Marrakech Medina

Marrakech offers visitors a great taste of Moroccan culture and life. At the heart of Marrakech is the famous walled medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a place popular with tourists, with sprawling souks, a wide range of riads and numerous other sites of interest.

The Koutoubia Mosque by night (c) Martin Harvey (http://www.wildimagesonline.com)

Marrakech offers a wide range of things to see and do: there is a wide choice of restaurants, places to shop, sights and places to stay both in the bustling medina where restored riads (courtyard houses) offer a quiet retreat, and the peaceful palmery, a residential oasis just 20 minutes' drive from town, which offers more spacious small hotels set in lush surroundings. Marrakech is also a good base from which to visit the nearby High Atlas mountains (1 hour by road), the Atlantic coast (2.5 hours) or the Sahara (about 9 hours). To stay in a more rural setting, including the Palmery area of Marrakech, see Marrakech Surrounds.

The Medina

Marrakech is a fashionable exotic city which has become a magnet for tourists and where the way of life is deeply traditional and a world away from our own, with red ochre of the town walls and buildings set against the backdrop of the High Atlas Mountains. Adopted by the hippies in the 1960s, the city was soon besieged by writers, artists and lovers of fashion and it is now truly a feast for the senses for those in search of sensory inspiration.

Things to do or see

The old city's “Big Square”, the Djemaa el Fna (Jemma el Fnaa), has a unique atmosphere especially at night when storytellers, acrobats, musicians and snake charmers perform beneath the magnificent illuminated backdrop of the Koutoubia Mosque and the gas-lit food-stalls
The labyrinth of souks in the World Heritage Site of the Medina of Marrakech, in which to hone your bartering skills
The Ben Youseff Medersa, an Islamic school in the heart of the Medina
The ornately carved Saadien Tombs
The Marjorelle Gardens, the beautifully restored botanical gardens once owned by Yves Saint-Laurent, also housing the Majorelle museum of Islamic Art
Numerous museums, including Dar Si Said “... a sumptuous palace housing the very quintessence of Moroccan art", and the Bert Flint museum of Saharan and Souss valley art and traditions

Other Activities

Cookery courses, to get a hands on understanding of the tasty local specialities
Trekking on its southern doorstep in the High Atlas Mountains
Day excursions such as to the beautiful Ouzoud waterfalls in the Middle Atlas
Hot Air ballooning, for a memorable way to see the local countryside

Weather

In July and August, we strongly advise accommodation with air conditioning and access to a pool.