Article by Index Digital Team | 22nd December 2022

Magical Morocco and the Majestic City of Marrakech

Index Digital Publisher Stephen Gurney reflects on an amazing trip to Morocco.

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After only a three-hour flight from Gatwick I arrived in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, a vibrant spot, bursting with culture and history. Set in the backdrop of the beautiful Atlas Mountains it’s the ideal location to begin my Moroccan adventures before exploring the wider area.

I immersed myself in the Marrakech experience and stayed at the Riad Atlas Mejbar. Riads are large round houses with no roofs dotted around the Medina (old town), and this property was just the ticket for a weary traveller.

After a comfortable slumber I was up with the larks and I set out to discover what the city has to offer. Confused by directions I ended up lost in the souks of the Jemaa el-Fna square and the spectacle was a real shock to the senses. A swirling maelstrom of attractions vied for my attention. Cobra snake charmers, people selling monkeys, juice vendors, ladies offering to paint Henna on hands and feet, horses and carts thundering by, and enticing aromas spilling out from a variety of outdoor and indoor restaurants.

It’s a bit overwhelming when fresh from the UK but it’s a good experience, generally. For those skilled in the art of bartering, Marrakech is a shopper’s paradise but, alas, I am inexperienced in this field and decided just to browse along the many colourful stalls crammed with trinkets galore.

Lunch at the Café de France, overlooking the Jemaa el-Fna square, is a great spot for people-watching as all roads in the old town lead to the square. The northern end of the Medina, leading to the square, goes through more bustling souks and precariously passes shops with a never-ending trail of bikes and cars shooting past donkeys, horses, people steering horses and carts – yeah it’s a bit of a mad experience! For those visiting Morocco for the first time, it may take a bit of getting used to, but for those seeking a thrill, this is the centre of the action!

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There is some concern in the area with regard to pick-pocketing (probably no worse than central London) so you just have to be sensible, wear a money belt or keep your wallet in your front pocket. Most people in this area are trying to sell you something so you have to be fairly firm in saying ‘no, thank you’ and avoid making eye contact unless you want to buy. It’s quite a balancing act, and I suggest that you only go out in the Medina with what you intend to spend. However, it’s probably one of the most exotic and alluring marketplaces in the world.

After wandering around for some time I gave in to temptation and bought a leather jacket – I asked a local where I could get one and he took me down lots of back roads. I was a bit unsure about what was going on and then I arrived in this lovely leather factory. I ended up with a beautiful jacket so it’s a balance of trust and keeping your wits about you. I have no idea if I paid the right amount, but I gave negotiating my best shot!

A good guidebook is the Lonely Planet Guide to Morocco, which I found very helpful. it does feel generally quite safe in the Medina and the advice is that Morocco is a safe country.

By day two I was learning more and more, although I realised that I had been scammed a couple of times, but luckily only small amounts of money. The salesmen in the souks are extremely good at what they do but being scammed out of small amounts of money is really part of the experience. The general rule of thumb is to offer half the stated price and accept just over.

You can cover the Medina on foot and getting lost in the myriad of buzzing alleyways is part of the attraction. Be wary of the unofficial guides offering to show you the way. A polite ‘no, thank you’ will normally get rid of them. After a few days you do get pestered less. A good tip to find your way around is to download Maps.me which I found invaluable.

My top tips are:

Get lost wandering in the souks (with Maps.me to bail you out eventually)
Walk through the souks to the square of Jemaa el-Fna especially around dusk when it all happens.
Lunch or coffee upstairs at the Cafe de France overlooking the buzzing Jemaa el-Fna square is a treat.
Visit Bahia Palace and the gardens.
Indulge in a hammam (where locals go to get clean, bond and clear their minds) which involves going into a men's or ladies’ only room, lying on a ceramic floor and being scrubbed clean to within an inch of your life! It’s a very interesting experience! You will feel great, so it’s definitely a must-do to get a taste of the local way. I suggest choosing the traditional hammam as opposed to a spa, but you might want to take your own oils and scrub, which you can buy in one of the local shops before you go in.
Take a horse and carriage ride around the city from Jemaa el-Fna square. Negotiate first to secure the price and the same with the petit taxis.
Also by the square, visit the Koutoubia Mosque (you cannot go in unless you are Muslim) but it’s stunning just to look at, especially around prayer-times.
There are so many great restaurants to try but I enjoyed Limoni in the Medina. The menu offers a mixture of Italian and Moroccan dishes, the venue is stylish and the service is good. Also Nomad in the Medina is highly rated.
Have lunch in the new town at The Grand Café de la Poste in Gueliz.

