Marrakech
Riads, the medina and the Atlas on the horizon.
A red-walled imperial city at the foot of the Atlas mountains that has been a Berber capital, a French protectorate playground, a Yves Saint Laurent retirement, an Atlas-skiing aristocracy and a long-weekend escape from London for the better part of a thousand years. Marrakech is heat, spice, dust, blue tiles, palm gardens, and beautiful mistakes, all of them deeply photographable from the right rooftop.
- Where
- Atlas region · Marrakech-Safi, Morocco
- When to go
- October to late April
- Established
- 1062
Marrakech, in full.
Marrakech is the most photographed city in North Africa and somehow still under-told. We file it in the house chapter, neither old-money nor euro-summer, because it sits oddly across all of them. It’s a long-weekend city that was a Yves Saint Laurent retirement and a David Beckham birthday in equal measure, but its rhythms are slower, lower, more rural than either suggests.
A red-walled imperial city
Marrakech was founded in 1062 as the capital of the Almoravid empire, served as the Almohad capital after that, and has since been variously the imperial city of the Saadian dynasty, the seat of the Alaouite, and the premier French protectorate holiday from 1912 to 1956. The city has 19 kilometres of red ramparts (built 1126), one of the great souks of the Islamic world, two royal palaces (the Bahia and El Badi), the Koutoubia Minaret (the original of Seville’s Giralda), and the busiest square in Africa (the Jemaa el-Fna, since 1050, UNESCO-listed). Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought the Majorelle Garden in 1980 and lived part of the year here until Laurent’s death in 2008. Marrakech has, more than any other city in the world, been a global retirement and a rural Berber market simultaneously.
Two cities, sharing one taxi rank
Marrakech is two cities at once. The medina is the old walled city, narrow streets, motorbikes, donkeys, blue tiles, the souks, the Jemaa el-Fna, the riads (small private courtyard hotels). Outside the walls, the Hivernage (the early-20th-century French quarter), Gueliz (the modern shopping district), and the Palmeraie (the palm-grove villa quarter, fifteen minutes by taxi from the medina) form a second city with cocktail bars, art galleries, swimming pools and air-conditioning. A riad night at La Mamounia or El Fenn for the photograph; a Palmeraie afternoon at Beldi Country Club for the lunch. Stay one of the two; visit the other.
Souks at 9, garden at 1, terrace at 6
The Marrakech day has clean shapes. A 9am breakfast in a riad courtyard, fresh khobz, Moroccan amlou, mint tea. The souks before 11, the spice quarter, the carpet quarter, the dyer’s souk. Lunch at the Beldi Country Club outside the city walls (a one-hour escape from the medina) or at L’Mida in the medina. Sleep through the heat. A 4.30pm Majorelle Garden visit before it closes. A 6pm sunset on a rooftop overlooking the Jemaa, Café des Épices, Café Kif Kif, Le Salama. Dinner at El Fenn, La Famille, Nomad or, for the splurge, La Grande Table Marocaine at the Royal Mansour. Bed at midnight; the call to prayer wakes you at 5.20am and you fall back asleep until eight.
Cover the shoulders, lift the kaftan
The medina is conservatively Muslim; covered shoulders and knees are the floor. In the souks, in the Bahia Palace, at the Koutoubia, in the riads, on the Jemaa el-Fna, long-sleeved cottons, light linens, a scarf within reach for the prayer-time photograph. After dark and inside the riads and Palmeraie villas, the dress code lifts entirely: kaftans, embroidered cottons, an open-back caftan dress, soft sandals. The cardinal sin in the medina is shorts above the knee; the cardinal sin at La Famille on a Friday night is anything other than something hand-printed.
The medina in October, the gardens in April.
A place, accounted for.
- 1062
- Marrakech founded
- By Abu Bakr ibn Umar, of the Almoravid dynasty, on the route between the Atlas and the Atlantic.
