In depth · Christmas & New Year
Christmas in Marrakech: winter sun, Atlas snow and the holiday exhibitions
Christmas in Marrakech is a holiday of winter sun and mountain snow. The gardens are green, the snow-capped Atlas marks the horizon, and the museums keep their exhibitions open through the holidays.
Updated November 2026
Winter sun and Atlas snow
In winter the mountains of Al Haouz are capped with snow, the gateway to the High Atlas, in the words of the Regional Tourism Council of Marrakech-Safi. From the Menara gardens and the roads south of the city, the white peaks stand over the palms.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © MED.BENALLA · CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe holiday exhibitions
MACAAL’s permanent exhibition “Seven Contours, One Collection” runs until 8 January 2027. At the Musée des Confluences Dar el Bacha, a house of 1910 in the medina, “Enki Bilal: l’Exposition” opened on 15 October 2026 (fnm.ma).
A palace or a riad for the holidays
The grand hotels and riads fill early for Christmas and New Year; book well ahead and ask each about its own holiday programme. For a quieter Christmas, a garden resort in the Palmeraie or on the Atlas roads keeps the mountains in view.
A day in the snowy Atlas
The high resort of Oukaïmeden, the tourist office notes, has paths for walking and Bronze Age rock art; in winter, wrap up warmly and travel with a driver who knows the mountain roads.
Questions and answers
Is Marrakech good at Christmas?
It is a season of winter sun in the city and snow on the High Atlas, with the museums’ exhibitions open; book hotels early.