Why go to Marrakech, Morocco’s fifth-largest city? For a start, Marrakech is an ideal destination to discover a taste of North Africa combined with French influence. The walled medina, where donkeys still transport goods, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tiled palaces are stunning and the souks–piled with pots, spice pyramids, and leather bags–will enchant every traveler.
But it may feel that every traveler is alongside you as you take a camel ride, luxuriate at a palace hotel, roar through dusty palms on a quad bike, and haggle in the souks. And at the end of the visit, perhaps there’s a tiny feeling you’ve missed out on a more authentic taste of Morocco.
Marrakech is easily accessible, with an endless supply of unforgettable experiences for travelers. There are also a few easy ways to immerse yourself in local culture.
Marrakech souk
Stay in a Traditional Riad
The Moroccan riad is a multi-level house with an interior courtyard or garden. Windows face inward for privacy, and the courtyard, with its plants and trees and sometimes a small pool, offers a cool retreat from the heat. A rooftop space will give access to Marrakech’s blazing sunsets.
For a real Marrakech experience, stay in a riad among the maze of narrow backstreets. You’ll soon find your way home as you begin to recognize the cats and kittens at each corner.
The walled medina has many boutique riad hotels, ideal if you enjoy an intimate atmosphere. Some of them are restaurants, where you can dine beneath towering palm trees in the central courtyard. The Dar Zellij–named after its traditional zellij mosaics–has preserved the original painted ceilings from the 17th century.
It’s also possible to book an individual room or an entire riad on platforms such as Airbnb. Some offer the services of a cook for breakfast and other meals, which is a good way to meet locals.
Traditional riad
Take a Food Tour
Marrakech has some swanky international restaurants, but to immerse yourself in the city’s culture, sign up for a food tour. From pastries and olives in the medina to sampling snails alongside locals in the chaotic Djemaa el-Fna square, you’ll sample local specialities you’d miss on your own.
Companies such as One Life Tours organize walking food tours with a knowledgeable guide who explains everything as you wander through the medina.
Marrakech food tour
Learn about Berber Culture
Berbers, also known as Imazighen, are an indigenous ethnic group scattered across North Africa. They have their own languages, and you’ll spot the symbols of the Tifinagh alphabet all around Marrakech.
A good place to start is the small Berber Museum within the Jardin Majorelle. The gardens themselves, restored by Yves Saint Laurent, are worthy of a visit, as are the two enclosed museums, one of which is the Berber Museum. Inside you’ll find hundreds of textile, wood, and metal items used by Morocco’s earliest inhabitants.
The mirrored chamber beneath a star-filled sky may well inspire you to take a trip into the nearby Atlas Mountains–that chain of peaks visible on the horizon as you drove in from the airport.
And why not? But you can be discerning. Hundreds of city offices, as well as hotels, sell tours to mountain waterfalls, where lines of tourists ‘hike’ along well-beaten paths. It’s far better to organize a private trip with a guide.
Atlas Mountains
There are companies who’ll put together a bespoke trip to suit your needs. Morocco Inspiring Tours has a flexible range of options. If hiking’s your thing, they’ll drive you out to the mountains to meet a guide. You’ll be led as far as you’re comfortable with into these rugged mountains.
If you prefer to be driven, their Five Valleys route takes you along a high road that winds above empty landscapes with scattered Berber villages. The mosques and mud houses cluster together, baked into the mountainsides.
Best of all is the option to end the tour with lunch in the garden of a Berber home. Here a family will cook and serve you tagine, a traditional meat or vegetable dish cooked in a low-sided circular ceramic pot, accompanied, of course, by endless mint tea.
Berber house
Get Scrubbed at a Hammam
The Moroccan hammam is a public bath whose Roman origins have been adapted to Islamic rituals. Public hammams offer the most authentic experience of removing the dust and dirt of the medina. You’ll wash yourself down, sweat out the dirt and then scrub away the dead skin with the locals (segregated by gender). You’ll need to wear underwear and take your own soap, shampoo, towel, and flip-flops.
If that sounds a little too public, there are plenty of private hammams–more like a spa experience–where everything is provided. Some of them, such as Les Bains d’Orient, accommodate couples who can take a joint session in a private room.
Immerse Yourself in Old Morocco
Everyone is a photographer these days, and Marrakech offers a perfect spot for the ‘gram at every corner. The Bahia Palace and the Ben Youssef Medersa are masterpieces of Islamic architecture. But the original inhabitants are long gone. Today it’s hard to gain a sense of history with hundreds of other tourists posing and clicking.
Bahia Palace, Marrakech
Fortunately, Marrakech is blessed with small museums to immerse you in Old Morocco. One of these is the Maison de la Photographie. This three-storey riad is now a gallery of vintage photography taken by European travelers from 1870 to the mid-20th century.
Photography enthusiasts will enjoy examples of early photography processes, such as glass plates, albumin, and the magic lantern. But the glimpse of Morocco’s lifestyle and landscapes in those images is what’s really captivating.
Back then, Morocco was a largely unknown country, and the collection reflects what these early photographers found interesting–the water carrier, the cattle herders, the mother and child beneath a fig tree. In other words, the day-to-day culture and people of a distant land. Some landscapes seem hardly changed today.
If you’re excited by experiencing the unfamiliar but appreciate options for a little comfort, you can’t go wrong with Marrakech. Enjoy all the city has to offer whilst dipping your toes into local culture. And if you’re fearful of traveling alone as a female, you may find my blog post here useful.
Marrakech night skyline
Fantastic article! Morocco’s allure is undeniable.