What are the best gardens in Marrakech?

Marrakech can be intense, and its gardens are the city's pressure-release valve — I build at least one into nearly every itinerary. The headline act is Jardin Majorelle, the cobalt-blue painter's garden later saved by Yves Saint Laurent, with its bamboo groves, cactus collection and that famous Majorelle blue everywhere. It's small, deservedly popular and therefore busy, so I always book a timed ticket online and go right at opening; the adjacent YSL Museum and the Berber Museum make a neat cultural trio if you're already there.

If you'd rather not leave the medina, Le Jardin Secret is my favourite quiet stop in the old city — a beautifully restored riad garden on the Mouassine street, with Islamic and exotic planting, water channels, and a tower you can climb for rooftop views. It's an oasis of calm minutes from the souk chaos, and a perfect mid-morning breather. Nearby, the little Cyber Parc (Arsat Moulay Abdeslam) is a free, leafy public garden that locals use, handy for a shaded sit between sights.

For something more historic and grand, the Menara Gardens west of the centre are a vast olive grove around a reflecting pool, with a green-tiled pavilion that frames the Atlas mountains on a clear day — more a spacious local picnic spot than a manicured showpiece, and atmospheric at sunset. The Agdal Gardens, royal orchards stretching south of the palace, are enormous and historic, though opening can be intermittent, so check before making a special trip.

My slightly off-list pick is the ANIMA Garden, André Heller's surreal, art-filled botanical garden about half an hour out toward Ourika. It's a riot of colour, sculpture and planting with the Atlas as a backdrop and a lovely café, and it works brilliantly paired with a half-day in the foothills. If you only have time for one garden, make it Majorelle for the icon status; if you want one without the crowds, make it Le Jardin Secret right in the heart of the medina.