There are few journeys you can make from the UK that take four hours, cost as little as £60 and transport you to another world. Marrakech is one of them.
With bustling souks full of stained glass lanterns, colourful ceramics, Berber rugs and colourful spices being sifted into huge hessian sacks, this is a city that's guaranteed to stimulate your senses and there are so many things to do it's hard to know where to start.
Walk through a door or gate that looks unassuming from the street, and you'll find an oasis of serenity inside, be it an Aladdin’s cave full of leather bags, a blue-walled garden with a trickling fountain or one of the many riads which have been transformed into luxury boutique hotels. This is a city of contrasts – of joyful chaos, blazing sun and intense flavours, but also of meditative calm, cold tiles and a quiet, creative focus.
Book well in advance and a low-cost airline flight from London will set you back between £60-£100pp return, and when you arrive – so long as you know how to barter – you can easily get by with just a few hundred pounds of spending money over a long weekend.
Having already visited and fallen in love with the city, I went back recently to spend 72 hours exploring the parts I hadn’t got round to visiting before. It’s an endlessly exciting place and you’ll never do it all in one go, so there's always a great excuse to go back!
Below are my personal recommendations for the best things to see in this magical place . . .
Where to stay
Riad Botanica
Prices start at £190 a night for two on a B&B basis.
A perfect example of a luxury hotel set around a courtyard with a secret garden is Riad Botanica. You'll find it behind an unassuming heavy brown wooden door and, as soon as you step foot over the threshold, will be hit by the fragrant scent of orange blossom. The boutique five-bedroomed hotel is built around an old orange tree which still blooms and many design touches have been added to pay homage to it. There are oranges in bowls everywhere as well as oranges stitched on soft furnishings and painted on black and white striped tiles. The name 'Botanica' is a nod to the healing power of botanicals which they serve in herbal teas and use in the kitchen.
As I arrived, I looked up from beside the pool on the ground floor to see an intricate brown wooden protruding window, soaked in sunlight. 'I hope that's my room,' I thought and almost jumped for joy when our hosts (an Australian and Moroccan couple who run their family business) told me that it was.
We ate breakfast every morning listening to the birds and the enchanting sound of prayers from the rooftop. All the food was fresh and local and our hosts went above and beyond to make us feel welcome.
What to do
Pottery painting at Moro boutique
Nestled just behind Yves Saint Laurent's iconic Majorelle gardens – which celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2024 – is an art studio, boutique and hotel called Moro. Run by two inspiring creatives, many of the artefacts in this concept store are designed by them, and the ‘70s architecture of the building is a nod to the laid back charm of Palm Springs.
I had the pleasure of settling in for an afternoon of pottery painting, as the dappled sunlight warmed our busy hands through the palm trees above the garden – I forgot about deadlines and my messy bedroom at home, even if just for a couple of hours. I was so engrossed in the task at hand, feeling for a while part of the artisanal culture in this creative city. If this speaks to you, you can book a week-long design discovery retreat to fully lose yourself in the creative process. No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing next time I return...
Hammam massage at Hammam de la Rose
If you’ve never experienced a hammam before, you’re in for a treat (and perhaps a surprise!). After being told to strip naked in an old Roman bath style room with no windows, my friend and I giggled incredulously at each other while two women scrubbed us from head to toe with the most delicious caramel-scented soap and shampoo. We felt like slippery seals as we flopped around the room while they covered every inch of us in a slimy clay mask and scoured our skin clean. I’ve never felt as soft, supple and fresh as I did after an hour in their hands.
Get lost in the souks
Next time I go for a long weekend in this lively city I’m bringing an empty suitcase. Living in a house share doesn’t lend itself massively to crockery shopping, but I’ve never let cupboard space get in the way of my shopping before, so why change the habit of a lifetime?
Our best haul was from Mohamed's shop, somewhere off Jemaa el-Fnaa square which I'd never be able to find again but had set prices for each piece which made shopping easier. The rule when it comes to bartering is offer half of the first price they offer you and then settle on somewhere between the two. But what I saved in this shop, I certainly spent for excess baggage at the airport. When will I ever learn?
Where to eat
Be Agafay, Agafay desert
As soon I heard that you could eat dinner in the desert, I knew I needed to do it. The Agafay desert if around an hour’s drive from the Marrakech medina, and as you approach over rolling sand dunes you first spot dozens of tents dotted around the sand. You can actually spend the day here relaxing by a pool that looks out over the orange sand and enjoying a massage in one of the spa tents.
Evenings are spent watching the sun set over the dunes, sipping local wine and chatting to guests by the fire pit. The mezze starter was as epic as the surroundings and included baba ganoush, flatbreads, feta dips and herby slaws.
El Fenn
The rooftop bar and restaurant of this iconic hotel really runs with the ‘red city’ vibe. Ruby and white striped towels drape across sun loungers surrounding an azure swimming pool, and at night the place comes alive with the hum of activity in Jemaa el-Fnaa, the city's main square, below. There's also a view of the illuminated 77-metre mosque tower for the most quintessential Marrakech backdrop you can get. Order the fish tagine and a Moroccan spiced negroni for a night to remember (depending how many you have of course!)
Riad Botanica
Our dinner at this riad was one of our favourites as one of the many local storytellers came to regale us with local myths and legends. While we tucked into chicken and beef tagines (we couldn't decide between them) with crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-in-the-middle breads the storyteller warned us about chasing things that are out of reach in life without taking stock and enjoying the moment. These were stories her grandmother had told her, and we were hypnotised by her every word.
Where to drink
For booze, Les Jardin De Lotus
A small maze of rust red walls mark your path from the souks to this secret speakeasy-style bar. As you walk in you feel like you’ve been given a golden ticket as you're surrounded by dancers and local musicians.
For coffee, Bacha coffee
When you see a long line of people queueing outside, you'll know you've found the right place. Bacha coffee is one viral social media trend that's worth embracing. Walking into the gardens of Bacha felt like being transported back in time or stepping into a Wes Anderson film – think The Grand Budapest Hotel. The place is home to hundreds of different flavoured coffee offerings, none of them artificial. The orange blossom coffee, King of Africa (banana and coconut) and Moroccan Sahara (spiced cardamom cinnamon) were our favourites.
And don't worry about getting the jitters afterwards, something about the coffee here means you can taste all the mouth-watering flavours without feeling any of the nervous energy afterwards. I bought packets of the beans to take home with me for this very reason.
They had fresh Madagascan vanilla in a gorgeous little grinder to sprinkle on top of your brew and we ordered the truffle omelette, which was out of this world. This is an international brand but each branch leans into its local surroundings, so fronds of green shade the garden, gilded edges line the walls and the unmistakeable Moorish architecture brings the whole thing together.
BOOK YOUR TRIP
To book a room at Riad Botanica for £190 a night BOOK HERE
To browse yoga and design retreats at Riad Botanica BROWSE HERE
To look at flights, starting from £59 return in low season BROWSE HERE
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