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Marrakech, Morocco, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
▶ Video · Marrakech: The Medina in 10
Video guide · 34:32
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Top 10 Things To Do in Marrakech

Country
Morocco
Best months
Mar · Apr · Oct
Population
~1M
Language
Arabic and Amazigh
Budget / day
$50–95
Quick answer

The best things to do in Marrakech are Jemaa el-Fna at dusk, the painted ceilings of the Bahia Palace, the restored courtyard of the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the Saadian Tombs, and Jardin Majorelle with the Yves Saint Laurent museum beside it. Three days: two inside the walls and one for Gueliz and a valley run. Buy Majorelle tickets online, because the garden sells none at the gate.

Marrakech: The Medina in 10

▶ Video guide

Marrakech was founded by the Almoravids around 1070 and gave Morocco its name in most European languages. The medina behind its 19 kilometres of rammed-earth walls has been UNESCO-listed since 1985, and Jemaa el-Fna at its centre was proclaimed intangible heritage in 2001 for the circles that still fill it every night.

The 10 best things to do in Marrakech

Take Jemaa el-Fna from the square, then from a rooftop, Marrakech, Morocco
1

Take Jemaa el-Fna from the square, then from a rooftop

Square· Jemaa el-Fna, Medina, Marrakech 40000

The square is two different places on the same day. Until late afternoon it is juice carts and henna artists working the tourist trade. At dusk the food stalls are wheeled in and lit, and the crowd turns Moroccan, with gnaoua troupes and storytellers holding circles until midnight. Do the ground-level walk first and the rooftop second.

Time1 to 2 hr
CostFree
Best atThe hour before sunset
TipAgree a price before a photo, a henna design or a plate
Map
Circle the Koutoubia minaret, Marrakech, Morocco
2

Circle the Koutoubia minaret

Landmark· Avenue Mohammed V, Medina, Marrakech

The Almohad mosque that set the pattern for Moroccan minarets, and its 77-metre tower is the tallest structure in the medina by law. The same masons produced the Giralda in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat. Non-Muslims cannot go inside, which matters less than it sounds: the point is the exterior geometry.

Time30 min
CostFree
Best atFloodlit after dark
TipThe gardens behind the minaret are the quiet side
Map
Read the ceilings at the Bahia Palace, Marrakech, Morocco
3

Read the ceilings at the Bahia Palace

Palace· Avenue Imam El Ghazali, Medina, Marrakech

Built in the late nineteenth century for a grand vizier, and the most complete surviving example of what Moroccan craft could do when a court paid for all of it at once. The interest is overhead: painted and carved cedar ceilings, no two panels alike. Go early, because the ceilings need standing still to see.

Time1 hr
CostAbout 100 MAD
Best atOpening
TipBring cash: the card terminal at the gate is unreliable
Map
Spend a morning at Jardin Majorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent museum, Marrakech, Morocco
4

Spend a morning at Jardin Majorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent museum

Garden and museum· Rue Yves Saint Laurent, Gueliz, Marrakech

Jacques Majorelle spent forty years planting this around a studio painted in the cobalt he mixed and named after himself. Saint Laurent and Bergé bought it in 1980 and saved it from a hotel development. Tickets are online only with timed entry, so the slot you pick decides the experience.

Time2 to 3 hr for both
CostFrom about 170 MAD for the garden
Best atFirst slot
TipBook online before you travel: there is no ticket desk at the gate
Map↗ Website↗ Website
Walk the student cells at the Ben Youssef Madrasa, Marrakech, Morocco
5

Walk the student cells at the Ben Youssef Madrasa

Historic building· Rue Assouel, Medina, Marrakech

The largest Quranic school in Morocco, rebuilt in the 1560s and housing students in around 130 cells on two floors. It reopened in 2022 after a long restoration, and the work is the reason to come now. Climb to the upper storey and look into the cells, barely wider than a mattress.

Time45 min
CostAbout 50 MAD
Best atOpening
TipThe upper cells overlooking the courtyard are the shot everyone misses
Map↗ Website
See what Moulay Ismail could not move at the Saadian Tombs, Marrakech, Morocco
6

See what Moulay Ismail could not move at the Saadian Tombs

Historic site· Rue de la Kasbah, Kasbah, Marrakech

Ahmad al-Mansur buried his dynasty here in imported marble and gilded plaster, and when Moulay Ismail set about erasing the Saadians he walled this in rather than desecrate a graveyard. It stayed sealed until 1917. The Chamber of the Twelve Columns is the finest interior in the city.

