Majorelle Garden and the YSL Museum in Marrakech: the story, tickets and tips
The painter's garden saved by Yves Saint Laurent: its story, the Berber and YSL museums, the Villa Oasis, online-only tickets and the best time to go.
By Ismail8 min read
The Majorelle Garden (Jardin Majorelle) is the garden the French painter Jacques Majorelle created in Marrakech from 1923, rescued in 1980 by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. One visit now takes in the garden, the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts in Majorelle's blue studio, the garden of the Villa Oasis and, a short walk away, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent. Tickets are sold only online, on the official website, for a set time: book the first slot and allow one to three hours.
Our team is based in Marrakech: here is the story, what each site holds, which ticket to buy and when to go. For the rest of the city, see our things to do in Marrakech; to fit the garden into your days, our Marrakech itinerary.
Majorelle at a glance
Hours from the official websites in November 2026; in summer the garden closes later (18:30).
| Site | What it is | Allow | Hours (November 2026) | Adult ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jardin Majorelle | Cacti, bamboo, palms, pools and the blue studio | 45–60 min | Daily 8:00–17:30, last entry 17:00 | 170 MAD (about €16) |
| Villa Oasis garden | The garden of Saint Laurent and Bergé's house | Part of the garden visit | 8:00–16:30, last entry 16:00, closed Wednesdays | Included |
| Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts | Amazigh crafts, jewellery and costume | 20–30 min | Daily 8:30–17:00, last entry 16:30 | 60 MAD extra (about €6) |
| Musée Yves Saint Laurent | Fashion museum and temporary shows | 45–60 min | 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:30, closed Wednesdays | About 135–140 MAD on its own |
The combined ticket for the garden and both museums costs about 300–330 MAD (€28–31), according to 2026 travel guides (see "Tickets" below).
The story of the garden
Jacques Majorelle, born in Nancy in 1886, was the son of the Art Nouveau furniture maker Louis Majorelle. He settled in the Marrakech medina in 1919 and in 1923 bought a palm grove on the edge of the city, outside the walls, close to Gueliz, the new town being laid out under the French protectorate (our short history of Morocco puts that period in context). He built a house there, the Villa Bou Saf Saf, and for almost forty years planted the garden as a botanical "laboratory".
The dates that matter:
- 1931: the architect Paul Sinoir designs the Art Deco studio, living quarters above a large painting studio.
- 1937: Majorelle paints the studio, walls and pots in an intense ultramarine, now known as Majorelle blue.
- 1947: he opens the garden to the public.
- 1962: after a car accident he is taken back to Paris, where he dies; the garden declines.
- 1966: Saint Laurent and Bergé first come to Morocco and buy a small house in the medina; Saint Laurent returns a few times a year to design his collections.
- 1980: they buy the garden to save it from a hotel project, restore it and move into Majorelle's house, which they rename the Villa Oasis.
- 2008: Saint Laurent dies on 1 June; his ashes are scattered in the garden of the Villa Oasis, and Bergé gives the property to their foundation.
- 2011: the Berber Museum opens in the studio (named after Pierre Bergé since 2020).
- 2017: Bergé dies in September, a few weeks before the Musée Yves Saint Laurent opens on 19 October.
Since then the garden designer Madison Cox, president of the Fondation Jardin Majorelle, has added native Moroccan succulents and replaced ground cover with pink gravel, in line with the foundation's water-saving approach.
What you see in the garden
The garden is smaller than many visitors expect: a walled plot crossed by narrow paths on several levels, with about 400 plant species, the foundation says. Tall cacti and agaves surround the studio; further on come bamboo, palms, bougainvillea and pools with water lilies. The blue is on the studio, walls, benches and fountains, set off by lemon-yellow pots.
Look for the memorial to Saint Laurent in a quiet corner: a Roman column brought from his house in Tangier. There is also a café and a boutique. At busy times the photo spot in front of the studio has a queue. The garden and the Berber museum are wheelchair accessible.
The Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts
Majorelle's studio has held this museum since December 2011. More than 600 objects, collected by Bergé and Saint Laurent from the Rif to the Sahara, fill rooms on everyday crafts (basketry, weaving, woodwork, tea), on beliefs, on jewellery, shown region by region, and on finery: costumes, weapons and powder horns, carved doors and musical instruments.
Allow 20 to 30 minutes. It is a good short introduction to the culture of the Amazigh (Berber) people, and the costume room goes well with our guide to traditional Moroccan clothing. It is not sold on its own, only with the garden or in the combined ticket. In July 2025 it closed for a week to change the objects on display, so in July check the ticket site first.
