Mesmerising Marrakech

After Casablanca, it’s Morocco's second largest city and the most important market and administrative region in southern Morocco. More upliftingly, alongside Fes, Marrakech was one of the great imperial capitals of the country's various dynasties, stretching back to medieval times. Marrakech IS Morocco -- a pleasure city with pleasure gardens, great imperial palaces, a buzzing market square which drew traders from far and wide to meet and exchange in commerce, and entertainment.

On a good day, the Atlas Mountains rise shimmering in the distance, and the low red buildings are warm and soft in the sun. It’s a city of colour and movement and sound, where there's always something going on – a workman shovelling gravel into his donkey cart, women judging the quality of the fruit on the stalls, vendors laying out a colourful array of eye-catching carpets, tanners setting out bright newly-dyed leather in the sun for drying, snake charmers playing hypnotic music to persuade the snake to sway (and you to part with your dirham).

Quick Tips:

Its physical and spiritual core is Djemaa El Fna "square," for centuries the marketplace; by day, a relatively modest collection of hawkers and OJ stalls, but by night, seeming to expand into acres of swirling smoke and smells rising from food outlets; circles of locals surrounding storytellers, acrobats and musicians; old ladies henna-daubing hands or binding hair…a swirling mass designed for local consumption and likely to continue whether or not tourists are there to enjoy it.

Other charms are focused nearby – you can enjoy days in Marrakech without ever visiting the new quarter ("Gueliz" or "Nouvelle Ville") – the narrow lanes of the souk; the old, Spanish-style carving and tiled floors of the Saadian Tombs; the lovely old Bahia Palace and inspiring ruins of the Badi palace (the oldest and largest, now in ruins, having been plundered over the centuries); the newly renovated Dar Si Said Museum, housing the Museum of Moroccan Arts; the Maison Tiskiwin, dedicated to the Dutch anthropologist who set it up; the Marrakech Museum; various peaceful gardens; la Mamounia Hotel; the city walls; the tannery region to the northeast; and the perfect Koutoubia Minaret, on the edge of the square.

Best Way To Get Around:

Almost everything in the medina area can be reached on foot -- you'll only need a taxi or a caleche (horse-drawn carriage) to go further afield or if you feel the urge to see the city at speed.

The airport is about 10km outside town, and there's a taxi-rank on arrival (you can also change money at pretty good rates at the airport bureaux de change), for which the fixed rate into the centre is 60 dirham during the day and 90 by night. By contrast, the caleche drivers are pretty greedy and seek to charge €10 for a modest trip -- even walking away shaking your head sadly may not persuade them to negotiate (Europeans are obviously pushing up the prices badly).

The guidebooks are mildly hysterical about the amount of harassment and hassle you may encounter, and predict in some cases that you'll be overwhelmed by the activity in, especially, Djemaa and the souk -- don't be alarmed or go with preconceptions! You can quite safely wander about the souk and on the streets without being accosted or scammed (though do, of course, keep your wits about you and your hand near-ish to your wallet).

A top notch hotel for the price (360-450Dh), it’s well positioned in the medina area, five minutes from the Djemaa. Formerly a riad (probably a merchants’ townhouse), you take breakfast at wrought iron tables in the Moorish courtyard, surrounded by potted palmtrees and flowers and the usual gloriously carved window and door-frames, with vines hanging from the wickerwork "roof" (more for shade than rain, I suspect). Breakfast (agree in advance each day what time you’d like it, varying from about 7:30 to 10am) comprises very good French bread with jams, eggs (sometimes boiled, sometimes scrambled), thin Moroccan pancakes (beghrir), and juice (marks off that it’s squash and not fresh).

The rooms are comfortable with tiled floors with colourful rugs or kilims, old sepia Moroccan photos on the walls with cedar-wood or bronze frames, and bright Berber cushions on the bedspreads. There’s also a sort of terrace on the top (third) floor, with fair views of the Koutoubia minaret for watching the sun go down.

Not surprisingly, the hotel’s booked way in advance, but there’s a twinned guesthouse operating under the same name just around the corner, which is also very good for the odd night (and slightly cheaper). This one is just down a tight and narrow road off the Zitoun el-Qedim, whereas the original Sherazade is right on the Derb Djamaa (though that's not that big a street either), so front facing rooms can suffer from a bit of motorcycle traffic noise.