Time45 min
CostAbout 100 MAD
Best atOpening or the last hour
TipBab Agnaou, the Almohad gate next door, is worth the two-minute detour
Map
7

Get lost in the souks north of the square

Market· Souk Semmarine, Medina, Marrakech

The souks run north as a single covered artery that splits into trades: textiles, dyers, blacksmiths, woodwork, spice. The organisation is medieval and still functional, which is why the noise changes as you move. Set a return point on your phone before you go in: the lanes are not signed.

Time2 hr
CostFree to walk
Best atLate afternoon
TipFollow the flow of handcarts and you will end up back at the square
Map
Climb the ramparts of El Badi Palace, Marrakech, Morocco
8

Climb the ramparts of El Badi Palace

Ruin· Ksibat Nhass, Medina, Marrakech

Built between 1578 and 1593 with Italian marble paid for in Saharan sugar, and stripped a century later by a sultan who carted the lot to Meknes. What is left is the plan at full scale, with storks nesting in the pisé walls. The original Koutoubia minbar is displayed on site.

Time1 hr
CostAbout 100 MAD
Best atLate afternoon
TipThe Koutoubia minbar is in a side pavilion and easy to walk past
Map
9

Sit out the afternoon in Le Jardin Secret

Garden· 121 Rue Mouassine, Medina, Marrakech

Two riads on a site the Saadians laid out in the sixteenth century, derelict for decades and opened to the public in 2016. The tower is the reason to pay attention: one of the few places in the medina where you can see the geometry of the quarter you have been walking through.

Time1 hr
CostTicketed
Best atMid-afternoon
TipThe tower is a separate ticket and the only high view in Mouassine
Map↗ Website
Look at the city that was, at the Maison de la Photographie, Marrakech, Morocco
10

Look at the city that was, at the Maison de la Photographie

Museum· 46 Rue Bin Lafnadek, Medina, Marrakech

Three floors of a restored fondouk holding photographs of Morocco from the 1870s to the 1950s. It does one thing exactly right: after two days of monuments, the same monuments appear here without the crowds or the satellite dishes. The rooftop café has a clear Koutoubia view and no queue.

Time1 hr
CostTicketed
Best atLate morning
TipThe 1957 colour film of the High Atlas upstairs runs about half an hour
Map↗ Website

6 of the 10, mapped

Marrakech · 6 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Marrakech travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Marrakech?+
Three to four. Two days cover the medina at a reasonable pace: monuments in the morning, souks in the late afternoon, rooftops at sunset. A third day takes Gueliz, Jardin Majorelle and the museums, and a fourth buys a valley or desert run without cutting anything short.
When is the best time to visit Marrakech?+
March to May and October to November. Spring brings the Atlas snowline into view behind the city and daytime temperatures stay workable. July and August regularly pass 40C, which makes the medina hard going by noon. Winter days are mild and bright, and the nights are genuinely cold.
Can non-Muslims go inside the mosques in Marrakech?+
No. Working mosques including the Koutoubia are closed to non-Muslims, and that is the rule across Morocco with a small number of exceptions elsewhere. The Ben Youssef Madrasa, Dar El Bacha and the city's palaces and museums are all open to everyone, and between them they show the same craft tradition.
Do you need a guide for the souks?+
Not for a first walk. The souks are safe and the lanes eventually spill back onto a main artery, so getting lost costs time rather than anything else. A licensed guide is worth it for a buying trip. Unofficial guides who attach themselves in the street will want paying and will steer you to shops that pay them.
How much does it cost to visit the monuments?+
Most of the state-run sites are around 50 to 100 dirhams each: Ben Youssef sits at the lower end, the Bahia Palace, El Badi and the Saadian Tombs at the higher one. Jardin Majorelle is more, and sells online only with timed entry. Carry cash in dirhams, since card terminals at the gates are unreliable.
Souks & shopping

Best souks and shopping in Marrakech

Six places to buy something, from the dyers' lane to a design district six kilometres out.
All 6 souks and shopping →
Medina

Souk Semmarine

Textiles and leather

The main covered artery running north from the square, and the spine every other souk branches off. The widest lane in the medina, so navigate by it.

Map
Souk SebbaghineMouassine

Souk Sebbaghine

Dyers

The dyers' souk, where skeins of freshly dyed wool hang across the lane to dry and the ground stains a different colour each morning.

