Top 10 sites to visit in Marrakech

Do you've got got only a weekend to go away, attain a vacation spot some distance sufficient away to get out of the each day recurring and delight in a mystical place? Don't be afraid that multiple days are too few to go to a stunning town like Marrakech! From the charming location of the Medina , enclosed in the historical medieval walls, wherein you may go to the well-known souks and be hypnotized through snake charmers, to the outstanding Koutubia, the maximum crucial mosque withinside the town to attain the maximum cutting-edge and glamorous districts, Marrakech is a a town that is aware of the way to win the sympathy of vacationers and the way to make their live magical. Marrakech can be capable of come up with the overall concept of its precise distinctiveness through taking benefit of the primary factors of hobby, taking walks via the streets of the vintage town and staying withinside the riads, the feature homes of the Berber tradition: you'll be capable of deliver with you a dense, colourful memory, from highly spiced scents and one thousand and one nights atmosphere . You may be stimulated through this town teeming with traditions to take unforgettable photographs, narrate your feelings in a tour tale and proportion your studies with digital buddies and now no longer via social networks. Below you may discover a manual on what to look in Marrakech and the locations of hobby you should not miss : permit your self be over excited through this stunning town and take benefit of the few hours at your disposal to make even a small excursion special. For a higher enjoy with locals, you may discover a tour organisation in Morocco so that it will manual you even higher withinside the towns like Marrakech. Are you equipped to condense your energies and go away for the purple town making complete use of the times available? So right here are the first-class activities and notice in Marrakech !

Here are the top 10 things to explore :

1 - Visit the El Badi Palace

Legend has it that on the day of El Badi 's grand opening , the Saadian sultan turned to the court jester for his opinion on the extravagant new palace. The jester's answer? "It will be a magnificent ruin . "

This palace, or rather, the ruins of this palace represent another very important tourist destination if you want to visit Marrakech.

Built in the 16th century by the Sadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur al Dhahabi, it originally had over 300 rooms finely decorated with Italian marble and African gold. The magnificence of this structure, its gardens and its particular architecture will leave you speechless.

For a few dirhams, you can also admire the mimbar, the pulpit of the famous Koutubia mosque, the most important in Marrakech.

That jester was the wisest man in the whole palace!

Where is it : Ksibat Nhass

Hours : every day from 8:00 to 17:00

2 - Place de la Kissaria

Place de la Kissaria is a large and spacious square surrounded by shops and buildings with a Moroccan architectural style.

Visiting this fascinating place, you will come across not only its structural wonders but also the oldest mosque in the city, the Ben Youssef, and the museum of Marrakech.

This square is a real wonder, let yourself be enchanted!

3 - The Dar Si Said museum

After your lunch break, you could immerse yourself in the local culture: the Moroccan art museum Dar Si Said will await you with its numerous works.

This museum is the oldest in the city, it is on two levels and has numerous finely decorated internal courtyards.

The building itself is a work of art, but the pieces preserved in it make up the most important Moroccan collection.

Where is it : 8 Rue de la Bahia

Hours : Wed - Mon 10:00 - 18:00

4 - El Bahia Palace

Near the Da Si Said Moroccan art museum there is another architectural marvel to admire: the El Bahia palace is one of the most architecturally important structures in the entire city of Marrakech. The palace dates back to the late 1800s and it took over a decade to complete its construction.

The palace extends over 8 hectares and consists of 150 rooms that surround numerous gardens and courtyards. The Palace's Courtyard of Honor will undoubtedly leave you speechless and the rooms, although completely empty, will fascinate you with the decorative details of the ceilings.

The most fascinating place to visit inside the palace is the Harem of the 4 brides and 24 concubines.

Where is it : Avenue Imam El Ghazali

Hours : Every day from 09:00 to 16:30

5 - Stay in a Riad

If you are looking for where to sleep in Marrakech , let me give you some advice: although there are many splendid hotels, to get a taste of this centuries-old city, try to opt instead for one of the wonderful Moroccan Riads within the walls of the medina.

As well as being fantastically, uniquely Moroccan, they offer an oasis of aesthetic and tranquil calm, essential for any visitor spending a day or two in this city.

6 - Admire the view over Jeema El-Fnaa Square

I personally don't like Plaza Jemaa el-Fnaa ; compared to the beauty found in the medina of Marrakech, in my opinion this square represents all that is the ugly side of tourism.

There are men with chained monkeys, unsavory characters, scammers and pickpockets abound, restaurants are expensive far above average, and typically the price doesn't justify the dubious quality.

