Set-Jetting in Morocco: Famous Film and TV Locations You Can Visit

Walk towards Aït Ben Haddou and you can recognise the hillside city before anyone mentions a film. The same is true of Essaouira’s Atlantic walls: their shape survives the costumes, effects and fictional geography. Set-jetting in Morocco works best when you leave enough time to enjoy the place behind the scene.

From Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026) and Outer Banks to Homeland, Morocco’s screen geography stretches well beyond one desert village. Start with the locations that fit your trip: historic neighbourhoods, a working studio or a hotel visit arranged in advance. A filming credit does not mean every set, courtyard or room is open today.

Choose your filming-location stops

• Aït Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate: The Odyssey, Game of Thrones, Gladiator and studio filmmaking. Separate the historic ksar from temporary scenery and guided studio access.
• Essaouira and its coast: Outer Banks series four, The Odyssey, Game of Thrones and Othello. The medina and harbour are easy to explore; remote beach locations need more planning.
• Marrakech: The Night Manager, Inventing Anna and Sex and the City 2. Reserve an appropriate hotel visit rather than expecting access to private filming interiors.
• Rabat: Homeland production connections and a rewarding medina, kasbah and Hassan-area walk, with the limits of the location evidence explained below.
• Erfoud and Rissani, for a longer trip: landscapes associated with Sirât and Spectre. Use a local driver for off-road outings and keep them separate from a quick Ouarzazate visit.

Aït Ben Haddou: Yunkai, Gladiator and The Odyssey

The fortified settlement of Aït Ben Haddou, also written Aït Benhaddou, stands in the Ounila Valley near Ouarzazate. Its earthen houses rise within defensive walls towards a hilltop. UNESCO’s site description explains the architecture and its importance independently of its screen appearances.

In the third series of Game of Thrones, it represented Yunkai, a fictional city in Essos. Gladiator (2000) also filmed here. Both connections are documented by the World History Encyclopedia. Recognisable buildings and the hillside setting are the reason to come; do not expect a surviving gladiatorial arena or a complete fantasy city laid out as it appeared on screen.

For The Odyssey (2026), the production notes explain that the art department built the city of Troy into and around Aït Ben Haddou’s existing architecture. This combined a real Moroccan place with purpose-built scenery. Visit for the surviving ksar and its setting; the notes do not establish that the temporary gates, buildings or props are still accessible. Ask locally about the current route rather than booking on a promise of an intact Troy set.

Allow roughly two to three hours as a comfortable planning allowance for the approach, lanes, viewpoints and breaks. Look back towards the ksar from the opposite side of the valley before climbing. Early or late light is often kinder for photographs than midday, particularly in hot weather.

Use the established pedestrian approach and follow local directions if water or maintenance affects a crossing. Houses and workshops are individual premises: ask before entering, photographing people or using a roof terrace, and agree any charge first. The stepped climb is unsuitable for assuming continuous step-free access; visitors who prefer to avoid it can enjoy the wider view from the approach.

From Ouarzazate, allow around 40–50 minutes each way by road, depending on your starting point and stops. Arrange a driver or taxi with a clear return plan, or include it in a self-drive route. An intercity bus ticket to Ouarzazate does not provide the final connection to the ksar. Our Ouarzazate guide covers the base and nearby sights.

Ouarzazate: go behind the scenery at Atlas Studios

Atlas Studios is a working production site on the Marrakech road outside Ouarzazate. This is where a studio visit differs from walking through Aït Ben Haddou: scenery can be built, adapted, reused or closed for filming.

The Ouarzazate tourism site lists productions including Gladiator, Kundun and Babel. The operator’s studio-visit page confirms guided tours and warns that their route can change to avoid interrupting scenes. A film appearing on the credits list does not guarantee that its original scenery survives or features on your tour.

Ask which sets are open, whether the visit you want needs a separate ticket, and when the next guided departure leaves. Check current admission and operating hours with the operator before setting out. A half-day allowance including transport gives more flexibility than squeezing the visit between bus departures. Do not enter closed sets or climb scenery for a photograph.

Atlas is a short drive outside town; arrange a return taxi or driver rather than walking along the main road. Pair it with Taourirt Kasbah if visitor access is available, or allow a separate outing to Fint Oasis. These are nearby attractions worth visiting for their own landscapes and architecture, not promised stops from a particular film. Confirm any interior opening at Taourirt locally.