Map
Ensemble ArtisanalMedina edge

Ensemble Artisanal

Fixed prices

A state-run crafts complex where the prices are fixed and displayed. An hour here calibrates what a rug or a lamp should cost before you start bargaining.

Map
Sidi Abdelaziz

Souk Cherifia

Independent designers

A rooftop floor of small independent designers above the souk, selling clothes and homeware made in the city. The contrast with the lanes below is the point.

Map
33 Rue MajorelleGueliz

33 Rue Majorelle

Concept store

A concept store opposite the garden carrying work from a long roster of Moroccan designers. Prices are Gueliz rather than souk, and the labelling names the maker.

Map
Sidi Ghanem

Sidi Ghanem

Design district

The industrial quarter north of the centre, now a strip of design showrooms and factory outlets. It is where much of what the medina sells is actually made.

Map
Restaurants

Best restaurants in Marrakech

Eight kitchens worth planning a day around, from a nonprofit training canteen to a set-menu palace dinner.
All 8 restaurants →
Rahba Lakdima

Nomad

Modern Moroccan

The rooftop that changed how the medina eats out: four floors of modern Moroccan cooking with two terrace levels facing the Atlas.

Map↗ Website
Sidi Abdelaziz

Le Jardin

Garden courtyard

A courtyard of banana palms and green zellij inside a sixteenth-century building. The best lunch in the medina if the point of lunch is to stop moving.

Map
Gueliz

Al Fassia

Traditional Fassi

Fassi home cooking run entirely by women, and the place locals name when asked where to send a visitor. The lamb shoulder confit is what to order.

Map
Gueliz

Amal Women's Training Center

Nonprofit, lunch only

A nonprofit restaurant in Gueliz that trains disadvantaged women in professional cooking. Lunch only, communal tables, and the Friday couscous is worth being early for.

Map↗ Website
Café ClockKasbah

Café Clock

Cultural café

A converted school in the Kasbah with a camel burger on the menu and a programme of storytelling and gnaoua. The room is the draw.

Map
Bab Doukkala

Dar Yacout

Set menu, dinner only

The full riad-palace dinner: a set Moroccan menu across many small dishes, in a house Bill Willis decorated. Expensive, theatrical, and worth doing once.

Map
Riad Zitoun

La Famille

Vegetarian, lunch only

A garden lunch spot off Riad Zitoun Jdid serving one short vegetarian menu that changes with the market. No sign worth speaking of, no dinner, and a queue by one o'clock.

Map
Bacha CoffeeDar el Bacha

Bacha Coffee

Coffee house

The Dar el Bacha palace, restored, with a coffee room under its central dome pouring several hundred single origins. Inside the museum, so one ticket does both.

Map
Gardens

Best gardens in Marrakech

Six green spaces, two of them Almohad, and one built by an Austrian artist out in the palm country.
All 6 gardens →
Menara

Menara Gardens

Almohad basin

A twelfth-century olive grove around a vast irrigation basin, with a pavilion at one end and the Atlas behind. The most reproduced view in Morocco.

Map
South of the Kasbah

Agdal Gardens

Royal orchards

Royal orchards laid out in the twelfth century and still worked: hundreds of hectares of olive, orange and pomegranate, fed by channels off the Atlas.

Map
Medina edge

Cyber Parc

Free, public

An eighteenth-century garden on Avenue Mohammed V, restored as a public park with a lot of shade. The shortcut between Gueliz and the square that nobody uses.

Map
Route de l'Ourika

ANIMA Garden

Art garden

An art garden on the Ourika road: cactus and bamboo planted around works by Keith Haring and Rodin, with a café looking at the Atlas.

Map
Medina

Koutoubia Gardens

Free, floodlit

The rose beds and orange walks on the south side of the minaret, open, free and floodlit at night. The best place in the centre to sit with the tower.

Map
Palmeraie

La Palmeraie

Palm grove

The palm grove north-east of the city, planted under the Almoravids and now threaded with hotels. A calèche circuit or a camel hour at dusk is the standard way to see it.

Map
Museums

Best museums in Marrakech

Six collections, from a Saadian palace of confluences to contemporary African art on the edge of town.
All 6 museums →
Ben Youssef

Musée de Marrakech

Palace museum

A palace on Place Ben Youssef, built for a defence minister and now a museum of Moroccan art with a vast atrium. The building outranks the collection.

Map
Dar el Bacha

Musée des Confluences, Dar El Bacha

Restored pasha's house

The residence of the pasha of Marrakech until 1956, restored as a museum. The zellij and carved plaster are the best preserved of any open house in the city.

