Marrakesh, Morocco 🇲🇦

Written By Dolly Oyebadejo

April 2024

Some Notes:

  • There are many beautiful cities in Morocco, but we chose to not hop around and stayed in Marrakesh the whole time.

    • But if you have the time and desire, you can also consider visiting Casablanca, Taghazout, Fez, Chefchaouen 

  • Dress modestly, especially in public/non-touristy areas, respect the Islamic culture. Or expect stares and nasty looks. 

  • For accommodations, highly recommend booking a riad — such a beautiful experience. Plenty of great options on AirBNB. 

    • The riads we stayed in are listed below.

  • Be prepared to negotiate prices, don’t be timid! You’ll need to haggle prices with taxi drivers and with any shopping at the souks or medina.

  • Be mindful, if you visit during Ramadan like we did, some places will have early closures and different hours. And it’ll be a little more difficult finding taxis around dinner time as people are breaking their fast.

  • Here’s a link to my google doc with all the information in this post (minus the pics), which may be easier to reference.

 

view of Medina

 

Activities

  • Ben Youssef Madrasa

    • Former school, now tourist site. Very beautiful.

    • Recommend going early before it gets crowded.

inner courtyard of Ben Youssef Madrasa

in one of the rooms on the upper level of Ben Youssef Madrasa

  • Le Jardin Majorelle (YSL museum & mansion)

    • Make reservation

    • My favorite part was walking the grounds of the gardens — absolutely stunning

    • Have lunch there at Le Studio — food and drinks were good. And the outside patio was pretty.

      • No reservation needed

Le Jardin Majorelle

Le Jardin Majorelle

entrance to YSL musuem

lunch at Le studio, food and drinks were delicious. 

  • Bahia Palace 

  • Saadian Tombs

  • Le Jardin Secret

  • Shopping — BE PREPARED TO BARGAIN (helpful hint: start at 1/3 or 1/4 the price they first say)

    • Souks

    • Medina 

an art piece I bought. I had to promise my hand in marriage for it, but worth it! 

  • Hammam Spas

    • Highly recommend. Hammam spas are an amazing experience, you get scrubbed and a massage.

      • you do have to be comfortable being naked in from of a stranger though

    • There’s so many different options, here’s a couple recommendations

      • Marajah Spa

      • La Sultuna spa (can also have lunch afterwards on their rooftop)

  • Beach Clubs

  • Cooking class — AirBNB experience

  • Street food tour — AirBNB experience

  • Ouzoud Falls — Waterfall tour

    • We skipped this because it is a whole day (10 hr) tour, which was far too to be with a tour group for us. But the tours have great reviews.

  • Agafay Desert stay + Berber village visit

  • Hot Air Balloon Ride at sunrise

    • Highly recommend. It was a great and surprisingly tranquil experience, and actually not scary like I expected.

    • We did a combination package, and paired the hot air balloon ride with camel riding.

    • Make a reservation

FOOD RECS

we had so many great meals!

  • La Pergola

    • Traditional Moroccan food, which was good. Recommend the Bistro Tanji and Gourmet Tanjia dishes.

    • They also have a jazz bar with live jazz music.

  • Le Jardin Du Lotus — highly recommend,

    • Beautiful restaurant. Get the lobster rigatoni, expensive but delicious!

    • Food was so good, we ate here twice.

  • La Trattoria

    • Delicious Italian food, great service. Beautiful restaurant, great for a last dinner or celebratory dinner.

    • Make a reservation

La Trattoria

  • Restaurants With Rooftops

    • Rooftop bar at Nobu

    • Nomad Rooftop

      • Good for sunset dinner. Beautiful view of the Medina from rooftop.

  • El Fenn

  • L’mida

  • Dar Dar Rooftop

    • Delicious food, great drinks.

on Dar Dar’s rooftop

  • La Table at Royal Mansour Hotel for afternoon tea

    • Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The hotel is a luxurious 5 star hotel, with beautiful grounds. The afternoon tea + snacks was buffet offerings, with so many options.

    • Make a reservation

    • Per website: “‘smart casual’ dress code in our restaurant, where we kindly ask that you refrain from wearing shorts, caps, tongs and sportswear.”

