Rabat has its fare share of gardens and parks- the Hilton park is great for running/walking or a picnic. There is a park in Agdal near Place Ibn Yassin that is nice in the summer. The redone area by the Bouregreg with the Venezia Ice is great as well, although it is hardly a park. My favorite find lately though are the exotice gardens on the road to Kenitra. It probably takes about twenty minutes to get out there from Rabat (and brave yourself for driving in Sale!), but for a Sunday afternoon adventure with the family, it is really great. Go through Sale, following the Kenitra signs and once you get through Sale and onto what looks like a little highway, you will soon see the signs for the exotic gardens on your left.

From the outside it doesn’t look like much, but just like everything else in Morocco, don’t judge a book by its cover. Upon entering in, it litterally feels like you have moved away from the business and government center of Morocco and into its secret garden. The air temperature was about 10 degrees cooler and then shade from the trees made the atmosphere very pleasant. Outside of the main pathway, the paths in the garden are too small to take a stroller on, so if you have a small child you will need your Baby Bjorn or your Ergo.

The first time we went was in August and the flowers were blooming, in contrast to the world around us. I have no idea how much the gardens is paying in their water bill, but it must be a ton because everything was in bloom. Moroccans are there with their families enjoying the sights and you can wonder through the gardens (it probably takes about an hour to see everything) and to just relax. No smog, no car horns, no buses, just relaxing. We went back in February, and the flowers were not in bloom so it wasn’t as nice (the pic above is from February), but the calm was still the same.

It cost about 10 dirhams a person to get in and they close around sundown. Hope you enjoy.