This is one of several fairly simple restaurants to retire to for a lunchtime tagine or an afternoon apple tea, to rest or to watch the sun go down (or perhaps just to get away from the melee for a little while if it all gets too much). It's on the NE edge of the square and particularly sees quite a lot of coming and going from the Qessabin mosque next door -- in fact, at some times of the day, shortly after the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer ("Allah Akbar"), an eerie silence falls nearby as groups of men armed with prayer mats take up position for the ten minute service.

As to the restaurant itself, try to bag yourself of the two rows of tables facing out from the restaurant onto the square (which helps to minimise bickering as to who gets the view!). There is no rooftop terrace nor is the view panoramic of Djemaa El Fna but you can peacefully observe people coming and going and, if you are minded to talk to fellow travellers, it's a better set up to open conversation/pick their brains/share experiences.

Food is pretty cheap and cheerful and best of all there's no set menu to have to battle through if the heat has taken away your appetite (and the set menus have also shot up in price recently -- we didn't see one under about 120Dh/£8/$11 in October 2003). Prices here are very reasonable and you can mix and match - tagine (made with predominantly chicken/"meat" (which usually means lamb, mutton or occasionally goat)/veggie or couscous (with all or any of the aforementioned) for about 40Dh (both of which come with healthy helpings of veg in them too (carrots, potatoes, squash of some description, olives, celery or whatever seems to have been in the vegetable tray on that day!) or skewers of chicken with salad; soups (most famously of course, spicy harira, made with lamb stock and lentils) which is an utter bargain at about 15Dh and may very well fill you up at lunchtime if you dunk into it the great rounds of bread (ask them if they have the bread with cumin seeds sprinkled on top) of fresh and chewy bread, which tastes great with the soup. It's not licensed for alcohol but I'd recommend the drinks with dates and nuts (which turned out to be delicious and refreshing milkshakes). There's also a selection of fizzy drinks, OJ etc, mint and apple tea.

This late-19th century palace, Dar Mnebbi, started out as home to Mehdi Mnebbi, defence minister to Moulay Abdelziz; when he became Moroccan ambassador to London, he sold it to T'hami El Glaoui, Pasha of Marrakesh, and, on 1956 independence, the palace was taken over by the state. It operated as a girls’ school for a while but then, sadly, it was badly neglected until c1995 when a patron of the arts, Omar Benjoullan, acquired it for restoration. In March 1997, to much fanfare, the palace re-opened, this time as the Marrakech Museum.

The old kitchen area (douiria) has been transformed and now houses various permanent displays of jewellery, Arabic calligraphy (including several early Korans) and also more temporary, contemporary Moroccan art and sculpture. (Regrettably, the sign-posting is almost exclusively in Arabic, with some paintings titled in French). You can wander at will, rest awhile in the comfy chairs scattered around the quite spectacular main inner courtyard, whose tiled floor and columns and ornately carved niches are at once restful and exciting, or visit the old palace hamman (now also used for exhibiting paintings and sculpture), which is marked up for the various old changing rooms, cold room/warm room/hot room/resting and massage room.

When finally you’re done, there’s a bookshop selling guidebooks, keyfobs, etc. and postcards, and café outside in a picturesque court-yard, which was originally the stables area (though it’s fairly pricy by Marrakech standards at 16dh for a coffee). There are also young and up-coming local artists exhibited here. Guided tours are available if you ask when you buy your tickets.

Open until 6pm each day. Tickets 30dh. More details at musee.de.marrakech@iam.net.ma

This is both a stunningly beautiful building and also home to very impressive Museum of Moroccan Arts. Through a solid wooden and past the trick office (look opposite to the "notice-board" which will tell you about any temporary exhibits or particular things of interest at that time), you follow a well marked route by signposted cabinets of Berber jewellery and daggers, swords and other weapons, both intricate and deadly in design. The rooms themselves are glorious as well, doors and window-cases in painted cedar wood though sadly there's no photography allowed inside (and you'll find yourself shadowed by an apparently well-meaning chap, who isn't in fact a guide but more a guard). Eventually you'll go out into a lovely courtyard with fountains and orange groves and flowers (where you can take photos to your heart’s content).

In four chambers set off from the main courtyard, there are also interesting curios, like a selection of C18 barber’s implements and hamman tools, all beautifully preserved. Look out as well for the cabinets of costumes (including some wild hats) and the painted furniture.

