After four days in Marrakesh, here’s everything I wish I knew before visiting I think you should know before your first visit. I’ve tried to order chronologically.
Mosques play a prayer at 6am
Not knowing this before I visited, I was confused what was happening on the first morning at 6am. Our riad was next to a mosque so it was extra loud, but there are so many I’m not sure if you can find a road or hotel where you won’t be woken up. Something to keep in mind when researching a place to stay in Marrakech.
Book restaurants in advance
I recommend booking any rooftop bars in advance. For example El Fenn was booked 2 weeks in advance so we missed out on dinner, but we did walk in after lunch for a drink and it was still worth it.
Book YSL Museum and Gardens in advance
With many attractions in Marrakech, you can’t book a time slot online, but with YSL Museum and Garden you can. It was busy so I recommend booking in advance, it was my favourite attraction in Marrakesh so well worth visiting.
Although there is no English descriptions in the YSL museum so this may not be with buying a ticket for.
Moroccan Dirhams is closed currency
What closed currency means is you cannot exchange for Moroccan Dirhams outside of Morocco.
When you pass customs at ZZZ airport, you’ll see a few currency booths directly ahead of you. I think the first booth is commission free which I only found out after we visited the second both which does charge a commission.
We also used an ATM in the city centre of Marrakech which was absolutely fine to use in the end as there’s an English option.
Marrakesh isn’t part of UK mobile plans
It’s been a while since I’ve had to use a paper map on holiday. The experience made me realise how much I rely on roaming data. Not just for maps, but for browsing places to eat and drink, closing times etc.
I recommend downloading Google Maps before your flight to make navigating easier. I’d go over step further and save attractions and restaurants you want to visit.
Most people speak French and English
People in the souks are pretty fluent in English so communication was no trouble at all.
You will be quizzed by customs
Customs will quiz you more than European customs I found. They asked me what I do for a living and where I was staying in Marrakech. Not great for people who rely on their partner to plan their holiday like myself!
Taxis are reasonable, but they might quote you an overcharged price
Our prebooked taxi to and from the road was reasonable. But when we enquired about a taxi at the main square, we were extremely overquoted 50 dirhams for a 5 minute journey in the taxi. We said we only had 15 dirhams and they accepted that so haggle with your taxi driver before stepping into the taxi.
Marrakesh is walkable
Marrakesh city centre is small enough that you can walk between attractions, I’d say a minimum of two days however.
Cars won’t stop at crossing
Similar to my experience in Rome, cars will not stop at zebra crossings as they do in the UK. You will have to bravely step out into the road (they will stop for this) or wait for a local to cross and join them.
Tombs, line still busy at 3pm, closes at 4pm so visit earlier to make sure you get to enter
No photos in YSL museum, descriptions in French and Arabic.
Everywhere accepts euros
We found taxi drivers, restaurants and the souks all accepted Euros. In hindsight we should have exchanged for Euros beforehand so buying Moroccan Dirhams was one less stress.
Plenty of vegetarian places to eat
My wife is vegetarian which can be tricky to find a good menu with a variety of vegetarian dishes. But we found all the restaurants had a good selection to choose from, whether it be tagines or small plates.
Rooftop restaurants are similar in price to London
I don’t know why I thought Marrakesh restaurants would be different, but I thought prices for meals would be cheaper than London. I’d say they were similar in price. For example, it was £16 for a burger.
Granted, we didn’t eat at street food places so I’m sure prices at the souks for example are cheaper.
Tipping is not customary
But as always it’s appreciated. We found some restaurants added a service charge (around 10% I think).
Attractions are cash only
Most attractions we visited are cash only so don’t rely on your debit/credit card when visiting Marrakech. You can also pay in Euros.
Watch your back for motorcyclists/walk on the right-hand side
The issue that stressed me out most wandering around Marrakesh was the contestant danger of scooters. My wife was slightly clipped once.
Scooters are allowed to drive in the souks, so be careful of “window shopping” and staying too far I to the middle where scooters tend to drive. Also important to note you walk on the right-hand side of souks.
Haggling at the market
Traders were a little more strong on price then I thought they would be. Don’t expect bargains on everything, so traders will say no and accept not making a sale.
As a general rule, I think haggling at least 50% is a good starting point. Some will budge, others won’t. For example, we were quoted 600dh for big plate so we walked away. The trader then shouted “150dh” as we left.
Use Google Maps when visiting the Souks
The souks are a maze and it’s giant. We couldn’t find a shop we wanted to revisit later so I recommend saving the location in Google Maps.
Have a drink on the balcony in Medina
If you like people watching, I recommend having a drink on the balcony in Medina. I found the streets of Marrakesh a little too hectic, but from here I could observe the chaos of life from a safe distance.
We had a drink at the Cafe de France. Here’s the view.
I didn’t find the stalls at the Medina particularly interesting.
