Marrakech is a magical city. It’s a place which you will experience with all your senses. We were fascinated by all the colors and the hustle and bustle of the Medina. We were overwhelmed by all the fantastic tastes and new impressions. Marrakech is truly one of our favorite places we have ever been and where we would love to go back to over and over again. In this blog post, we share our top things to do in Marrakech as well as the best places to stay and eat.
Best time to travel to Marrakech
In summer, it can get boiling in the city, so we wouldn’t recommend you going during the Summer months. The perfect time to travel to Marrakech is between October and April. Even though in December is the highest risk for rainy days, it is not that bad to experience a bit of rain during your stay. It won’t be raining for a week, usually. We visited Marrakech in November and had a perfect sunny week.
How long should you stay?
We spent one week in Marrakech, including one overnight trip to Ouarzazate, and this was the perfect amount of time to explore everything we wanted. If you plan on going on a desert trip to the Sahara, we would recommend you to plan in more time. The Sahara is quite far from the city, and you should count in at least three days to do that.
Where to stay in Marrakech
It would be best if you stayed at a Riad while in Marrakech. Riads are traditional Moroccan houses with an interior garden or courtyard. There are many beautiful Riads in Marrakech, and it gets tough to choose. So we decided to stay at two different places during our trip.
Riad Jardin Secret
For the first three nights, we stayed at the fabulous Riad Jardin Secret, and we can highly recommend this Riad for your stay. This place has a beautiful interior garden with giant Banana trees and an even more gorgeous pink rooftop. We seriously didn’t want to leave this place ever again when we discovered this beautiful rooftop. We had breakfast on the rooftop every morning during our stay and also enjoyed a lovely sunset with delicious Moroccan tea up there.
What we loved most about this Riad were the great hosts and the fantastic food they serve. They only cook vegetarian dinners that we loved, and we enjoyed staying in one night and have a great dinner at home. And also, the breakfast was fabulous, and they serve vegan breakfast too.
Riad BE
The second Riad we stayed at was the Riad BE, which has the most stunning courtyard ever. It is in blue tones and is made with a lot of love for details. The people in this Riad are such lovely and great hosts. They serve a very delicious breakfast, and the coffee is fantastic. This is always a big plus for us coffee addicts.
Also, Riad BE has a beautiful rooftop, which is one of the things we loved most about Marrakech. The many beautiful rooftop places where you can enjoy Sunsets or your Breakfast.
Top things to do in Marrakech
There are so many unique places to discover in Marrakech. Even to stroll through the city and the colorful streets and the Souk (Market) can quickly fill up a day and is so much fun. If you like to shop in Marrakech, there are a lot of great things to find, but don’t forget to haggle with the men in the markets and don’t be afraid of it. It can be great fun if you practice a bit.
Besides strolling through the city and letting yourself drift and discover hidden gems, we recommend you visit the following places:
Jardin Secret
The Jardin Secret is truly a hidden gem. It is a beautiful garden where you can relax and read a book away from the hectic in the city streets. There is a rooftop Café inside of the garden and many beautiful places to discover. The entrance fee is 50 Dirham
Bahia Palace
The Bahia Palace is a set of different beautiful courtyards which are capturing the Islamic and Moroccan style. It was built in the 19th century and was home to the Sultan and his Harem. This place is full of beautiful tiled and decorated spots. We recommend you to go early because the crowds can make it hard to get a nice photo and to enjoy this beautiful place.
Maison de la Photographie
The Maison de la Photographie is a beautiful Riad and is hosting Moroccan photography from different times of history and is worth a visit. The entrance fee is about 50 Dirham, and there is a lovely rooftop Café if you need a rest. But besides the amazing photos in that, you can discover here the house itself is already beautiful to see.
Jardin Majorelle & Musee Yves Saint Laurent
Visiting these two places was one of our highlights in Marrakech, but we highly recommend you to go very early in the morning. We came at sunset time, and it was too crowded. We went to the Musee Yves Saint Laurent first because there was no one waiting in line. We bought a combo ticket (for about 100 Dirham) there, so we didn’t have to wait in line at the garden after. This worked out very well for us.
The Museum was fascinating and, there are a lot of spectacular dresses to see that Yves Saint Laurent created. The Jardin Majorelle was the former house of this Legend, and it was so magical to visit this place. The garden is lovely, with a lot of different cactuses. There was also a little exhibition about the Berber culture, which was very interesting too. We loved this place and stayed for a coffee and smoothie at the cute Restaurant.
Spa Day at the La Mamounia
We treated ourselves with a Spa day pass at the spectacular La Mamounia. We saw this place on many photos and wanted to see it in real life too. Since this hotel is way too expensive for our budget, we decided to go for a Spa day. Even if you don’t want to go to a fancy Spa as we did, we recommend you going to a Hammam because this is part of the Moroccan culture and a fantastic experience.
The day pass at the Spa of La Mamounia is a bit pricey. It costs about 1600 Dirham and includes lunch at the buffet, a Massage, a Hammam, and the most spectacular indoor Swimmingpool we have ever seen. You can make your reservation online and get your day pass at the Reception at arrival.
Desert Trip to Ouarzazate
We didn’t have enough time to go on a desert trip to the Sahara because it is quite far from the city, but we wanted to visit this beautiful Oasis called Ouarzazate, which is well known from Game of Thrones what we love to watch. Also, this place was quite a long ride across the Atlas mountains, but it was worth the journey. We recommend you to stay overnight at a Guesthouse. You can walk all the streets up to the highest point of the city where you have a spectacular view. We also went in front of the city’s gate, which was a beautiful place to take pictures.
We booked our trip to Ouarzazate with Days Morocco Tours.
After our desert trip, we came back for the last night to the Riad BE and discovered they have a second new house, which is very beautiful too.
Where to eat in Marrakech
We wrote a separate food guide for vegan and vegetarian food in Marrakech. Of course, most of the restaurants we listed have other dishes too.
Vegan Living
Vegan Marrakech – Top 8 restaurants you have to try
