Top Tips for Marrakech, Morocco

"When we go to Morocco, I think we should have completely different names and be completely different people" - Penny Lane, Almost Famous

Known as the ‘Red City’, Marrakech (also spelt Marrakesh) in Morocco offers an accessible, affordable, culturally rich and scenic holiday destination from anywhere in Europe and is perfect for a week-long stay. Thanks to a super cheap end-of-season package deal from London, I spent a week in a resort on the outskirts of Marrakech many years ago that coincided with one of the local holy feast days. Here’s my list of the top things to do in Marrakech, based on my time there.

Marrakech Fast Facts:

• Home to the busiest square in Africa, Jemaa el-Fna

• Has at times been the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco (although these days the capital is Rabat)

• Due to the city’s historic importance, the country name ‘Morocco’ is derived from the name of the city ‘Marrakech’

• Based on fossils found, the area has been inhabited by humans for up to 315,000 years. This is Africa!

• The main religion is Islam and prior to 1867, European Christians were not allowed to enter Marrakech without special permission.

Getting There and Around:

Marrakech is a 3.5 hour flight from London. Unfortunately taxi scams are common in Marrakech, so you may want to pre-book a transfer to your hotel from the airport to make sure you get dropped at the right place and not a random shop owned by your taxi driver’s cousin like I did – oops. Once you’re in the city, walking is the best way to get around.

Accommodation:

When we visited, my travel companion was on a tight budget and requested an all-inclusive package so he could know the majority of costs in advance.

As it was late in the season (late October / early November), there were some great last-minute deals and we got a package deal from London which included a week in an all-inclusive resort and flights for a steal.

I’d recommend this time of year as a great time to visit Marrakech on the cheap. It’s not as warm as the middle of summer, but that’s arguably a good thing.

I also enjoyed staying in the all-inclusive resort, as it was so cheap for what was included (three meals a day in a lavish buffet restaurant, pools and lounges, nice rooms, night-time entertainment, afternoon cooking classes). There are loads of these sorts of resorts in and around Marrakech, so there’s plenty of competition and the standards are high. There are also a number of gorgeous boutique hotels in the city centre if that’s more your vibe.

Things to Do in Marrakech

1. Visit the Medina to see mounds of spice and exotic textiles.

With pots and pans and pelts and spices, the winding alleyways of the medina of Marrakech feels like something from Aladdin. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and great fun to explore. Originally established in the 11th century and surrounded by ramparts and gates, the area is steeped with history.

2. Visit the Jemaa el-Fna square for delicious food, hustle and bustle and culture shock

Hold on to your hat (and your purse) and welcome to the busiest square in Africa!

Here you’ll run into people trying to sell you all kinds of experiences, whether you want them or not – a hedgehog got put in my hands and a snake wrapped around my shoulders before I could protest.

At night you can get delicious food that you can see prepared in front of you in the large, lit up, food area, which has seated tables.

There’s a lot of scams about, so probably safest to travel here in pairs or groups and keep your belongings close, but it really is an experience.

3. Get a Moroccan massage at a local hammam for absolute luxury

Spas and hammams in Marrakech offer baths and massages and wraps and saunas for a great value price and make a romantic option for couples (if you book an option for that). We booked a 2hr massage and spa experience in the medina from a seller in the main square. You could also book through your accommodation or online through Tripadvisor. I’d highly recommend this as a trip indulgence, especially as a treat if you choose to spend a night in the desert in a tent (see below) and have a sore back afterwards.

4. Take a day trip to Cascade Ouzoud for scenery and monkeys

If you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city for a day, and love waterfalls like me, a day trip to Cascade Ouzoud is highly recommended. Our day tour included a stop at an argan oil seller before the falls.

The parking spot for the falls had a parking area for vans as well as for donkeys, (which was in the shade and really cute). We got to walk down one side of the falls and up the other and had to pay a small fee to get a barge across the bottom. There’s also monkeys about, which are hugely entertaining, and you can dine in some (overpriced but scenic) cafes for lunch on the edge of the falls. It’s a really gorgeous spot.

Day trips out to the falls can be booked from local vendors upon arrival in Marrakech through your hotel or local providers.

5. Take an overnight trip out into the Sahara on Camel Back

If you want a slightly longer escape from town, a highly recommend booking an overnight trip out in into the Sahara desert to ride on camelback and sleep in a traditional style tent with a group of Berber people.

We booked our tour after arriving in Marrakech. Most tours booked locally will take you over the Atlas Mountains and include a stop at Atlas Studios for lunch on the way back (when we went I randomly met Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell in the restaurant?!) and to Aït Benhaddou, an ancient city you can explore, on the way there.

Like many of these sorts of tours in developing countries, timings were way off and we ended up riding our camels into the desert under the stars rather than at sunset, but that had it’s own charm.

We also spent a lot of time waiting for vans to liaise and switch etc., but again, this is typical of a lot of the world.

The experience was really enjoyable and the local Berber people were friendly and keen to stay up late and chat with us, which was lovely.

It was also surprisingly chilly in the desert in the morning, so rug up if you choose to do one of these tours.

Other tips for Marrakech:

• Brush up on your French. Morocco gets a lot of French tourists and the resort we stayed at was mainly catered to a French clientele. This meant the free cooking demonstration were in French, the evening entertainment was in French and the staff generally spoke better French than English.

• Watch out for scams. We got taken for a ride (literally) on some guys scooter that dumped us at his friend’s shop when we wanted to visit the Medina. I also had a woman aggressively try to give me a henna tattoo I didn’t want and then aggressively hiss at me when I wouldn’t pay. I think if I wasn’t travelling with a 6ft 4 footballer who intimidated her back I would have been in a pickle. Scams, pickpockets and the like are rife in Marrakech.

• Tip your hotel staff generously. I tipped our waiter a generous tip on our first night at dinner in our resort (I’d been working in Europe in hospitality that summer and knew the power of a good tip) and from that point he treated us like royalty. We were given cocktails when it wasn’t cocktail hour, provided wine bottles after dinner to take to our room, and generally pampered. I tried to tip him again about half-way through our stay but he refused to accept as he said it was too much. That was 10 euros well spent.

• Dress modestly. Morocco is a conservative Muslim country, so dress modestly and avoid wearing anything too revealing so you don’t offend the locals.

• Keep your valuables locked in a safe unless they are on you. I had some of my valuables magically disappear from my hotel room while out for the day when I visited. It’s not the first time this has happened to me in a developing country. It can be easy to let your guard down when you stay somewhere luxurious, but both times it’s happened to me, it’s been in really up-market places. Make use of your hotel room safe.

• Laws. Pre-marital sex, homosexuality, speaking negatively against the government or royalty and promoting any religion other than Islam are all illegal and punishable offences in Morocco.

Overall, I’d highly recommend Marrakech, Morocco as a tourist destination.

It’s probably best for travellers that have encountered cultural and language barriers before, as it’s quite a jump from western Europe if that’s where you’re based or where you’re used to travelling, but if you’ve been to Turkey or Albania, it’s not too much of a jump of a cultural level of difference beyond that.

It’s a super affordable place to travel, captivating, historic and beautiful, and for me it made a great introduction to the African continent.

Happy travelling!