But I have to be completely honest : sitting sipping another mint tea (probably the thousandth in two days in Marrakech) on a terrace overlooking the square I thought that was one of the best moments of my entire trip.

A real PRO tip

Almost all the bars and clubs around the square have a panoramic terrace from which to sip a mint tea while observing the square. But if you are looking for THE balcony, the one from which to take the iconic photo of the square you have to go to “ Le Gran Balcon du Café Glacier “. Try not to get food, food is not the best. Opt for another drink.

Even if you want to avoid it, on your visit to Marrakech you probably won't be able to avoid passing through Jemaa el-Fnaa.

There will be things you won't like, but try to get the best of them: try the fried fish offered at one of the many lively stands and let yourself be carried away by the din and chaos.

This evening food tour , which takes you through the souks and then to dinner at Jemaa el-Fnaa, is a popular thing to do in Marrakech.

7- Lunch with local specialties

If you want to take a break and stop for lunch, the Medina area offers plenty of ideas for enjoying some traditional local delicacies .

You could taste the tagine, a dish that combines meat and vegetables cooked together for hours in terracotta: an unmissable flavor that comes directly from the past!

Have you ever thought of going to Morocco without taking away the satisfaction of tasting a real and authentic dish of couscous? I guess not! You will have the chance to taste the authentic Moroccan couscous prepared by the most skilled and expert hands you can find.

If you like particular flavors and you are not afraid of the combination of dishes that you would never have thought of eating together, surely you will have to try the pastilla: a light pastry created starting from a sort of batter filled with meat, almonds, onions and spices accompanied by powdered sugar.

8 - Visit the Agafay desert

If you wish to visit the desert, then the Agafay desert - although not as famous or sandy as the Sahara - is easily accessible from the city (unfortunately visiting the Merzouga desert from Marrakech takes 3 days minimum). You can do it with an agency that offers the 3 days tour from Marrakech to Merzouga desert

Located between the Atlas Mountains and Marrakech, the Agafay is a great day trip.

Here you won't find the particular sand dunes you might imagine, but you will find rocky, barren and seemingly lifeless terrain that is difficult to fully comprehend in its scarcity.

Honestly, even if it lacks the charm of the dunes, I find it very interesting: you could visit some local village and discover in disbelief how people managed to survive and thrive in a place like this!

9 - Visit the tanneries

After your days of intense tourism, culture and history, relaxing with some local crafts never hurts! And why not, if you are fascinated by the products, you can also indulge in shopping!

In Marrakech you will find several tanneries , of ancient origin and where tradition reigns supreme. Inside them, you will be able to learn the process by which leather becomes leather, listening to traditional Moroccan techniques and observing the craftsmen at work.

Okay, they have nothing to do with the Fez tanneries which are a bomb, but a visit, if you have time, they deserve it.

The Marrakech tannery is about a 15-minute walk from the souks. At the entrance to the tanneries, someone will inevitably offer to offer you a guided tour of the tanneries, but if you really want to do it, bargain the price .

During the short tour (10 minutes) you will see dozens of workers working on open-air tubs, soaking the leathers to treat them before dyeing them in various colors and then stepping on them in the hot sun to distribute the pigment.

The smell in the tanneries is pretty horrible, they will offer you a sprig of mint to put under your nose, I advise you to accept it .

A big problem with Marrakech tanneries is that travelers are often scammed into coming here. The “tannery scam” is a very well organized and common scam in Marrakech and one that local authorities seem not to do too much to prevent.

This actually happened to us on our second day in the city, as does dozens of tourists every single day. You will be offered by some guys to take you on a tour of the livestock market and they will actually take you to the tanneries. Be careful not to get fooled. If you want to organize a tour ask your Riad for a reliable guide.

Obviously after the tour you will be taken to a leather shop (it also happens in Fez), you decide if you want to buy something or not.

Be careful because you will be asked for money in an insistent way, so insistent that it makes you uncomfortable. They also showed aggression to me and in the end I screamed more than them, only for this reason I managed to escape it.

10 - Take a day tour from Marrakech

Two days to visit Marrakech are enough in my opinion. After two days spent in the streets, you will be dead tired and you will also be a little tired of the vendors who pull you all over the place, who force you undeterred to enter their shops. There actually many sites to visit, the most admired of them is the desert, you can find in Marrakech agencies who offer desert tours from Marrakech and you can have a special experience on the camles and go camping also.

You will be tired of doing the slalom between donkey shits and holes on the roads and you will want to give yourself a few moments of relaxation but without losing even a minute of your visit.