Alongside the door panels, window frames and painted ceilings, there are also wedding chairs (apparently used for carrying the bride, veiled and hidden, to her new home) and painted, decorated prayer steps and lastly, don’t miss the fairground swings, shaped like a wooden Ferris wheel, and used for children until the early 1960s (they’re dismantled so you have to use your imagination a little).

Given that you can’t take photos, it’s a shame that there are no postcards on sale -- there are pictures of a guidebook (not a cheap option at 60dhm and anyway none seemed to be available for sale from the ticket-seller who looked blank and shrugged at the suggestion).

Open 9am-12.15pm and 3.15-5.30pm every day. Entrance fee 10dh.

Slightly off the beaten track (and signposted only when you are upon it look for a yellow sign over an unwelcoming door which looks for all the world like it is firmly closed and locked bang away and someone will eventually come grumbling to let you in) is a well-preserved riad or town-house, dating from the turn of C20 in Spanish-Moroccan style. It’s furnished from the collection of one Dr Bert Flint, a Dutch anthropologist, who has made Marrakech and Agadir his home since the 1950s.

On arrival, you’ll be handed a photocopied notebook to accompany your visit and explain what you are looking at. The rooms then take you through the lives and habits of the (mainly) Berber people, travelling alongside Dr Flint on a voyage from Morocco through sub-Saharan Africa to Timbuktu in Mali.

As well as straight exhibitions of bags and knives, costumes and camel saddles, there are carpets, fabrics, and jewellery from many different towns or regions, and some tableaux (complete with unconvincing models or waxworks, of the people at work or at home.

Apparently, Dr Flint formerly had a second museum in Agadir which also housed exhibits but that has recently closed and some items have been relocated to Marrakech (which may explain the rather higgledy-piggledy layout and occasional mismatch in exhibits.

Open 9.30-12.30pm and 3.15-6pm; entrance fee 15dh.

Originally a palace owned by the Grand Vizier, Si Ahmed Ben Moussa (better known as Bou Ahmed, a black slave who clawed his way to hold, in his twilight years, almost autocratic control as Protector for the young sultan, Abd El Aziz).

The Palace does not have any exhibitions as such its charm is in the beauty and ornate design of the building Bahia means "brilliance" and some of the workmanship is quite lovely, especially the painted cedar wood ceilings and some stained glass windows (though sadly these rooms are not at all well lit).

Beyond the main structure of the building is the harem, with colonnades and terraces, fountains and orange groves.

The Bahia seems to a favourite on the tour party list and they tend to come later on in the day so, to avoid the scrum, make for the Bahia as it opens (you can visit the less well-frequented sites like the Badi Palace later on, safe in the knowledge that tour parties will have moved on to the Saadian tombs and fewer crowds bother with the Badi or Tiskiwin).

The guidebooks will tell you that guided tours are obligatory, which is no longer the case. If you want a guide, you will have no shortage of offers but no one will force you if you choose to meander at will.

Open 8.30-11.45am and 2.30-5.45pm (closed winter months when the royal family is in occupation); entrance 10dh.

Beyond the ramparts at Bab Agnaou lies this highly underrated ruined palace. It’s well worth a visit being almost deserted (a refreshing change from the heaving crowds at the Saadian necropolis and Palais de la Bahia) and extremely atmospheric (though the peace can be broken somewhat by the erection of scaffolding in the centre--concerts are held here from time to time; the acoustics are good and it must make for a spooky location).

Judging by the impressive spread of the ruins, the palace seems to have extended across the whole area east of the Kasbah mosque (which you can see in the distance). It was built by Ahmed Al-Mansour between 1578 and 1602 and called at the time "the Incomparable" (if it was anything like the palaces which remain intact, you have to wonder whether apparent hyperbole wasn't likely in fact to have been a fair description--apparently, marble was imported from Italy and precious metals and stones used liberally). Unfortunately in 1696, Moulay Ismail was building his new city at Meknes in the north and ransacked the palace for materials so little is left. At the very rear of the ruins, you can just about make out some fresco remaining in place but it's a far cry from the splendour the palace must have enjoyed in its heyday.

You can scramble up and down over various areas, including climbing up some steps to the top of a two-storey building to the left as you enter (the Koubba al-Khamsinyya) to reach a terrace which presumably used to have fountains and tiled floors and columns (some of the columns remain). From here, you also have a great view across the sunken orange groves to a small temple building and the Kasbah mosque in the distance (see below).

