Marrakech-Safi (Morocco)
Marrakech is the Red City, a thousand-year-old imperial capital of pink earthen walls, palm groves and snow-capped mountains on the horizon, and no city in North Africa is more intoxicating for a first visit.
At its heart is Jemaa el-Fna, the great square where storytellers, musicians and smoking food stalls have gathered for centuries, and around it spreads the Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage maze of souks selling leather, lanterns, spices and rugs, with the Almohad minaret of the Koutoubia watching over everything. This guide books the city properly in its current form: the Jardin Majorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum on the official timed tickets that are now sold only online, the painted courtyards of the Bahia Palace, the carved cedar and stucco of the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the Saadian Tombs and the vast ruins of El Badi while their post-earthquake restoration continues, and the calm of Le Jardin Secret in the middle of the souks. Then it takes you out of town, to the Berber villages of the High Atlas around Imlil, still rebuilding after the 2023 earthquake and glad of respectful visitors, to the stony Agafay desert for sunset, up in a hot-air balloon at dawn and west to the blue-and-white port of Essaouira. Finally it matches you to the right bed, from La Mamounia and the Royal Mansour to an art-filled riad near the square, a family-run garden hotel in the Kasbah and a resort among the palms, because in Marrakech where you sleep shapes the whole trip.
Jemaa el-Fna Square
The beating heart of Marrakech: a vast open square at the edge of the souks where orange-juice sellers, henna artists, Gnawa musicians and storytellers work by day and a city of smoking food stalls rises at dusk. Free, open around the clock and recognized by UNESCO as a masterpiece of living heritage.
Jardin Majorelle & Musee Yves Saint Laurent
The cobalt-blue garden created by the painter Jacques Majorelle and rescued by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, with the Berber Museum in Majorelle's studio and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum next door. Tickets are sold only online, on the official site, for timed entry.
Bahia Palace
A late nineteenth-century vizier's palace of painted cedar ceilings, zellige tilework, carved stucco and orange-tree courtyards, built to be the most beautiful house of its age. The Tiqets option is a small-group medina walk with entry to the Bahia and the Ben Youssef Madrasa included.
High Atlas Day Trip to Imlil & Toubkal
The snow-capped wall on the city's horizon is about ninety minutes away: Berber villages, walnut groves and mule trails at the foot of Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak. The region is still rebuilding after the 2023 earthquake, and a respectful day visit with a local guide helps.
The beating heart of Marrakech: a vast open square at the edge of the souks where orange-juice sellers, henna artists, Gnawa musicians and storytellers work by day and a city of smoking food stalls rises at dusk. Free, open around the clock and recognized by UNESCO as a masterpiece of living heritage.
The cobalt-blue garden created by the painter Jacques Majorelle and rescued by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, with the Berber Museum in Majorelle's studio and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum next door. Tickets are sold only online, on the official site, for timed entry.
A late nineteenth-century vizier's palace of painted cedar ceilings, zellige tilework, carved stucco and orange-tree courtyards, built to be the most beautiful house of its age. The Tiqets option is a small-group medina walk with entry to the Bahia and the Ben Youssef Madrasa included.
The great covered market maze north of Jemaa el-Fna: Souk Semmarine for textiles and slippers, the spice square of Rahba Kedima, the lantern makers, leatherworkers, dyers and woodturners, each trade in its own lanes. Free to wander, bargaining expected.
The twelfth-century Almohad mosque whose 77-meter minaret is the landmark of Marrakech and the model for Seville's Giralda. Non-Muslims cannot enter, but the minaret, the excavated ruins of the first mosque and the rose gardens behind it are free to enjoy.
The Saadian Koranic college of the 1560s, with a marble courtyard and pool framed by some of the finest carved cedar, stucco and zellige in Morocco, and over a hundred student cells around it. Restored and open daily; pay at the door.
The royal necropolis of the Saadian dynasty, sealed off for centuries and rediscovered in 1917: tombs of sultans beneath carved cedar domes and Italian marble in the Chamber of the Twelve Columns, beside the Kasbah Mosque. Post-earthquake restoration is still under way.
The colossal ruin of Ahmad al-Mansur's palace of 1578, once the wonder of the Islamic world and stripped bare a century later: sunken orange gardens, vast pools, rampart walks with storks' nests and Atlas views, and the twelfth-century Koutoubia minbar on display.
A restored palace garden hidden behind a door on Rue Mouassine, in the middle of the souks: an Islamic paradise garden and an exotic garden, a historic water system, a cafe and a tower with views over the Medina. Open daily; tickets at the gate.
The snow-capped wall on the city's horizon is about ninety minutes away: Berber villages, walnut groves and mule trails at the foot of Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak. The region is still rebuilding after the 2023 earthquake, and a respectful day visit with a local guide helps.
A stony desert of bare golden hills about forty-five minutes from Marrakech, with the Atlas on the horizon: quad biking, camel rides, sunset dinners and luxury camps. The Tiqets pick is a half-day guided quad adventure with hotel transfers.
