A few days in Marrakech Morocco

My oldest son and my wife have just returned from 5 days in Marrakech (28℃ during the days, 13℃ during the nights). And they loved it. It's not a town to stay for more than 6 days or so. But it's perhaps a nice spot to go to during the winter.

There's definitely a French influence in Marrakech (and a Yves St. Laurent Museum with a beautiful garden) and they did a trip with a guide into the desert. And they spent a day a the Royal Marrakech Golf Club, which is a A+ location if you play golf.

It's not the busiest holiday period and they stayed in a small (only 6 rooms) hotel. The food was fantastic and punctuality is one of the people's virtues there.

On behalf of them: recommended.

My wife keeps trying to get us to go here https://www.virginlimitededition.com/kasbah-tamadot/ but it's eyewateringly expensive

Did go riding on the Marakesh express?...........

I`ll get my coat

We've just booked to go to Morocco later this year, suspect we'll spend a day in Marrakesh but it'll mostly be r&r.

Just had a quick look on Booking.com and Marrakech and Casablanca are cheap as chips for hotel accommodation!

That really appeals - some further investigation is required.

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Originally Posted by blackal

Just had a quick look on Booking.com and Marrakech and Casablanca are cheap as chips for hotel accommodation!

That really appeals - some further investigation is required.

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Wouldn't bother with Casa TBH, not much to see apart from Hassan II mosque.

Been twice staying one week each time, my wife and I both loved it. The first time we did a day trip into the Atlas Mountains which was very enlightening how the Berber people live. The city is beautiful with the Medina being so full of history. The main Square is full of locals pushing for your dollar in very tacky ways, but just ignore and they go away. One tip is to hire a guide when doing the Bazaar as it’s huge and very easy to get lost.

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Originally Posted by hilly10

Been twice staying one week each time, my wife and I both loved it. The first time we did a day trip into the Atlas Mountains which was very enlightening how the Berber people live. The city is beautiful with the Medina being so full of history. The main Square is full of locals pushing for your dollar in very tacky ways, but just ignore and they go away. One tip is to hire a guide when doing the Bazaar as it’s huge and very easy to get lost.

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Exactly this. One advantage they had: my oldest has the looks of a local. My wife speaks a little Arabic from the days she was an NGO employee and worked in North Africa. So no hassle for them when in the Bazaar.

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Just had a quick look on Booking.com and Marrakech and Casablanca are cheap as chips for hotel accommodation!

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They stayed at the Riad Dar Yasaman. https://www.booking.com/hotel/ma/dar...lang_changed=1 My wife thinks that the 9.2 recommendation is correct. One attention point: the mosque's azan starts around 7AM and is very clear. You can hear it inside the hotel room. But I guess that's part of being in Africa.

About golf: you don't need to take your full golf set. You can rent it there for walking the holes (or how its calle) or stay on the driving range. A full day at the driving range is € 15 per day, per person. You can call them for a booking when you're in town.

When going to the desert: they had booked a private tour with a guide and his own Land Cruiser. No other tourists etc. A 4x4 is preferable; a mini bus is a ticket for a shorter road trip and long(er) hike to the scenic spots. At 28℃ in the desert not very desirable. I have to ask how they found that guy.

Eating and drinking: a coffee is 5Dh, that's ± 0.30 GBP. Lunch and dinner is good. But a posh restaurant with posh prices is no guarantee for a good meal. Modest-looking restaurants serve better food and are a lot cheaper. A cup of tea is something else than you'll get in the UK...

The sad thing is that the climate change has reached Morocco as well. Marrakech is surrounded by mountains, some 4,000 m. high. Normally there should be snow on those mountains this time of the year. But not now. Not a single snowflake. It's currently dry as a bone. According to my son: "Think of the UK in 2018: everything that should be green is now brown".

Most younger people speak English. But when you speak French, things get a lot easier.

Great option for half term with the short flight and lack of time difference.

Stayed in the Nobu hotel which was great for a central location and then a riad hotel 10 mins outside the city for a more peaceful option.

We had guides for both the medina and the Atlas mountains, worthwhile in both cases.

Personally feel a few days is plenty and don’t forget the Imodium,. Tired of tagine by the end of the week, good snails in Al Fnar Fnar square but hygiene suspect. I loathe markets/ shopping at the best of times so perhaps not the best venue for me.

We did stay the week in a Riad in the heart of the funky cold medina for clarity, rather than a posh hotel where I imagine the grittiness at street levels a bit more muted, you’d feel more cosseted at days end, leastways I would like to think.

Climate change is everywhere tbh.

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Originally Posted by adrianw

My wife keeps trying to get us to go here https://www.virginlimitededition.com/kasbah-tamadot/ but it's eyewateringly expensive

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I can thoroughly recommend this place - https://kasbahtoubkal.com/en/ - not quite Tamadot (although you'll pass it on the way up to Toubkal). Obviously had a rough time with September's earthquake. Imlil / Aremd (below) were quite badly hit, so could do with the visitors...

https://live.staticflickr.com/804/41...2dadccb0_h.jpg

If anyone is thinking of Marrakech and wants rural relation AND city life then I would absolutely recommend Tigmi: https://www.tigmi.com/. It's about 45 minutes or so from the centre within sight of the foot of the Atlas mountains. They offer four times daily drop offs in the city including for evenings and late nights and you can enjoy the frenetic pace of the city, visit the sights and then have an evening or a day by the pool, looking at the mountains or stargazing from the rooftop. It's magical. Food is excellent, rooms simple and rustic but with luxury appointments, staff were great and the convenience of being collected and delivered to a from the city was great. There were all sorts of local guided activities we didn't do and they do have weeks of yoga and other retreats., I've spent a fair amount of time in Marrakech before and this was one of the best ways of combining city and relaxation without a bank-account threatening hotel/riad in the centre.

Marrakech sounds alright.

We went to Tangier many years ago and it was horrible. People trying to drag you into their shops etc etc in the North African fashion. Never a minutes peace.

Put me off Morocco TBH.

Mind you, it was better than Tunisia. :apathy:

It's a fabulous place for a minibreak.
Fantastic food as well.

I have recently returned from a 3,000 month long trip around Morocco in a motor home and part of our journey took us to Marrakech. Being tourists we wanted to check out the medina - it's an intense crazy place but an experience! Only did a day visit so can't really advice on places to visit outside of the market. I wouldn't bother with market again myself as I'm not really a 'shopper' for the type of goods that are being sold but it was good fun for a day.

Morocco is a great place for a holiday and on our trip we met loads of very friendly local people. Food is good and not expensive and whilst I think as a tourist you will always pay more for any goods/services/food, etc than the locals do, it is still very cheap - just get used to haggling!

Being there for a few weeks gave us the chance to see the other side of Morocco that many don't see on a shorter trip and that's what we were after. 'Wild camping' is not permitted (well, you can but if seen, the police will move you to a campsite). We often stayed in the grounds of nice hotels that had mini break customers who have flown in and we were allowed to eat in the restaurants and use the bar and pools and I can deffo see the appeal!

We tend to go to Morocco for a week in November. We’ve tried Marrakesh, Agadir & Taghazout.
We did Marrakesh in the middle of summer actually (roasty toasty), but we didn’t find Marrakesh particularly relaxing. We stayed at a Riu hotel and it was full of louts. The souk was something we wanted to visit, but couldn’t leave quickly enough. Group of 6 of us, and we were being followed for about 30mins. Wouldn’t return.

Agadir in November is good though if it’s just R&R you want. Can take a stroll up to the Marina for coffee/cake along the beach road with no hassle from anyone.
Taghazout is similar, and has good surf.