Outer Banks and Gladiator II: check the exact site

Netflix’s own location guide identifies Ouarzazate as the real filming location for Agapenta, the fictional treasure city in Outer Banks series four. It does not identify a publicly accessible gate or establish that a standard Atlas tour includes that set. Ask a guide which site they mean and what permission is included.

For Gladiator II, production designer Arthur Max describes adapting his earlier Kingdom of Heaven scenery outside Ouarzazate. That confirms the production connection, not a surviving, open attraction. Do not assume its battle scenery is on the Atlas visitor route.

Essaouira: Outer Banks, The Odyssey and the sea walls

Outer Banks: medina, harbour and Cap Hadid

Outer Banks series four used Essaouira’s medina and wharf, according to Netflix’s location guide. Start at Place Moulay Hassan, walk towards the working harbour, then explore the medina lanes. These are real city spaces, not a purpose-built treasure park; use the public routes and leave private doors and working boats alone.

Netflix separately names Cap Hadid beach for the arrival on the Moroccan coast. Arrange a local driver who knows the coastal access and agree the actual drop-off and return. Do not substitute Essaouira’s town beach, Cap Sim or another dune beach and call it the exact location. Confirm current access, terrain and mobility needs before setting out; a filming location is no assurance of maintained paths or supervised swimming.

The Odyssey: a real beach, temporary props

The same Odyssey production account identifies Essaouira’s beaches for the Trojan Horse discovery and the departure by boat. It does not provide a visitor pin or confirm a horse left on display. Enjoy the coast, but ask any location-tour operator to substantiate their exact beach claim. The coast and the inland Troy set at Aït Ben Haddou were separate filming places.

Game of Thrones and Othello

In Game of Thrones, Essaouira became Astapor. Morocco’s national tourist office explicitly connects the city’s sea walls with that fictional setting. The harbour defences around Sqala du Port and the medina’s Sqala de la Kasbah are different places, so check which one a guide or ticket covers rather than treating all the ramparts as a single attraction.

Start around Place Moulay Hassan, walk towards the harbour and then explore the medina’s western sea defences. You can enjoy the city on foot without booking a television-themed tour. A local guide can help orient you, but ask them to distinguish a documented filming spot from a viewpoint with a similar backdrop. Digital effects and editing mean a scene may combine more than one location.

Essaouira also has a much older cinema connection: Orson Welles filmed parts of Othello here. The national tourist office records this in its Morocco brochure, Essaouira section. Treat the town’s film heritage as a reason to linger, rather than assuming each bastion is identifiable as one particular shot.

Allow half a day for the harbour, ramparts and medina, or stay overnight for a less hurried visit. The fishing port is a workplace: keep clear of unloading, ropes and vehicles, and ask before photographing people. Individual towers or wall walks may have tickets, closures and steep steps; check access on arrival. Bring a windproof layer and take care on exposed, wet stone.

From Marrakech, budget roughly three hours each way by road, plus stops or transfers. Coaches connect the cities, and staying overnight avoids spending most of a day in transit. Add the beach, woodworkers’ shops or a seafood meal to the film walk; see our Essaouira city guide for a fuller stay.

Marrakech: three hotel locations, three different visits

Es Saadi Palace: The Night Manager

The first series of The Night Manager used Es Saadi Palace in Marrakech for hotel scenes set in Cairo. A production interview with supervising location manager Tom Howard identifies the hotel and the streets outside. Producer Matthew Patnick also names the Palace in a later interview about the production. Marrakech is the real location; Cairo is the story’s setting.

Es Saadi is in Hivernage, outside the old medina. It remains an operating resort, not a museum or a freely accessible set. Check with the hotel directly about a stay, dining reservation or permission to see a particular area. A restaurant booking does not automatically include guest rooms, the pool or spaces used during filming. There is no promise that furnishings or access match the series.

Take a taxi to the resort, or build an agreed visit into a Marrakech day. Afterwards, return to Koutoubia’s surroundings and Jemaa el-Fna, or explore the medina using our Marrakech guide. These nearby outings round out the day without inventing extra filming credits.

La Mamounia: Inventing Anna

Netflix confirms that Inventing Anna filmed its Morocco episode at La Mamounia, in the same riad used on the real trip. This is an actual Marrakech hotel, not a New York reconstruction.

For a realistic visit, use the hotel’s official visitor policy: non-residents can reserve restaurants or bars, and a booking there provides garden access. Check availability and dress requirements directly. It does not give entry to the private riad or other guests’ rooms. The hotel is near Koutoubia and the medina, making a reserved meal or drink easier to combine with sightseeing than a separate resort excursion.