On the far left hand side, beyond the orange groves, you can climb around the ruins of the palace kitchens and offices, through underground passages (bring a torch and mind your footing). It takes a little imagination (maybe that's why it's often ignored), but it's a peaceful and relaxing spot for a hour spent meandering and exploring.

It also seems a popular home to nesting storks, whose impressive constructions lean precariously from the narrow walls and chimney-tops (see photo below)-- the storks also form mighty swirling flocks at sunset.

Open 9am-5pm; entrance 10dh.

The Saadian dynasty, originally from Arabia, succeeded in gaining power in the mid C16 by their popular move to send the Portuguese invaders packing and allying with the Spanish. The Saadians only retained power for one or two generation and, at the same time that their successor, Moulay Ismail, pillaged the Badi palace, he decided to seal up the Saadian Tomb area (superstitious that their spirits would pursue him if he ransacked here too, he satisfied himself with blocking all but an obscure entrance from the kasbah mosque – despite this, it seems a few prominent Marrakechis were buried in the mausoleums up until 1792).

The necropolis lay semi-forgotten until early C20 when a French aerial map identified the hidden passageway which gave access from the kasbah mosque. Now restored, it seems to be the city’s "must-sees" and is consequently very busy with tour parties; but, no matter, it is spectacular sight – 66 Saadians are buried under two of the three main structures and there are child graves liberally scattered everyone; the third of the buildings (called the Hall of the Twelve Columns) contains the leading members of the family. It’s quite exhaustive in its detail and decoration--the zellij-covered tiled tombs are unfortunately quite dark and you can’t really appreciate the inner carvings of the doorway arches (see below).

The former compulsory guided tours have been suspended so you can wander about or sit towards the back next to the high walls where you can be shaded with shrubs and palms and bright flowers, admiring the dotted tomb tiling.

Daily 9am-5pm; 10dh.

The most in-your-face and memorable place in Marrakech, perhaps in the whole of Morocco, is the Djemaa El Fna, leaping and throbbing with life and movement and music. It draws you in and makes you feel dizzy with its sheer activity and pace.

Somewhat schizophrenic, by day, it seems quite an expanse as you sit on a bench in the small park area by the post office or one of the many rooftop terraces at a café with a panoramic view; just a marketplace with a few snake charmers, the odd storyteller or water salesman, perhaps an acrobat or two, plus the permanent feature of the fresh-orange-juice stalls (a refreshing snip at 2.5 dirham – less than 20p/25c).

As evening falls, though, it transforms into a circus of Berber music, pipes and clanging cymbals and drums, and movement, shifting circles of locals enjoying the street entertainment from musicians, clowns, and storytellers. The best aspect of the square is that you have the very distinct impression that most of its activity will go on just as it is, whether or not you and your kind are there – very little compromise for or targeting of Western visitors, so you can go about your business whilst the crowds of locals go about theirs. Though warned of the risk of being preyed upon by petty criminals or unwillingly drawn into the melee and then unburdened of some change, there seemed to be little (certainly no persistent) unwanted intrusion – that said, remember that the snake charmers, monkey handlers, and water vendors all make a living by posing for photos, so if you’re disposed to photograph them in particular, you may get some grief for snapping and then refusing a couple of dirham (in general, better to avoid the former anyway, since the snakes and monkeys don’t seem to have a great time of it).

Look out for the herb sellers/quack doctors/dentists, whose bizarre concoctions and lotions and potions are set out on the concrete before them, complete with all manner of equipment which would not look out of place in a torture chamber and the occasional apparently human remain in formaldehyde.

And then, visible from the square, is the gloriously dramatic Koutoubia Minaret -- nearly 70m tall and visible on the horizon from almost anywhere in the medina area of the city. It is the oldest of the trio of great Almohad towers (its brothers are the Hassan Tower in Rabat and Giralda in Seville) and dates from 1184-99, shortly after the Almohad conquest of the city. Its proportions founded classical design – the ratio 1:5 of width to height – with a band of turquoise ceramic inlay at the top. Also near the top are three copper balls (legend has it that the originals were of gold, given as penance for breaking the Ramadan fast).

The mosque itself is under excavation – a walk nearby will show you the sheer size of the original building. Next to it are small gardens where you can sit and admire. The Bibliotheque Municipale is also a fine building next door (see below).