La Table at Royal Mansour Hotel for afternoon tea

Royal Mansour hotel grounds

Royal Mansour hotel grounds

  • Dinners with Live Dancers/Entertainment

    • Compotoir Darna (Moroccan)

    • Azar

    • Buddha Bar 

      • we had such a great night here. Delicious dinner and drinks, with an extensive menu. And we also really enjoyed the live entertainment.

      • MAKE RESERVATION WELL IN ADVANCE. The earlier you book, the better seat you’ll get in view of the stage.

Buddha Bar

Buddha Bar has excellent decor

Buddha Bar, one of the many performances

  • Breakfast

    • Bacha Coffee — highly recommend

      • This is a must visit, even if you don’t like coffee (like me). The food is delicious and the restaurant is stunning.

      • But if you do love coffee, they have over 200 different blends from 35 countries.

      • GET THERE AT LEAST 30 MINS BEFORE OPENING OR EXPECT VERY LONG WAIT.

        • We got there maybe 10 mins before opening, and there was already a long line, so we had to wait almost 2 hours to be seated.

Bacha Coffee

    • Fluffy

    • Cafe Medina Rouge

    • Cafe Mouassine

    • Café Kessabine

    • Le Warner (“American” breakfast)

    • Cafe Des Epices

      • We had breakfast here twice. Food is good and affordable. Nice view from rooftop.

rooftop of Cafe Des Epices, view of Medina below

  • Nightlife

    • Pergola Jazz Bar

    • SO Lounge

    • Lao

    • Barometre — after dinner cocktail bar (6:30pm-1am)

ACCOMODATIONS

  • Highly recommend booking a riad over a just hotel room. We loved multiple options on AirBNB, so decided to split our stay between 2 different riads.

    • A riad is a traditional Moroccan house with an enclosed garden or courtyard

  • Our first riad with green tiling  

    • By far, our favorite! All the green tiling was stunning! 

    • Location was fantastic, less than 5 minute walk to the car pack with easy access to hailing a cab

our first riad

our first riad

  • Our second riad with rooftop plunge pool

    • Location requires you to walk through the absolutely insanely busy market to catch a taxi. Location is definitely not for the faint of heart. But does have a lot of walkable restaurants and attractions nearby.

our second riad

our second riad

  • Here’s an AirBNB list with some other riads we liked as well.

OUR ITINERARY

Thursday, 04/04:

  • Land @ RAK together @8:30AM flight AF1276 

  • Airbnb check in @ 2

  • Lunch @ Le Jardin Du Lotus (5 min walk from airbnb)

  • Souks 

  • Dinner @ Limoni @ 7:30 PM

Friday, 04/05:

  • Breakfast @ Cafe Des Epices

  • Shop in Medina

  • Afternoon tea at La Table at Royal Mansour :@ 3:30 PM 

  • Dinner @ La Pergola @ 7:15 PM — live jazz starts at 8 PM

Saturday, 04/06:

  • Breakfast @ Bacha Coffee — no reservations, so arrive by 9:30 latest

  • Ben Youssef madrasa

  • Nobu rooftop for lunch — reservation for 2:15-4:15

  • Hit cultural sites we haven’t been to yet

  • Dinner @ Buddha bar — reservation 8:30 PM

Sunday, 04/07:

  • YSL museum @ 11:30 + lunch onsite at Le Studio 

  • Check into new AirBNB

  • Dinner @ Nomad — reservation at 6:30 PM

Monday, 04/08

  • Sunrise Hot Air Balloon  + Camel Ride ~5 am to 11 am

  • Back to airbnb

  • Tapas/drinks @ Dar Dar rooftop @ 2:30 PM

  • Bahia palace (Closes at 5PM)

  • Birthday Dinner @ La Trattoria 8PM 

  • Barometer for drinks - Reservation @22:30PM

Tuesday, 04/09:

  • Breakfast at Espices

  • See Saadian Tombs (9AM-3PM)

  • Sultana Hammam Spa @ 12PM w/ lunch on rooftop afterwards

  • Dinner @ El Fenn @ 7:30 PM

Dolly Oyebadejo
Previous

Portugal 🇵🇹

Next

Dubai 🇦🇪