Amanjena: Sex and the City 2

Morocco stood in for Abu Dhabi in Sex and the City 2. Condé Nast Traveller’s location guide identifies Amanjena for Carrie’s dinner with Aidan, alongside Marrakech medina scenes. The film used several properties; the fact that a cast member stayed at a hotel is not proof that it was the setting for a particular scene.

Amanjena is on the Route de Ouarzazate, outside the medina. Consult its official dining page and arrange a reservation or visit with the resort before travelling by taxi. Ask which area you may use, including any step-free requirements; dining does not make the whole property a public film tour. Keep the city’s palaces and souks for a separate part of the day.

Rabat: Homeland’s production connections

Homeland filmed in Morocco for its third and final eighth series. Contemporary industry coverage includes the cast and crew discussing the series-three shoot; the Directors Guild’s interviews confirm Morocco standing in for Afghanistan in the final series.

For Rabat, a 2013 report on the production’s behind-the-scenes footage identifies Souika, the Hassan mosque area and the Kasbah of the Udayas. That is useful orientation, but not a verified scene-by-scene map. Do not label those streets as specific eighth-series locations: the report concerns the third-series production.

Begin with Rue Souika in the medina, continue towards the Udayas kasbah for the lanes and Bouregreg views, and use a taxi for the Hassan Tower area if you want to reduce walking. These are everyday streets and heritage spaces, not preserved Homeland sets. Respect residents’ privacy and current monument or religious-site access rules. The kasbah involves slopes and steps; ask a local guide about a route suited to your mobility rather than assuming step-free access throughout.

Pair the walk with the riverfront or the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art; neither is presented here as an additional filming location. Our Rabat guide and Rabat sights cover the city beyond the television connection.

Prison Break series five also filmed in Rabat, Casablanca and Ouarzazate, as Morocco’s cinema commission records. That city-level credit does not establish a public prison set. Do not approach a school, private building or restricted compound on the strength of a fan-site filming pin.

An eastern-desert extension: Sirât and Gara Medouar

Sirât filmed in the region around Errachidia and Erfoud, according to a production interview with its producer. Director Óliver Laxe names the Tagounsta road, the Haroun desert and Gara Medouar, also linking Gara Medouar with Spectre. These are landscapes, not a maintained network of movie-set attractions. The film’s opening rave was shot in Spain, so it is not a Moroccan festival you can visit.

For visitors already heading towards Erfoud, Rissani or Merzouga, Gara Medouar’s horseshoe-shaped formation near Rissani is the more practical starting point to discuss with a local driver. Local excursions offer it with Rissani; confirm the actual track, vehicle, permission and walking involved before booking. The screen production’s train is not a promised visitor railway, and a mountain-road sequence is not a driving itinerary to recreate.

Uneven tracks, heat and exposed ground make this different from a city walk. Ask about assisted access if needed, carry water and use an experienced local driver for off-road terrain. Add the Rissani market or the wider Erg Chebbi area for their own interest; see our Merzouga and Erg Chebbi guide. Treat this as a separate desert stay, not a quick detour from Marrakech.

Put the coast and the studios on a realistic route

For a short Marrakech stay: choose either Essaouira or Aït Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate as your main excursion. They lie in different directions. Trying to fit both into one day turns a film trip into a windscreen tour.

For the ksar and studios: allow two days from Marrakech with a night near Aït Ben Haddou or in Ouarzazate. Budget around four to five hours each way across the High Atlas before lengthy sightseeing stops; road works, weather and traffic can extend that. Visit one main site on the outward day and the other before returning. Keep the mountain crossing in daylight and check conditions, especially in winter. The Atlas Mountains guide and transport guide help with the wider route.

For the original Marrakech–Ouarzazate–Essaouira route: allow around a week, for example two nights in Marrakech, two around Ouarzazate or Aït Ben Haddou, a return night in Marrakech and two in Essaouira. Add time if your flight requires returning inland. This is a suggested pace, not a timed circuit; check Travel Times before committing to transfers.

For Rabat or the eastern desert: add them as separate legs, with overnight time where needed. Rabat belongs to a northbound city route; Erfoud and Rissani belong to a longer desert journey. Use the existing transport guide and city guides to plan those connections rather than joining every screen location into one hurried circuit.

For a private excursion, get the transport, guide, admission costs and intended stops in writing. Ask what happens if filming closes a set. A heritage walk and a studio tour offer different experiences; the best choice is the one that leaves you time to enjoy the real place as well as recognise it.