Marrakesh: 8 Must Things To Do

Marrakesh is the hub of Souks – open-air marketplaces with traditional textiles, pottery and jewellery – but also home to mosques, palaces and gardens. The famous Jardin Majorelle from Yves Saint Laurent is based here.

Discover what the city has to offer with my list of 8 Things to Do in Marrakesh.

1. Shop The Medina Souks

Whether you’re a shopper or not, you’ll enjoy the experience of wandering around the colourful, mazy and buzzing souk markets. The souk is a traditional Arab market inside a Medina (old city) where they sell everything from spices to leather goods, ceramics and silverware.

TIP: Master your haggling skills! Me and my friends bought 3 nice leather bags (stinking in our apartment for a few months after ? ) for 20€ each, but we had to bargain for almost an hour. Of course we had to tell them that we are Portuguese, so they gave us even more discount.

2. Visit Jemaa el-Fnaa

This large square at the entry to the medina is the center of Marrakesh life. There you’ll find food stalls, musicians, storytellers, fortune-tellers and snake charmers that bring life to the city until midnight.

TIP: Unless you really want a henna tattoo, be careful of the henna ladies, as they are quite persuasive and will try to get you one done.

3. Explore the Palaces and Mosques

While exploring the busy Medina streets, we visited the Jardin Secret, a peaceful oasis palace. We also took a free (tip-based) walking tour for an overview of the city’s most popular historical landmarks, such as:

The Koutoubia Mosque: Marrakesh’s most famous landmark. Five times a day, one voice rises above the din of Djemaa El Fna as the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer.

The Bahia Palace: built in the late 19th century as the residence of the Grand Vizier Bou Ahmed, display Moroccan artisan work combining zellige tiles, painted ceilings, and ornate wrought-iron features.

4. Stay in a Riad

A Riad is a traditional medina mansion, centered around a courtyard. Staying in a Riad is an experience in itself!

We stayed in a private Riad not far from Koutoubia Mosque and I was amazed with the architecture as well as the breakfast and mint tea served in the terrace every morning.

TIP: Try to talk and engage with the host. Our host, a Berber, was very friendly and keen to talk about his culture. I learned how to make Moroccan mint tea from him! ?

Where to Stay in Marrakesh

Booking.com

5. Experience a Royal Hammam Spa

Hammam is a traditional steam bath and cleansing from Islamic culture. We booked our experience at the dazzling Le Spa de La Sultana hotel. Do you wanna ear about our “getting naked” and royal spa experience?

At first, was awkward because the receptionist asked us to “take everything off” and gave us a robe. Then we head to the steam room totally naked for about 10 minutes until the lady comes to through buckets of water at you (me and my friends couldn’t stop laughing, it was awkward but fun). After, we all went into separate rooms for a scrub (it’s literally someone giving you a bath and scrubbing you like you’re a royal princess ?). It all ended up with a relaxing bath in this amazing pool that you can see on the picture.

6. Taste Traditional Cuisine

Tagine, tagine, tagine! We had it multiple times on our trip as it’s a national dish.

Spend an afternoon taking a cooking class at La Maison Arabe, where you’ll learn to make delicious spiced tagines and Moroccan bread.

In terms of restaurantes, these were our top choices: Terrasse des Épices and NOMAD both with amazing roof tops!

7. Visit the Majorelle Garden

A must go! The Majorelle Garden was created by the French painter Jacques Majorelle in 1922 where he painted the garden walls, fountains, features and villa in a very intense shade of blue, for which he trademarked the name “Majorelle Blue”. You can also visit the museum Musée Yves Saint Laurent.

8. Be Dazzled by La Mamounia Luxury Hotel

Opened in the ‘Roaring Twenties’, La Mamounia Palace is a symbol of traditional Moroccan hospitality and one of the most famous hotels in the heart of the imperial city. Worldwide celebrities have stayed there. There’s a bar called Le Churchill as a tribute to its illustrious visitor.

You can visit Mamounia’s beautiful historic gardens and the bar/restaurants, even if you’re not staying at the hotel, although it must be quite an experience to stay in their rooms.

We had a drink at their terrace and had a walk around the gardens. The picture you see on the top was taken there. 🙂

You may also like:  Morocco: 5 day itinerary girl trip