Top Ten Attractions
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Djemaa el Fna
The great open square that’s at the centre of the medina (old town). It’s at its liveliest in the late afternoon – food stalls, snake charmers, medicine men etc. http://www.ilovemarrakech.com/marrakesh/el_fna.htm
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The Souks
They seem like a frenzied jumble of stalls selling everything from shoes to live chickens, but there are different sections for different products. The main ones are through an arch to the north of Djemaa el Fna. Haggling encouraged! http://www.thisisthelife.com/en/marrakech-souk....
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Saadian Tombs
The 16th century Saadian rulers’ last resting-place – a Moorish architectural gem, discovered in 1917 thanks to aerial photography. http://www.wordtravels.com/Attractions/Countrie...
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Palace Quarter
Historic sites in this area south of Djemaa el Fna include the ruined but imposing Badi Palace and the Koutoubia Mosque with its distinctive minaret – a useful landmark, but off-limits to non-Muslim tourists.
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Bahia Palace
Built in the last years of the 19th century, it’s a maze of passageways, corridors and empty chambers with painted ceilings.
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Dar Si Saïd Museum
Displays the arts, crafts and culture of the Berber people including artefacts from everyday life in the Sahara Desert. http://www.maroc.net/museums/marrakesh1.html
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Majorelle Garden and Museum of Islamic Art
A botanical garden owned and maintained by the fashion designer, Yves St Laurent.
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Maison Tiskiouine
A modest courtyard house that’s home to a fine array of items related to Moroccan rural society. Displays of jewellery, costumes, musical instruments, carpets and furniture.
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Menara Gardens
With a lake surrounded by olive groves, this is one of the cooler areas of Marrakech - a place to stroll, have a picnic and see some green. http://www.gardenvisit.com/ge/menaragarden.htm
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The Tanneries
Numerous different skins are coloured here, including cow, goat and camel, and then laid out to dry. Plenty of unofficial guides will do a tour of the tanneries for a tip.
Eating and Drinking
In Marrakech, there’s interesting food for all budgets. In the old town, options range from street-side barbecues to diet-destroying gourmet banquets in a palatial setting. Everywhere you’ll find the Moroccan staples – couscous and tagjine (meat and seasonal vegetables slow-cooked on a brazier). Tanjia (lamb slow-baked in a clay pot) is a local speciality. At the ‘palace’ restaurants, the meal is a true occasion – six courses that could typically include soup, chicken, couscous, bastilla (filo-pastry pie with pigeon, egg and almonds) and a sweet pastry. This traditional banquet generally includes some sort of ‘entertainment,’ often involving a danceuse orientale. She generally appears just in time for dessert and it’s traditional for even the most ungainly Caucasian male to be dragged from his seat to perform. If the full banquet experience doesn’t appeal (the cost is generally between 600 and 900 dirham), there are plenty of more modest restaurants with a la carte menus. Interesting salads apart, vegetarians get a raw deal. Practically all main dishes are cooked with meat, an ingredient so important to the culture that for most Moroccans being vegetarian is hardly conceivable.
The tea called ettey is central to Moroccan life. It’s generally served in a glass stuffed with mint leaves, but is varied according to the season with fragrant herbs. Theatrically, the pourer raises and lowers the berrad (tea pot) to generate foam on the surface of the tea.
Shopping
Retail therapy is everywhere in the Red City. The souks are filled with craft items and though many will be familiar (Marrakech exports crafts by the ton), prices are lower than in Europe; you can get an idea of how much you should expect to pay by visiting the government-run craft centre, the Ensemble Artisanal on Avenue Mohammed V. Souk shopping is a world of its own, but here are some tips from a recent traveller to Marrakech: “I’d strongly recommend you get your hands on a map that details which areas within the twisting alleyways sell which kinds of item – leather, ceramics, clothes, shoes, food, metalwork, spices, herbs, jewellery and so on. In my experience, the stallholders in the souks were friendly, warm and not at all pushy or insistent. They were happy for us to ask about items without buying. If you do want to buy, bargain hard. On two or three of the purchases we made, we got at least 50 per cent off the original price.”
If the idea of a suffocating summer afternoon in the souks is too much, the commercial district of Gueliz has some very upmarket boutiquey places with air conditioning. The main artery is the Avenue Mohammed V, which is lined with arcades containing shops, banks and travel agencies. Opening hours are irregular, but as a general rule, places in Gueliz open around 0900 and close for a long lunch break from 1230/1300 to 1430/1500. Evening closing is around 1900. In the medina, many smaller shops close all Friday afternoon and Sundays too. Big tourist bazaar-type places open every day. The best antique shops and art galleries are in Gueliz, but there are two other concentrations of antique sellers – on the pedestrian Rue Dar el Bacha and around the Mouassine Mosque.
Night Life
Although Morocco is an Islamic country, there is a laid-back attitude towards alcohol; it’s widely available, with bars in most tourist areas staying open late. Locally produced wines, beers and mineral waters are both excellent and good value, but imported drinks tend to be expensive. By Moroccan standards, Marrakech has something of a reputation for its nightlife, which covers modern discos to belly dancing. The medina provides traditional evening entertainment in the form of cafés, food stalls and street entertainment, with everything revolving around Djemaa el Fna. Several of the hotels have rooftop cafés overlooking the square, while a number of riads (historic merchants' houses) have been converted into upmarket restaurants offering a full Moroccan experience, including a vast feast, music and dancing. Note, however, that it is not a common custom to drink alcohol outside. In bars that sell alcoholic beverages, drinkers consume beer inside and glasses of coffee on the terrace.
For modern evening entertainment, head for Guéliz. Clustered along Avenue Mohammed V, particularly around Place Abdel Moumen ben Ali, are most of the city's bars, as well as a wide variety of restaurants, bistros and pavement cafés. It is in this part of the city that the nightclubs and discos are also located. Many of the hotels have discos that attract both tourists and Moroccans. Although the hotel bars can be very insular they are often preferable to those outside, which tend to be a male preserve and occasionally intimidating. Clubs and bars stay open until late and the dress code is casual. For nightclubs, expect to pay a hefty (by Moroccan standards) admission fee. Most of the clubs play western pop music with some local flavour thrown in for good measure.