- 19km
- of red ramparts
- Built 1126 by Ali ibn Yusuf. Ten of the original gates still stand; you walk under them daily.
- 1980
- YSL and Bergé buy Majorelle
- The 1931 Jacques Majorelle garden was about to be turned into a hotel complex. Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought it; lived there part of the year until 2008.
- 1923
- La Mamounia opens
- Built on a former Saadian dynasty garden gifted to Prince Mamoun in the 18th century. The first Western luxury hotel in Marrakech.
- 38°C
- medina temperature in July
- Why the season runs October to April. The riads stay cool at 24-26°C even at peak summer; the streets do not.
Before the first weekend.
What separates the first weekend in a place from the second.
- 01
Get there
Direct flight from London (3h 30m), Paris (3h), Madrid (2h). RAK airport is 15 min by taxi from the medina; book your riad’s transfer.
- 02
Reserve
La Famille (lunch only, morning of, by phone). Royal Mansour, La Mamounia dinners, six weeks out. Beldi Country Club lunch, three days out.
- 03
Sleep
Riad in the medina (El Fenn, Riad Yasmine) for the proper week; Palmeraie villa or La Mamounia for the calmer alternative; Atlas Kasbah for one night out.
- 04
Wear
Long-sleeved cottons in the medina; kaftans in the riad; a scarf for prayer time; sandals always. Cover knees and shoulders in the souks and palaces.
- 05
Eat first
Lunch at La Famille (vegetarian, courtyard); dinner at Nomad (rooftop, Spice Square); a sunset at Café Kif Kif on the Jemaa.
- 06
Souk
A guide for the first half-day (€40, via your riad). Spice quarter at Place Rahba Kedima; carpets in the Souk Cherratine; leathers further east.
- 07
Drink
A martini at Bar Churchill (La Mamounia); a Moroccan rosé at Nomad rooftop; a cocktail at +61 in Gueliz; mint tea on every other rooftop.
- 08
Tip
Cash, in dirham; round up at restaurants by 10%; 10-20 dirham to the porter, 20 to the doorman, 50 to a driver for a half-day.
What you will actually be doing.
- 01
A 6pm sunset on a Jemaa el-Fna rooftop terrace as the storytellers come out and the food carts light up.
- 02
A long lunch under the bamboo at the Beldi Country Club, five courses, mint tea, the Atlas mountains rising pink in the late afternoon.
- 03
The Majorelle Garden at 8.30am, with the cobalt-blue Villa Oasis bright in the early sun and almost no one else on the path.
- 04
A morning in the souks with a guide, the spice quarter, the dyers’ souk, the carpet quarter, a stop for mint tea on a copper tray.
- 05
Dinner at La Famille, a vegetarian, courtyard-only restaurant in the medina, where the menu changes daily and the desserts are a Berber-French fusion.
- 06
A 4pm hammam at the Royal Mansour or Riad Yasmine, black soap, a savon noir scrub, a tea afterwards on a tile bench.
The year here, month by month.
Mar
Mid-March is the canonical Marrakech week. Mid-20s, the Majorelle in full bloom, the Atlas snow visible from the YSL Museum roof. Reserve in November.
Apr
The peak of the spring season. Easter is the busiest week; book in October. The riads run at full capacity; rates 20% above March.
May
Daytime temperatures climb to 30°C; the medina is still bearable, the gardens still in form. The price drops by mid-month.
Jun-Sep
Daytime medina temperatures of 38-42°C. The riads survive; the souks are quiet; the lunch hours move to the courtyard. Avoid for a long-weekend trip; possible only for a slow, pool-and-shade week in the Palmeraie.
Oct
October is the canonical autumn answer. Late-summer warmth in the day, cool nights, the souks quietening down, every reservation reservable. The honest price.
Nov
Cooler nights, sweater walks, the Atlas snow returning by month-end. A long weekend in November is among the best small breaks from a London or Paris winter.