Map
Medina

Musée Boucharouite

Rag-rug textiles

A private collection of the rag rugs Amazigh women knot from recycled clothing when wool is not affordable. The most interesting textile display here.

Map
Al Maaden

MACAAL

Contemporary African art

An independent nonprofit south of the city showing contemporary African art from a permanent collection plus temporary shows. The only museum here doing current work.

Map↗ Website
Riad Zitoun Jdid

Musée Tiskiwin

Trans-Saharan collection

Bert Flint's collection, arranged as a journey down the caravan route to Timbuktu. Labelled with a scholar's attention and no interactive screens.

Map
Riad Zitoun Jdid

Dar Si Said

Weaving and carpets

A late nineteenth-century palace holding the national collection of weaving and carpets. The painted cedar dome on the first floor is worth the ticket alone.

Map
Hammams & spas

Best hammams and spas in Marrakech

Five, from a sixteenth-century public bath to the most expensive treatment room in the country.
All 5 hammams and spas →
Mouassine

Hammam Mouassine

Historic public hammam

A public hammam attached to the Mouassine mosque complex and in use since the sixteenth century. Expect a scrub that is brisk rather than soothing.

Map
Kasbah

Les Bains de Marrakech

Private hammam

The best-known spa in the Kasbah, running the full sequence of steam, black soap and rhassoul clay in private rooms. Book ahead: it fills.

Map
Derb Arset Aouzal

Heritage Spa

Traditional treatments

A medina spa built around traditional treatments with a modern list on top, and the one most consistently recommended for a first hammam.

Map
Dar el Bacha

Hammam de la Rose

Riad hammam

A smaller, calmer riad hammam near Dar el Bacha with rose-based products and massages that run longer than the standard hour. Good value against the spa hotels.

Map
Hivernage

Royal Mansour Spa

Palace hotel spa

A wrought-iron atrium of a spa inside the palace hotel the king had built, open by appointment. The only hour in Marrakech where the architecture is the treatment.

Map
Neighborhoods

Best neighborhoods in Marrakech

Six quarters, and what each one is actually for.
All 6 neighborhoods →
The MedinaCentre

The Medina

UNESCO World Heritage

The walled city, 19 kilometres of rampart around a lattice of derbs that dead-end without warning. Nothing in it is navigable by street name.

Map
North-west

Gueliz

Modern city

The ville nouvelle laid out in 1913: boulevards, galleries, concept stores and the restaurants locals actually book. The antidote when the medina gets heavy.

Map
The KasbahSouth medina

The Kasbah

Royal quarter

The royal quarter behind Bab Agnaou, holding the Saadian Tombs, El Badi and the Royal Palace. Quieter than the northern medina.

Map
South-east medina

The Mellah

Historic Jewish quarter

The Jewish quarter created in 1558, with the Lazama synagogue still in use. Balconies face the street here, which they do nowhere else in the medina.

Map
West

Hivernage

Hotels and nightlife

A garden district of hotels, clubs and the Théâtre Royal, built for people arriving by car. Where the city's nightlife concentrates, and where it is loudest.

Map
North-east

La Palmeraie

Resorts and villas

Villas, golf and resort hotels spread through the palm grove, roughly twenty minutes from the medina by taxi. Calm and green, and a poor base if you plan to walk.

Map
Day trips

Best day trips in Marrakech

Six runs out of the city, from a half-day in the foothills to an Atlantic port worth its own night.
All 6 day trips →
Ourika ValleyHigh Atlas

Ourika Valley

Half day, about 30 km

The nearest mountain escape, where the road follows a river up into Amazigh villages and ends at waterfalls. A half-day, cool in summer, busy on Sundays.

Map
Imlil and ToubkalHigh Atlas

Imlil and Toubkal

Full day or two

The trailhead for Jbel Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa. A day gets you a valley walk; the summit needs two days and a licensed guide.

Map
Agafay DesertWest

Agafay Desert

Half day, about 30 km

A rocky, lunar plateau thirty kilometres west. It is not the Sahara and nobody should sell it as such, but the sunset over the Atlas from a camp is the real thing.

Map
EssaouiraAtlantic coast

Essaouira

Overnight, about 175 km

The Atlantic port three hours west: a walled eighteenth-century medina, a working fishing harbour, gnaoua music and constant wind. Worth a night rather than a day.

MapWimup guide
Ouzoud FallsMiddle Atlas

Ouzoud Falls

Full day, about 150 km

A 110-metre cascade in the Middle Atlas, dropping in stages into a pool you can reach by boat. A long day, olive groves, and macaques in the trees.

