Chrifia Marrakech Guide: Golf, Gardens and Family Activities

Most visitors pass through Chrifia without realizing it. This is the countryside southwest of the city, along the Amizmiz and dam roads, where apartment blocks give way to olive groves, walled garden residences and the first clear view of the High Atlas. If you have booked a villa out this way, or you are weighing up an area that keeps appearing in property listings and hotel searches, the useful question is what sits within a short drive.

The answer is more than you would expect. Chrifia Marrakech puts you roughly ten minutes from the airport, fifteen to twenty from Jemaa el-Fnaa, and within easy reach of two very different golf courses, the biggest water park in the country, the oldest surviving royal garden in the city, and the road that runs out to the lake and the stone desert. What it does not give you is a medina address, and that trade-off shapes everything about whether the area suits your trip.

This Chrifia Marrakech guide covers what to do, what things cost at current published rates, how to move around without losing half a day to traffic, and who should stay here rather than in the old town.

Where Is Chrifia and Why Travellers End Up There

Chrifia lies southwest of the historic centre, between Avenue Mohammed VI, the airport road and the Route d’Amizmiz. You will see it written as Chrifia and sometimes as Chrifa Marrakech, and both spellings point to the same stretch of semi-rural Marrakech. In Chrifia Morocco terms, this is not a historic quarter with monuments and souks. It is a fast-growing residential belt of gated developments, private villas with pools and farmland that has not been built on yet.

Travellers end up here for three reasons. Villa rentals with private pools and gardens cost far less per bedroom than a comparable medina riad. The airport is minutes away, which matters on early flights. And almost everything on the southwest side of the city, from golf to the desert, is reached along the same two roads.

Times assume normal traffic. Late afternoon on the ring road and the school run around Avenue Mohammed VI can add fifteen minutes in either direction.

Golf in Chrifia Marrakech and Along the Amizmiz Road

Marrakech has more courses than any other Moroccan city, and the southwest corridor holds three of the most interesting. If you are searching for golf in Chrifia Marrakech, these are the realistic options within half an hour of an address here.

Atlas Golf Marrakech

The closest course to the area and the easiest to fit into a half day. Atlas Golf Marrakech is a nine-hole, par 33 layout of roughly 2,380 metres designed by Alain Prat, set among palms, olive trees and water features a couple of minutes from the airport. It plays quickly, which suits mixed-ability groups and anyone who wants to be back at the pool by lunch. The site also runs two restaurants and a cultural centre with astronomy sessions and a Moroccan fossil and mineral collection, so non-golfers in the family are not stuck waiting in the clubhouse.

Assoufid Golf Club

About ten kilometres out on the Guemassa road, Assoufid is the serious round. It is an eighteen-hole par 72 of around 6,440 metres, designed by Niall Cameron and opened in October 2014, laid out desert-style across natural dunes and scrub with the Atlas filling the horizon. Water use is deliberately low and native planting is kept, so it looks nothing like a manicured resort course. The club’s published rate card for the 2026 to 2027 season starts at around 1,300 dirhams for eighteen holes, with buggies, club hire and caddies charged separately. Two details catch visitors out. A handicap certificate is requested at reception, and the maximum handicap accepted is 35.

Samanah Country Club

Further along the Route d’Amizmiz at Tameslouht, roughly twenty to twenty-five minutes away, Samanah is a Jack Nicklaus design inside a private residential estate. It is greener and gentler than Assoufid and usually quieter than the courses closer to town. Tee times generally need to be arranged in advance through the club or your hotel, since public access is more limited than at the other two.

For a resort round with a hotel attached, the Fairmont Royal Palm sits on the same road and combines golf, spa and family facilities on one property. Green fees, buggy hire and tee availability change with the season, so confirm rates when you book rather than relying on last year’s figures.

Gardens Near Chrifia Marrakech

The best gardens near Chrifia Marrakech are historic rather than ornamental, and that difference is worth knowing before you go.