Dec-Feb
Mid-teens by day, single digits by night. Excellent for a fireplace-and-riad week; the medina is at its calmest. Christmas and New Year are the second peak; book in September.
The villages, and which is which.
- 01
Medina (Old City)
The walled red-mud-brick old city, souks, riads, Jemaa el-Fna.
The cathedral. Stay in a riad for the proper week; the medina is the photograph, the dinner, and the morning.
- 02
Hivernage
The 1920s French Protectorate quarter, La Mamounia, the Royal Mansour.
Just outside the medina walls, southwest. Larger hotels, broader streets, a five-minute taxi to the Jemaa.
- 03
Gueliz
The modern town, galleries, the YSL museum, cocktail bars.
Built in the 1920s by the French as the new town. The right neighbourhood for the YSL Museum, Comptoir Darna, and the cocktail-led evenings.
- 04
Palmeraie
The 12th-century palm grove, villas, gardens, Beldi Country Club.
A 15-minute taxi northeast of the medina. The villa stays (Selman, Ksar Char-Bagh) are here; the lunch at Beldi is the canonical Palmeraie outing.
- 05
Mellah
The old Jewish quarter inside the medina, quieter, calmer, the spice market.
South of the Place des Ferblantiers. Worth a slow morning; the spice market here is less hassled than the main souk.
- 06
Atlas Mountains (day-trip)
The High Atlas, an hour by car, Berber villages, Imlil, Ouirgane.
A day-trip or a one-night stay. Kasbah Tamadot (Branson) at 1830m; Kasbah du Toubkal in Imlil; the Setti Fatma waterfalls in Ourika.
- 07
Essaouira (day-trip)
The Atlantic walled fishing port, three hours west.
The cooler Marrakech alternative. A weekend out. Madada Mogador as the hotel; a long lunch at Taros.
Where to eat, drink and sleep.
Eat
- La FamilleMedina
A vegetarian, courtyard-only restaurant in a quiet medina house. Lunch only, no telephone, no website, the menu changes every Tuesday. The locals’ favourite.
- NomadMedina (Souk Cherifia)
A modern Moroccan rooftop restaurant overlooking the spice market. Tagines, a hand-printed cotton tablecloth, a long aperitif before the call to prayer.
- L’MidaMedina
A small modern Moroccan kitchen on a quiet street near the Mellah. Hand-pulled briouats, the chicken-and-preserved-lemon tagine, the rooftop is the photograph at sunset.
- Beldi Country ClubPalmeraie
A walled garden country club twenty minutes outside the medina. Long lunches under bamboo, a swimming pool, a rosery. Reserve; transfer included.
- La Grande Table Marocaine (Royal Mansour)Hivernage
The two-Michelin-star Moroccan in the Royal Mansour. The serious dinner; chef Yannick Alléno’s Maghrebi-French. Reserve six weeks out.
- Le JardinMedina
A 17th-century riad-courtyard restaurant near the spice souks. Lunch among canaries; the orange-blossom couscous; a pre-souk Tuesday rendezvous.
- El Fenn rooftop restaurantMedina (near Bab el-Ksour)
The Vanessa Branson hotel’s rooftop. A glass of Moroccan rosé, a charcoal-grilled lamb, the Atlas at the horizon, the call to prayer at six.
- Al FassiaGueliz
An all-women-staffed traditional Moroccan restaurant. The classics done seriously: pastilla, tagine of mrouzia, harira soup. The Gueliz lunch.
Drink
- Café des ÉpicesMedina (Place Rahba Kedima)
A rooftop café overlooking the spice market. Mint tea, fresh-pressed orange, a quiet break in the souk afternoon.
- Café Kif KifMedina (Jemaa el-Fna)
The Jemaa el-Fna sunset rooftop. A Moroccan rosé, a tagine, the storytellers and food carts opening up below.
- Bar Churchill (La Mamounia)Hivernage
The 1923 cellar bar in La Mamounia. A martini at six, a pianist at eight, the right pre-dinner aperitif.
