Do I need to book Majorelle Garden and YSL Museum tickets in advance?

Short answer: yes, book ahead — Majorelle is the one Marrakech sight where I'd never tell a client to just turn up. It's a compact, hugely popular garden working on timed-entry tickets, and on a busy day the walk-up line snakes along the wall in full sun while pre-booked visitors stroll straight in. Buying online in advance for a set time slot saves you a hot, demoralising queue and guarantees you actually get in on the day you want, which isn't a given in high season.

Understand that it's really two attractions sharing a site. The Jardin Majorelle (the blue garden itself, which includes the small Berber Museum) is one ticket; the Musée Yves Saint Laurent next door is a separate ticket, with a combined option if you want both. Decide in advance which you're doing — plenty of people come purely for the garden and the photographs, while design lovers shouldn't miss the YSL museum's couture collection. Book each accordingly so you're not caught out at the gate.

Timing is everything here, more than at any other Marrakech sight. The garden is small and gets shoulder-to-shoulder by late morning, and the famous blue corners develop queues of people waiting for a clear photo. I push everyone to the very first slot of the day, right at opening — the light is soft, the temperature is bearable, and you'll have minutes of relative calm before the tour groups arrive. Avoid the middle of the day, both for crowds and for heat, since much of the visit is outdoors.

A couple of practical notes. It sits in Gueliz, a ten-minute taxi from the medina (agree the meter or fare first), so pair it with other Ville Nouvelle stops rather than darting back and forth. Tickets are time-specific, so build a little buffer and don't cut it fine arriving from the souks. And manage expectations: it's beautiful but bijou — an hour or so does it — so the planning payoff is less about needing all day and more about walking past the queue into a peaceful, photogenic morning rather than a sweaty scrum.