Drift over the palm groves, Berber villages and stony plains north of Marrakech as the sun comes up behind the Atlas, then breakfast in a tent. An early start and a big-ticket splurge; choose a properly licensed operator after the 2025 safety crackdown.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
Bab Jdid, Medina ramparts
The legendary palace hotel of Marrakech since 1923, set in historic gardens against the Medina walls: Art Deco meets Moroccan craft, Churchill's bar and suite, restaurants by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Simone Zanoni, Pierre Herme pastries and a celebrated spa. Refreshed for its centenary in 2023.
Check rates →Medina (near Jemaa el-Fna)
A royal-owned medina within the Medina: 53 private riads of one to four bedrooms, each with its own rooftop and plunge pool, in five hectares of gardens a few steps from Jemaa el-Fna, with a vast spa and restaurants including La Grande Table Marocaine.
Check rates →Medina (Bab Laksour)
The most stylish riad hotel in Marrakech: eight interconnected riads around five courtyards near Jemaa el-Fna, three pools, a spa, an art collection of about a hundred works, a design boutique and a 1,300-square-meter rooftop bar and restaurant facing the Koutoubia.
Check rates →Hivernage (opposite Menara Gardens)
A 40-acre garden resort opposite the Menara Gardens with 141 rooms, suites and villas, two pools, a full spa with hammams, tennis and the best kids club in town: the family-friendly luxury option, an easy walk or short ride from the Medina and ten minutes from the airport.
Check rates →Palmeraie
A family-run boutique hotel in the Palmeraie with 23 individual rooms, three pools, a tennis court and nine acres of gardens holding more than 700 plant varieties, created over two decades by designer Meryanne Loum-Martin and ethnobotanist Gary Martin.
Check rates →Medina
A luxury riad in the Medina, a short walk from Jemaa el-Fna, with courtyard rooms and suites, a large heated pool, panoramic rooftop terraces for sunset dining and a newly designed spa with private hammam cabins and an indoor pool.
Check rates →Kasbah, Medina
A former princely residence in the Kasbah, family-owned and run as a hotel since 2001, built around a 3,000-square-meter garden of orange trees and century-old palms with a pool, wellness center and restaurant, steps from the Royal Palace and the Saadian Tombs.
Check rates →Bab Doukkala, Medina
A storied riad hotel near Bab Doukkala, a dining address since 1946 and one of Morocco's first boutique riad hotels, with a renowned cooking school, a spa and a country club with gardens and pool in the Palmeraie.
Check rates →Bab Doukkala, Medina
A garden hotel inside the Medina walls near Bab Doukkala with 85 spacious rooms and suites around a heated pool, plus 26 private riads with their own pools, a Diane Barriere spa, Beefbar and Mediterranean dining.
Check rates →Riad Zitoun Lakdim, Medina
A mid-range courtyard riad about a hundred meters from Jemaa el-Fna in Riad Zitoun Lakdim, with a small spa and hammam, the Bistro Arabe restaurant and the Pergola rooftop.
Check rates →Medina
A budget riad in the heart of the Medina, described by its owners as dating from the fifteenth century, with a large pool, private Moroccan-style rooms and dorms, hammock terraces and a restaurant and bar.
Check rates →Hivernage (railway station)
A reliable budget hotel by Marrakech railway station on the edge of Hivernage and Gueliz, with 109 rooms, a garden pool, a 24-hour bar and easy taxi access to the Medina and the Majorelle.
Check rates →Gueliz (Avenue Mohammed V)
A modern Gueliz hotel on Avenue Mohammed V, part of the Carre Eden complex, with a courtyard pool, spa and hammam, between the new town's cafes and the Medina walls.
Check rates →Hivernage
A large Hivernage resort hotel with 503 rooms and suites, about five hectares of gardens, pools, the O de Rose spa, a kids club and four restaurants, connected to the Palais des Congres.
Check rates →Route du Golf Royal
A secluded luxury resort of villas with private pools and suites set in olive groves and gardens on the Route du Golf Royal, with Atlas views, a hammam spa and dining from Amensi to Ling Ling by Hakkasan.
Check rates →The first-timer itinerary that works with the city's rhythms — palaces at opening, the souks in the late morning, Jemaa el-Fna at sunset, the Jardin Majorelle on an online timed ticket — plus a day in the High Atlas or the Agafay desert.
What a first-timer needs to know before landing in Marrakech: the closed dirham, tipping, bargaining, faux guides and common scams, how to dress, current travel advisories, the earthquake recovery, petit taxis and finding your riad.
Riad or resort? A neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide to sleeping in Marrakech, from art-filled riads near Jemaa el-Fna and garden hotels in the Kasbah to the palace hotels by the walls, Hivernage resorts and the calm of the Palmeraie.
A food lover's guide to Marrakech: the city's own tanjia, tagines and Friday couscous, the night market of Jemaa el-Fna, snail soup and msemen, pastries, mint tea, rooftop dining, cooking classes and how to eat safely and well.
When to go to Marrakech and how much to budget: spring and autumn sweet spots, summer heat, winter sun and cold nights, Ramadan, Christmas crowds, what things cost in dirhams and how to save without missing the essentials.
How to escape the city for a day: Imlil and the High Atlas three years after the earthquake, the Ourika Valley, the Agafay desert at sunset, the Atlantic port of Essaouira, a sunrise balloon flight and when the Sahara is worth the longer trip.