Winston Churchill once described Marrakech as ‘the most beautiful place on earth to take an afternoon tea’, when he visited the city with Franklin Roosevelt. Sip on a mint tea at Hotel Ali in the square, it’s great for watching the world go by and also you can change cash next door commission free.

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Essaouira is another popular city and only a three-hour car/bus ride from Marrakech. This windy city, by the sea, features a small Medina and a more laid-back hippy vibe. It’s a big kite-surfing and windsurfing centre due to the strong Atlantic winds, so it’s not really a sunbathing tourist destination like Agadir, which is three hours down the road.

It’s a definite change from Marrakech, much more relaxed and a great place to visit to admire the Medina in the old, fortified town, the port, and the myriad of large blue fishing vessels bobbing on the waters. You can eat fresh fish straight off the boat in the outdoor barbecue eateries and it has a very buzzy atmosphere, if a little smelly. The fishermen seem to be too laid back, sitting in between the nets, and smoking the local hashish (apparently!). It makes you wonder if they ever they go out on the water.

The atmosphere and pace in the Medina here is much more relaxed than Marrakech but you do still get approached by the salesmen, just less frequently. Also, there are not zillions of motorbikes racing past you.

The choice of great restaurants and cafes seems endless but here are my top tips:

Stay at Les Terrasses d'Essaouira, a traditional riad run by a nice team of people.
Or Villa Maroc – a more boutique type property.
For a great sea view and a modern hotel, consider the Hotel Cote Ocean Mogador.
Enjoy lunch/dinner at Riad Ali Baba in the old town, the calamari and vegetable cous cous was fabulous and this is a family-run and Morrocan-owned venue.
Sip on a coffee or Moroccan mint tea in any of the bars in the main square (Moulay Hassan) by the port and a sunset drink at Taros roof bar also in the square.
Rent a push bike for the day. It’s a good way to see the back streets and further up the beach where there are some nice chill-out bars by the herds of camels. Rent a bike at https://essaouirabikes.com/
Lunch at one of the Blue huts by the fishing boats. You pick your fish and they cook it there and then. (See image below)
Again, just wander around the Medina and the wall by the sea, admire the 18th century seafront ramparts called the Skala de la Kasbah, which surround the Medina and were originally built by Europeans to protect the Old town.

The Atlas Mountains and Ouarzazate

Two weeks later I met Nicola at the airport and we took a cab 30 minutes outside the city to Fawakay Villas run by Francis and his wife Dawn (English owners) and his wonderful team. The property is set in large grounds and consists of four large villas and two to three Moroccan-style dwellings with inbuilt fires. Donkeys, cats and dogs wander around and it’s a lovely property away from the madness of the city.

With Francis’ help and some trepidation we decided to hire a car (great contact for car hire Karim at dikacar@hotmail.fr) to drive to the Atlas Mountains and to Ouarzazate the gateway to the Sahara. It’s about a four-hour drive through the mountains, made slower by a new fast road being built and lots of roadworks. The drive through the mountains is spectacular and it’s a good road interspersed with small villages selling all sorts of local produce by the side of the road.

Ouarzazate (war-zazat) is a sprawling town that for centuries people from the Atlas Mountains and desert came to do business at the sprawling Taourirt Kasbah. The new town was built in the 1920s by the French occupiers to oversee their colonial interests in the region. After the French left in the 1950s it became famous for films and TV programmes such as Jewel of the Nile, Game of Thrones, Gladiator and many more Hollywood block-busters. There are four big film sets in the town including the Atlas film studios that has been left as a film set for tourism.

We stayed just outside Ouarzazate in the fabulous Riad Chay by the river. A beautiful Riad with far-reaching views of the mountains and set in a tiny Moroccan village where the village kids followed us on our way to visit the Kasbah, and they were fascinated by these European tourists. We were taken, by the kids, to a hut where the ladies (no men allowed in) bake bread for the village and they gave us a large piece of freshly-baked round bread to take with us.

We were struck by how lovely the people generally are everywhere we went. Okay, in the Medina they are very pushy but overall our experience was of a warm, kind, friendly people.

Ideally, we wanted to make it to Merzouga, the actual start of the Sahara Desert, and we dreamed of a night under the stars twinkling in the inky desert sky but, alas, another time…

Morocco is simply magical and we are sure to return.