- +61Gueliz
A modern cocktail bar in Gueliz. The proper after-dinner option; closes at 1am, cash only.
Stay
- La MamouniaHivernage
The 1923 grand hotel inside its own walled garden. The cathedral; 209 rooms; eight gardens; Bar Churchill, the only proper hotel pool in Marrakech.
- Royal MansourHivernage
A 53-riad hotel commissioned by King Mohammed VI in 2010. Each "room" is a private three-floor riad with its own roof terrace. The discreet splurge.
- El FennMedina
Vanessa Branson’s 41-room riad hotel. Pink-and-yellow rooms, six gardens, a rooftop pool, an art collection. The medina’s leading address.
- Riad YasmineMedina
The most-Instagrammed riad in Marrakech. Just eight rooms, a single inner pool, a rooftop with the Atlas in view. Book three months out.
- Selman MarrakechPalmeraie
A modern Palmeraie villa-hotel with an Arabian-horse stable in the grounds. Fifty-six rooms, four pools, a calm thirty-minute taxi from the medina.
- Kasbah TamadotAtlas Mountains
Richard Branson’s Atlas hotel at 1830m, an hour from Marrakech. Twenty-eight rooms, mountain-house architecture, the right alternative for a quieter half of the trip.
- Riad BE MarrakechMedina
A small, beautifully restored medina riad, twelve rooms, a calm pool, hand-painted ceilings. The best mid-priced sleep in the medina.
See
- Jemaa el-FnaMedina
Africa’s busiest square; UNESCO-listed (Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity). Dawn for the donkey market; sunset for the storytellers; midnight for the stillness.
- Majorelle GardenGueliz
The 1931 Jacques Majorelle and (from 1980) Yves Saint Laurent garden. Cobalt-blue Villa Oasis, cacti, bamboo, the YSL grave. Open 8am; arrive at opening.
- Yves Saint Laurent MuseumGueliz
A 2017 museum next to the Majorelle. Permanent and rotating YSL exhibitions; the gift shop is excellent.
- Bahia PalaceMedina
A 19th-century vizier’s palace; ornate ceilings, six courtyards, a 12-acre garden. Open 9am-5pm; a calm hour of cool tile.
- Koutoubia MosqueMedina
The 12th-century minaret that inspired Seville’s Giralda; visible from anywhere in the city. Non-Muslims may not enter; the gardens around are walkable.
- Madrasa Ben YoussefMedina
A 14th-century Quranic college, fully restored. The most-photographed inner courtyard in the medina; arrive at opening.
Shop
- Souk Semmarine and Spice SoukMedina
The main north-south souk through the medina. The spice quarter (Place Rahba Kedima) is the photograph; the carpets and the leathers run east-west off it.
Every way in, compared.
| Route | Time | From | Line | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct flight | 3h 30m | From £80 | London / Paris / Madrid → RAK | Multiple daily flights from major European hubs. Royal Air Maroc, easyJet, Ryanair, BA, Transavia. Marrakech-Menara is 15 minutes by taxi from the medina. |
| Airport taxi | 15m | 200 MAD (~£15) | RAK → Medina or Palmeraie | The official airport rank uses fixed government rates. Avoid the touts in the arrivals hall; book your riad’s transfer for slightly more if it’s your first visit. |
| Petit taxi (in city) | Minutes | 15-60 MAD | Anywhere in Marrakech | The little beige cars. Insist on the meter (le compteur) or agree the price before you get in. Most rides under 100 MAD. |
| Private driver | Day-rate | 600-1,000 MAD | A day in the city or Atlas | Hired through your riad. Air-conditioned saloon, a French-speaking driver, English usually available. The Atlas day-trip rate is around 800 MAD. |
| Train from Casablanca | 3h 10m | 20-230 MAD | Casablanca-Voyageurs → Marrakech | The ONCF runs an air-conditioned 2nd-class service every two hours. The right call if you’re combining Marrakech with a Casablanca or Tangier trip. |
The rules the regulars keep.