Menara Gardens is the closest and the most photographed. Laid out by the Almohads in the twelfth century, it is roughly 100 hectares of working olive grove around a large irrigation basin, with a pavilion at one end and the mountains behind. Entry to the grounds is free and the pavilion carries a small separate charge, with quoted amounts varying, so bring cash in dirhams. Gates usually open in the morning and close in the early evening, and around 45 minutes to an hour is enough. Set expectations correctly. This is a calm local park and a viewpoint, not a planted flower garden, and the famous reflection shot only works on a still, clear morning.

Agdal Gardens, the royal orchard south of the kasbah, is free when it is open to the public, but it closes without notice when the palace is using it. Treat it as a bonus on the day rather than a fixed plan.

For dense planting and colour, you need to head into the city, where Jardin Majorelle and Le Jardin Secret sit twenty to thirty minutes away by car. Closer to home, the gardens worth an afternoon are private ones. Several villas and country hotels around the area sell day access to their grounds and pools in Marrakech, which for many families is a better use of a hot afternoon than a monument.

Family Activities and the Best Things to Do in Chrifia

This is where the area genuinely outperforms a medina base. The best things to do in Chrifia with children are all within a short drive, and none of them involve navigating crowded alleys with a pushchair.

• Oasiria Water Park. At kilometre 4 on the Route d’Amizmiz, this is the nearest big attraction and the country’s best-known water park. It spreads across roughly ten hectares of gardens and olive trees with eight pools, eleven slides, a 600-metre tubing river and a shallow pirate lagoon for toddlers. The park promotes its wave pool as the largest in Africa. The season runs roughly from April to early November, and published 2026 rates were around 240 dirhams for adults in April and 300 dirhams from May onward, with lower prices for children under 1.50 metres and free entry for babies under 80 centimetres. A shuttle from Jemaa el-Fnaa and Gueliz is included with entry.
• Astronomy and fossils at Atlas Golf. The cultural centre on the golf site runs guided sky-watching sessions and keeps a collection of Moroccan fossils and minerals. It is an easy evening for children who have had enough of walking.
• Lalla Takerkoust. The reservoir at the end of the dam road, about 45 minutes away, has kayaks, pedalos, camel rides along the shore and lakeside restaurants with mountain views. It is the standard Chrifia Marrakech day trip for anyone with a car.
• The Agafay Desert. Forty minutes down the same corridor, the stone desert offers camel rides, quad and buggy circuits and camps that sell pool and lunch day passes. Younger children do better with camels and pools than with quad bikes, and most operators set a minimum age for driving.
• Menara Mall. Not glamorous, but in July and August an air-conditioned afternoon with an ice rink and a children’s zone saves the day.
• A short escape into the mountains. The Kik Plateau loop runs from this side of the city and combines the lake, Berber villages and high plateau views in a single day.

Prices and opening seasons change with demand, weather and provider, so treat every figure here as a guide and confirm before you travel.

Where to Stay in Chrifia Marrakech

Accommodation here looks different from the rest of the city. Instead of courtyard riads you get villas, apartments in gated residences and small country guesthouses, most with a pool, a garden and parking. That is the appeal for families and groups, and the reason why where to stay in Chrifia Marrakech comes up so often in searches.

The honest trade-off is atmosphere. You will not step out of the door into a souk, evening options nearby are limited, and every dinner in town is a drive. If this is your first three or four days in Marrakech, a riad in the medina will give you more of the city for less effort. If you are staying a week, travelling with children, playing golf or returning for a second visit, a villa out here with a car is usually the better arrangement. Comparing both sides is easier once you have looked at the hotels in each district against what you actually plan to do each day.

How to Get to Chrifia Marrakech

Working out how to get to Chrifia Marrakech is simple. Everything runs along the airport road and the Route d’Amizmiz.

• From the airport, a taxi takes about ten minutes. Agree the fare before you get in, as meters are often not used on airport runs.
• Petit taxis run between the centre and the area, and Uber returned to Marrakech in late 2025, which makes evening journeys back from town easier to price.
• Car hire is the practical choice if you are staying more than a few nights. Roads on this side of the city are wide and easy compared with the medina ring, and parking at villas is free.
• For day trips to the desert, the lake or the mountains, a private tour with a driver removes the parking and navigation problem, and costs less than most people assume when split across a family.

