Ouarzazate (ورزازات), Morocco

Ouarzazate (ورزازات) is a city in the Souss-Massa-Draâ region of Morocco. Situated at an elevation of 1,151 m (3,776 ft), to the south of the High Atlas Mountains, it has a population of 60,000 (2011 estimate).

The name Ouarzazate means "noiselessly" or "without noise". It is a Berber name as most of its inhabitants are Berbers. Ouarzazate is located at the edge of the desert, which spreads south from the city.

Ouarzazate experiences an arid desert climate. The hottest month is July, when the average high temperature reaches 40°C (104°F). On the other hand in January, it drops to just 1.1°C (34°F). The city receives just 102 mm (4 in) of rain per year, with September to November being the wet season.

Medina of Ouarzazate
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ouarzazate_Medina.jpg
Edo 555


Studio backdrops of Atlas Studios at Ouarzazate
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ouarzazate_Atlas_Studios_-transferred.jpg
Edo 555


In the last two decades the city has developed into a tourist destination. It is the gateway to the Draa Valley and the Ait-Ben-Haddou fortified village, which is recognized as a World Heritage Site. The city also has a movie making industry with many international films being shot there including Gladiator (2000) and the James Bond movie with Timothy Dalton, The Living Daylights (1987).

Visiting Ouarzazate

You can get to Ouarzazate by bus from Marrakesh. The bus fare is 80 dirham. If you can share a seat in a taxi, a taxi ride to Ouarzazate will cost you 100 dirham per passenger.

Souq of Ouarzazate
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ouarzazate_souk.jpg
Theoliane

Places of Interest in Ouarzazate

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.