- 01
Stay in a riad, at least one night
A riad, small, courtyard-centred, owner-run, is the medina experience. Even one night at El Fenn or Riad Yasmine reframes the city.
- 02
Wake at dawn for the medina
The souks at 6am are the only time they belong to the city. The donkey market is at sunrise; the bread bakeries by 7.
- 03
Reserve La Famille and the Royal Mansour
La Famille fills the morning of (lunch only). La Grande Table Marocaine, six weeks out.
- 04
Cover up in the medina
Long sleeves and knees in the souks, the palaces, the Koutoubia. Not a custom test; a courtesy.
- 05
A trusted guide for the souks
A local guide for one half-day costs €40 and changes the souks entirely. Hire through your riad, never on the street.
A short, polite list.
- 01
Don’t walk through the medina with a phone in hand. Pickpockets are rare; motorbikes will, however, take it from you.
- 02
Don’t photograph people without asking. Especially the storytellers and snake charmers; they will demand a fee, and they are right to.
- 03
Don’t accept a "guide" who approaches you on the street. They lead you to commission shops; the riads have certified guides for half the price and twice the experience.
- 04
Don’t book a Sahara desert trip for less than three nights. The drive to the dunes is ten hours each way; less is a tourist mistake.
- 05
Don’t expect alcohol everywhere. The medina is conservatively religious; the riads, the Hivernage hotels and the Gueliz cocktail bars serve, but the Jemaa rooftops are largely dry.
Practical, briefly.
When is the best time to visit Marrakech?
March and April are the peak, mid-20s, full bloom in the gardens, the Atlas snow still visible. October and November are the secret, late summer warmth, smaller crowds, kinder rates. December and January are mid-teens by day and chilly at night, but excellent for a long weekend in a riad with a fireplace. Avoid June through September; daytime medina temperatures hit 38-42°C.
How do I get to Marrakech from London or Paris?
Direct flights: 3h 30m from London (BA, easyJet, Ryanair, Royal Air Maroc); 3h from Paris (Air France, Royal Air Maroc, Transavia); 2h from Madrid; 2h 15m from Geneva. Marrakech-Menara airport (RAK) is fifteen minutes by taxi from the medina. Transfer cost: 200 dirham (~£15) at the official airport rank, or your riad will arrange a fixed-rate pickup for slightly more.
Where should I stay in Marrakech, riad or villa?
For a first visit and the medina experience: a riad (El Fenn, Riad Yasmine, Riad BE) for the courtyard, the rooftop, the early-morning souk walk. For a calmer second visit, family week, or working-from-here trip: a Palmeraie villa or La Mamounia for the pool, the air-conditioning, the easier driver-on-call logistics. For the splurge: La Mamounia or the Royal Mansour, no question. Pick one mode; visit the other in the day.
Is Marrakech safe?
Yes, among the safest large cities in North Africa for visitors. The medina is densely walked at all hours; pickpocketing and motorbike-snatching are the principal concerns. Solo women travellers are common but should expect the medina’s street-level attention; a guide for the first day is worth it. Tap water is not safe to drink; bottled is universal.
Should I haggle in the souks?
Yes, expected, and considered impolite to skip. Start at one-third of the asking price; finish at one-half. The cardinal rule is to walk away amicably if the price is wrong; you can return tomorrow. Cash is preferred; some shops will take card now. A shopkeeper who pours you mint tea is settling in for a real negotiation; allow forty minutes.
Is a Sahara desert trip from Marrakech worth it?
Yes, but only if you have at least three days. The drive to the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga is ten hours each way; the ride to the closer Erg Chigaga dunes near Zagora is eight. Spend two nights in the desert (Scarabeo Camp, Erg Chigaga Luxury Desert Camp) for a real night under the stars. A one-night Agafay desert trip from Marrakech (45 minutes by car) is a polished imitation, not the real thing.