Map
Aït Benhaddou and OuarzazateSouth of the Atlas

Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate

Overnight, about 190 km

Over the Tizi n'Tichka pass to the UNESCO-listed ksar and the film studios. Four hours each way, so take it as an overnight or the first leg of a desert run.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Marrakech (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Jan

Marrakech International Marathon

A road marathon and half marathon through the palm groves and past the Koutoubia in late January, when the temperature suits it.

Feb

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

The Marrakech edition of the contemporary African art fair, at La Mamounia, with gallery openings across Gueliz and the medina.

Feb–Mar

Ramadan

The lunar month moves eleven days earlier each year. Many restaurants close by day, and the square after sunset is the best.

May

Rose Festival, Kelaat M'Gouna

The rose harvest festival in the Dades Valley, with parades and a rose souk. The anchor of a southern road trip.

Jun

Marrakech du Rire

The comedy festival Jamel Debbouze founded in 2011, with a free open-air night on Jemaa el-Fna that fills the square.

30 Jul

Throne Day

The national holiday marking the king's accession, fixed to 30 July. Flags across the boulevards, and a lighter than usual medina.

Aug

Moussem of Setti Fatma

A four-day pilgrimage and country fair in the Ourika Valley combining a religious moussem with a large market.

Nov

Marrakech International Film Festival

The city's red-carpet week, with international juries and free public screenings projected onto a screen on Jemaa el-Fna.

Getting around

Marrakech transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
RAK

Marrakech Menara Airport

Six kilometres south-west of the centre. A petit taxi to the medina is a short run, and bus 19 links the terminals with Jemaa el-Fna. Agree the fare before getting in.

Map↗ Website
ONCF

Rail

Marrakech is the southern terminus of the national network. Trains run through the day to Casablanca in around three hours and on to Rabat, Fez and Tangier. Book online for Friday and Sunday services.

Map↗ Website
City and intercity

Buses and coaches

City buses cover Gueliz, the Palmeraie and the airport, cheap but slow against a taxi. For intercity travel the coaches from Bab Doukkala are the practical way to Essaouira.

Map
Petit and grand

Taxis and calèches

Beige petits taxis work inside the city and are metered, though the meter often needs asking for. Grands taxis run fixed routes out of town and are sold by the seat.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Marrakech, Morocco

The classics to order before you leave.
Couscous, Marrakech (Wimup travel guide)

Couscous

Steamed three times over the broth it is served with, and eaten on Friday after prayers rather than every day.

Tanjia marrakchia

The city's own dish: beef or lamb sealed in a clay urn and left in the ashes of the hammam furnace for hours.

Mechoui

Whole lamb slow-roasted in a pit oven until it pulls apart, sold by weight with cumin and salt.

Harira

The tomato, lentil and chickpea soup thickened with flour and finished with coriander.

Pastilla

A layered warqa pastry of pigeon or chicken with almonds, dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

Tagine

Named for the conical clay pot that traps the steam. Order lamb with prunes, or chicken with preserved lemon.

Babbouche

Snails simmered in a broth of thyme, liquorice root and aniseed, sold from steaming vats on the square.

Msemen and beghrir

Breakfast: a folded flatbread griddled until crisp, and a semolina pancake full of holes.

Marrakech fact sheet

Marrakech at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Morocco
Region
Marrakech-Safi
Population
About 1,002,700 (city, 2024 census)
Founded
Almoravid foundation, 1070 to 1072
Nickname
The Red City
Language
Arabic and Amazigh, French widely spoken
Currency
Moroccan dirham (MAD)
Time zone
UTC+1
Calling code
+212 524
Airports
Marrakech Menara (RAK)
Power
220V, types C and E
Emergency
19 police, 15 ambulance, 177 gendarmerie outside cities
Ideal length
3 to 4 days
Getting around
On foot in the medina, petit taxi beyond the walls
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • Morocco is named after Marrakech: the city's name passed into European languages as the name of the whole country.
  • The medina walls run about 19 kilometres and are built of rammed earth, which takes its colour from the local clay.
  • Jacques Majorelle trademarked the ultramarine he mixed for his garden studio in the 1930s, and the city now paints its shutters in it.
  • The Koutoubia minaret is 77 metres and nothing in the medina may rise above it. The same Almohad workshop produced the Giralda in Seville.
  • Water reaches the gardens through khettaras, sloping underground channels dug from the Atlas foothills.

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