Museum, the national museum of weaving and carpets, under restoration. The National Museums Foundation announced the end of the works for 2026, with no confirmed reopening date. Its price list shows 30 MAD and a Monday closure in normal times.
• The Tiskiwin Museum, the collection of anthropologist Bert Flint, listed as "closed for maintenance" by Cadi Ayyad University, with no reopening date.

If a passer-by claims that either is open "through another entrance", check for yourself at the door. The nearby Bahia Palace stays open every day: our walk through the Kasbah and the Mellah fits it into a one-day route.

Outside the medina: MACAAL, the Water Museum and the Palmeraie Museum

Four museums require a taxi, but offer quiet visits that are useful in the hottest hours:

• MACAAL, the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, in the south-east of the city, reopened in February 2025 after the earthquake. It shows the Lazraq family collection and temporary exhibitions. It opens Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm, for 120 MAD, and closes on Monday and Tuesday.
• The Water Museum (Mohammed VI Museum for Water Civilisation, or Aman Museum), at the Palmeraie roundabout: khettaras, seguias and an animated model of the water network. It costs 45 MAD, opens from 9am to 6pm and closes at 4pm on Thursdays.
• The Palmeraie Museum (Benchaâbane Foundation), on the Fès road: Moroccan contemporary art in restored rammed-earth farm buildings and two hectares of gardens. It opens daily from 9am to 5pm; local guides give the price as 50 MAD, paid in cash.
• The Farid Belkahia Museum, about a kilometre away in the northern Palmeraie: the painter's house and studio (1934-2014), with his henna-dyed skins and copper works. It opens daily from 9am to 6pm, by reservation only; the foundation's website shows no price, so ask when you book.

Agree with the driver on the return trip or on waiting time: taxis are scarce near these museums.

Museum comparison table

Prices observed in October 2026. Residents of Morocco pay less in most museums (for example 55 MAD at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, 20 MAD at the Museum of Intangible Heritage, 50 MAD at the Maison de la Photographie). Hours change during Ramadan: MACAAL then closes at 3:30pm and the Water Museum opens from 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Combined tickets and free or low-cost museums

There is no city pass covering all the museums of Marrakech, but two tickets group several sites:

• Jardin Majorelle, Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts and Yves Saint Laurent Museum: 330 MAD (135 MAD for residents), against 230 MAD for the garden and the Berber museum alone. Pick a day other than Wednesday, when the Yves Saint Laurent Museum is closed.
• Maison de la Photographie and Mouassine Museum: a single 80 MAD ticket covers both, sold on site only. Keep it after the first visit. It is free for under-15s.

On a tight budget, several museums cost less than 60 MAD: Dar Bellarj is free, the Museum of Intangible Heritage costs 40 MAD, the Water Museum 45 MAD, the Palmeraie Museum 50 MAD and Dar el-Bacha 60 MAD. MACAAL is free for under-12s and students with proof. For more ideas that cost nothing, see our free things to do in Marrakech.

Closing days and visiting order

Weekly closures do not fall on the same day everywhere:

• Monday: Dar el-Bacha, the Museum of Intangible Heritage, Dar Bellarj and MACAAL are closed. It is a good day for Gueliz, the Maison de la Photographie, the Mouassine Museum or the Palmeraie Museum.
• Tuesday: MACAAL stays closed.
• Wednesday: the Yves Saint Laurent Museum is closed.
• Thursday: the Water Museum closes at 4pm.
• Sunday: Dar Bellarj is closed.

To move from one museum to the next without waiting, this is the order we suggest:

1. Gueliz in the morning: the Jardin Majorelle in the first slot, at 8am, then the Yves Saint Laurent Museum when it opens, at 10am.
2. The northern medina before 3pm: Dar Bellarj closes early, then the Maison de la Photographie with a lunch break on its rooftop.
3. Dar el-Bacha from 10am on another day, then the Mouassine Museum on foot, ending with a concert in the late afternoon.
4. MACAAL or the Water Museum in the hottest hours, by taxi, when the medina becomes tiring.
5. The Museum of Intangible Heritage in the late afternoon, before the evening on Jemaa el-Fna square.

Museums are also a good option when it rains: our guide on what to do in Marrakech when it rains suggests more.

Further reading

To fit these visits into a trip, follow our Marrakech in 3 days itinerary and work out your spending with our Marrakech travel budget. The pages on the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, Dar el-Bacha and the Dar Si Said Museum detail the collections, access and visiting tips for each site.