The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech
A few steps from the garden on Rue Yves Saint Laurent, the museum opened on 19 October 2017. Its 4,000 m² building is by the architects of Studio KO (Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty), with a terracotta brick facade laid to recall the warp and weft of fabric.
Inside, the main hall shows about fifty of Saint Laurent's designs, changed in rotations around themes such as black, Africa and Morocco, or gardens. There is also a temporary exhibition hall, a library, an auditorium, a bookshop and a café. Until 5 January 2027 the museum is showing Yves Saint Laurent on Stage, on his costumes for theatre, ballet and music hall: check the museum's website for what is on.
Allow 45 to 60 minutes. It is closed on Wednesdays, and the bookshop and café take cards only.
The Villa Oasis garden
The house where Saint Laurent and Bergé lived is still private, but since 31 January 2025 its garden has been part of the Jardin Majorelle visit, with no extra ticket. A temporary pavilion by the young Moroccan architect Hiba Bensalek opened there with Flore Majorelle, an exhibition on 20 remarkable plants of the garden; a new pavilion is planned for 2027.
The Villa Oasis garden is closed on Wednesdays and shuts an hour before the main garden (last entry 16:00 in November 2026).
Tickets: how to buy them and which to choose
Since 30 January 2023, tickets for the garden and both museums have been sold only online, on the official ticket office. There is no ticket desk at the gate. You pick a site, a date and an entry time, pay, and receive an e-ticket with a QR code. The foundation states that tickets bought on unauthorised websites will not get you in, so buy only there, and check the address in your browser before paying, as the ticket site itself advises.
The four tickets on the official site:
| Ticket | Covers | Foreign adult |
|---|---|---|
| Jardin Majorelle | The garden and the Villa Oasis garden | 170 MAD (about €16) |
| Jardin Majorelle + Berber museum | The above and the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts | About 230 MAD (€21) |
| Musée Yves Saint Laurent | The museum only | About 135–140 MAD (€13) |
| Combined ticket | Garden, Berber museum and YSL museum | About 300–330 MAD (€28–31) |
Where these figures come from: the garden (170 MAD) and Berber museum (60 MAD) prices are on the foundation's own pages, last revised in 2025. The YSL museum and combined prices appear only inside the booking form, so we give the ranges published by 2026 travel guides; the official form has the final word. Children under 10 with an adult go in free. Students with a card pay 95 MAD for the garden and 35 MAD for the Berber museum, and Moroccan citizens and residents 75 MAD for the garden.
Which one to choose:
- An hour, for plants and photos: the garden ticket.
- Curious about Moroccan culture: garden + Berber museum, for 60 MAD and half an hour more.
- Interested in fashion or design: the combined ticket, and not on a Wednesday.
Book as soon as your dates are fixed. Slots can sell out before the day, especially at weekends, in spring and autumn and in holiday periods.
Is it worth it, and when to go
Yes, if you like gardens, colour or fashion, and if you go early. It is also very busy: the foundation counted more than 900,000 visitors a year to the garden and its two museums in 2023, and at midday the paths are slow. With a single day in Marrakech and little interest in plants, the palaces and souks of the medina may matter more.
When to go:
- The first slot, at 8:00: the calmest time, with soft light and cooler air.
- The last hour: the next best choice, when the crowds thin.
- Not from late morning to mid-afternoon, especially in spring and in July and August, when average highs reach about 37–38 °C (see the best time to visit Morocco).
- Wednesdays: the garden and the Berber museum are open, but not the YSL museum or the Villa Oasis garden.
- Ramadan: hours can change, so check the official site.
Allow about an hour for the garden, an hour and a half with the Berber museum, and an hour more for the YSL museum. Afterwards, walk 15 to 20 minutes into Gueliz for lunch or its galleries: our guide to contemporary art in Marrakech tells you where to look.
Getting there
The entrance is on Rue Yves Saint Laurent, north-west of the medina and outside its walls. From Jemaa el-Fna it is about 3 km by road: around 10 minutes by petit taxi, or a 35–40-minute walk. From Bab Doukkala, on the west side of the medina, it is about 1.3 km, 15 to 20 minutes on foot. Agree the taxi fare, or ask for the meter, before you set off.
Majorelle is the optional last stop of our private guided tour of Marrakech. Tickets often need to be booked ahead, so mention it when you enquire and we will fit it into the day (entrance fees are extra). Any other question about slots or tickets: contact us or ask us on WhatsApp.