One practical point. Many lanes here are unnamed and mapping apps are unreliable at the last turn. Ask your host for a pinned location and a landmark, and share both with your driver.

Mistakes Visitors Make in This Part of Marrakech

• Booking a “Marrakech” villa without checking which side of the ring road it sits on. Ten kilometres out is a different holiday from ten minutes on foot to Jemaa el-Fnaa.
• Assuming you can walk into town. You cannot, and the roads out here are not built for pedestrians after dark.
• Turning up at the water park out of season. It closes for the winter months, roughly from November to the end of March.
• Arriving at an eighteen-hole course without a handicap certificate and being turned away or moved to a later slot.
• Booking a midday tee time in July. Summer afternoons regularly pass 40 degrees, and early morning is the only comfortable window.
• Building a schedule around Agdal Gardens, which can close at short notice for royal use.

Expert Tips for Planning Your Days

• Start early and rest at midday. Golf, gardens and the desert are all better before ten in the morning. Save the pool and the mall for the hottest hours.
• Carry cash. Garden ticket desks, small restaurants along the Amizmiz road and camel handlers at the lake often do not take cards.
• Group activities by road, not by category. Golf, the water park, the lake and the desert all sit on the same corridor. Doing one of each on separate days wastes hours of driving.
• Book tee times and desert camps in advance for spring and autumn. March to May and September to November are peak months for both, and walk-in availability is thin.
• Use the free water park shuttle if you do not have a car. It runs from Jemaa el-Fnaa and Gueliz and is included with entry, which saves a taxi fare in each direction.
• Plan around Friday. Midday is quieter across the city as families gather for couscous and prayers, which makes it a good slot for a garden or a round of golf and a poor one for errands.
• Watch the light for photographs. The Atlas is clearest on winter and spring mornings. If you want mountain backdrops, shoot early, and save the sunset spots for the end of the day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Chrifia Marrakech worth visiting?

As a base, yes, if you want space, a private pool and quick airport access, and you have a car or a driver. As a sightseeing destination on its own it is thin, since the appeal lies in what surrounds it rather than in the area itself.

Where exactly is Chrifia?

Southwest of central Marrakech, between Avenue Mohammed VI, the airport road and the Route d’Amizmiz, roughly 6 to 8 kilometres from Jemaa el-Fnaa and about 5 kilometres from Marrakech Menara Airport.

What are the main Chrifia Marrakech attractions?

The water park at kilometre 4 of the Amizmiz road, Menara Gardens, three golf courses within half an hour, and the road out to Lalla Takerkoust lake and the Agafay Desert.

What are the best Chrifia Marrakech family activities?

Water park days between April and early November, lake trips with pedalos and camel rides, astronomy and fossil sessions at the local golf site, and camp day passes in the stone desert.

Is there golf in Chrifia Marrakech?

Yes. A nine-hole course sits minutes from the airport, an eighteen-hole desert-style championship course lies about ten kilometres out on the Guemassa road, and a further eighteen-hole layout sits at Tameslouht.

Do you need a car if you stay in the area?

Effectively yes. Taxis and ride-hailing work, but you will use them several times a day, and hiring a car or arranging a driver usually costs less and takes less planning.

Is Chrifia a good choice for a first trip to Marrakech?

For a short first visit focused on the medina, souks and monuments, a riad in the old town is easier. For a longer stay, a family holiday or a golf trip, this side of the city works better.

Can you do a day trip from here without a tour?

Yes. The lake, the plateau and the desert are all reachable by hire car on good roads, though a driver is worth it if you want to stop for photographs along the way.

Planning Your Time Around Chrifia

Chrifia rewards a certain kind of trip. Give it a car, an early start and a plan built around the Amizmiz corridor, and you can play a proper round of golf, spend an afternoon in a hundred hectares of olive grove, let the children loose in a water park and still be at a desert camp for dinner. Give it a rushed two-day stopover with no transport and it will feel like a long way from everything.

Decide first what your days look like, then choose the district that matches. If this side of the city fits, it is one of the better value corners of Marrakech. For the rest of your itinerary, browse the guides to the city’s places to visit, restaurants, tours and stays, and build the trip around what you actually want to wake up next to.