In this article, I decided to go back in time and tell you about my honeymoon trip to Marrakesh a year and a half ago. It was a memorable trip for both me and my husband as, on top of being our honeymoon, it was our first trip ever on the African continent. We were delighted to discover this colorful capital, so different from European cities.

OUR ITINERARY

• DAY 1: Exploring the city center
• DAY 2: Saadian Tombs + Bahia Palace + Medersa Ben Youssef
• DAY 3: Discovering the modern city + Menara Gardens
• DAY 4: Majorelle Garden + Yves Saint Laurent Museum
• DAY 5: Dar Si Said Museum + El Badi Palace + Secret Garden
• DAY 6: Mouassine Music Museum + Souks

DAY 1: EXPLORING THE CITY CENTER

On our first day in the city, we basically walked a lot around the city center to ubicate ourselves as Marrakesh was a completely different city than any we had visited so far.

One of the first things we looked for was Hotel Ali, known for being the cheapest place to exchange euros into dirhams in the city. Located right in the center, near the famous Jemaa El Fna Square, this currency exchange bureau is unmissable due to the constant queue of people in front of it. The exchange rates are really interesting. It is worth taking half an hour of your time to get all the cash you need in the local currency for the rest of your trip.

We also checked out the Koutoubia Mosque. Unfortunately, all the mosques that we have seen in Morocco were closed off to touristic visits. However, we were still able to admire its architecture from outside.

One of the places that we also encountered by chance and loved on this first day was the Ensemble Artisanal. This is a center where you will find all kinds of local artisans. Many of them are making shoes, jewelry and other pieces of local craftmanship right in front of you in their shop. You will also particularly love this center if you prefer buying with fixed prices without having to negotiate for each item. The prices might be a little higher than in the souks but, if you prefer a quieter shopping experience, you will love it.

DAY 2: SAADIAN TOMBS, BAHIA PALACE AND MEDERSA BEN YOUSSEF

After a delicious breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our riad with a great view onto Marrakesh’s skyline, we headed for a day full of cultural discoveries.

First stop at the Saadian Tombs

The Saadian Tombs are a 16th century monument built by a Sultan at the time to honor and pay tribute to his ancestors. Nowadays, it is also a place for visitors like me to marvel at the beautiful Moroccan architecture with lots of wooden carved ceilings, stucco moldings and ceramic tiles. The entrance fee to the Saadian tombs is of 70 dirhams per adult (a bit less than 7€).

As for most historical places in Marrakesh, I really recommend you buy a paper travel guide or read about the places online before visiting them so you discover more about their fascinating history and past purpose. Indeed, the written explanations tend to be scarce and not very detailed in the popular touristic sights of the city.

Let’s visit a palace!

The Bahia Palace, meaning the Beautiful Palace or Palace of the Beautiful, was built in the 19th century by a vizier. With its great number of rooms and patios, it was definitely built to impress and it remains today one of the main touristic sights to visit in Marrakesh. The entrance ticket to visit the palace will cost you 70 dirhams per adult (a bit less than 7€).

Off to the Koranic school

After a palace and a fancy sepulchral monument, you might be wandering what our next destination on the itinerary was. Let me cut to the chase: it was a Koranic school!

Medersa Ben Youssef was built in the 16th century by a sultan and it was the biggest Koranic higher education school dedicated to religious studies in Morocco. For me, it is one of the top 2 most beautiful monuments to visit in Marrakesh. Do not miss it!

What will you see there? Again, the main attraction of this Medersa is its wonderful architecture and decoration featuring stucco moldings, colorful ceramic tiles, intricately-carved wooden ceilings and a central patio with a large fountain in the middle.

The entrance to the Medersa costs 50 dirhams per adult (about 4,7€).

DAY 3: VISITING THE MODERN CITY + MENARA GARDENS

As a tourist in Marrakesh, you are always tempted to stay in the Medina, the historical town where everything, from the buildings’ architecture to the shops you will find, is more traditional. It is definitely the part of town where you will make the most cultural discoveries and feel most far from home. However, I love to have a full view of a place when I travel and so, on this 3rd day in town, we exited the Medina to go explore the more modern side of the city.

On the other side of the Medina’s walls

Marrakesh is most definitely a place of contrasts and, walking from the Medina to the more modern city, also called Gueliz neighborhood, this is definitely what you will see. Gueliz has been initially constructed by the French and you will definitely notice how it looks much more like a European city.

Our first stop in the Gueliz neighborhood has been the Central Market – a typical covered market like we can also find in Europe. We then followed up Avenue Hassan II up to the Marrakesh train station. From there, we took a left onto Boulevard Mohamed VI. This main boulevard is where you will most note the contrast with the Medina. The Medina is always buzzing with life in its narrow streets, even if it may seem a little bit chaotic at first. On the other hand, Boulevard Mohamed VI is a majestic large avenue, very quiet and surrounded on both sides by big cultural and institutional buildings: the Royal Theater, the Casino, the Congress Center, the headquarters of banks and governmental buildings. You will even find there a big American-style mall, called the Menara Mall.

I personally found Gueliz to have a little bit less charm than the Medina to visit from a touristic point of view. However, admittedly, the quality of life probably is much nicer in Gueliz where you have all the services that you may want and more modern apartment buildings.

Checking out the Menara Gardens

Not far from the Menara Mall, you will find the Menara Gardens. The entrance to these gardens is free. Upon your arrival, what you will see is a main central path with, on both sides, an infinity of olive trees. More or less at the middle of this extensive garden, you will find a large rectangle pond with a small building called the Menara Pavilion on one side. The view from this large pond is quite nice as you will get to see the mountains in the horizon. Additionally, the Menara Gardens are right next to the airport so you will witness many planes departing from there.

The main attraction of the gardens is the pond, as you will have understood, as the rest is basically row after row of olive trees.

DAY 4: MAJORELLE GARDEN & YVES SAINT LAURENT MUSEUM

The most famous touristic sight in Marrakesh is surely the Majorelle gardens, even more so if you are a devoted fashion lover. We thus dedicated our 4th day in the city to visit it alongside the Yves Saint Laurent Museum.

The Majorelle Garden: an oasis full of color

Before starting this section on the Majorelle Garden, let me advise you to book your tickets in advance as they will almost always be sold out if you just try to buy them there on the day of your visit. The best things you can do is buy a combined ticket online that will let you visit all of the following sights: the Majorelle Garden, the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. This will cost you about 30,5 euros per person.

When entering the Majorelle Garden, the first thing that will strike you are the vibrant colors. No wonder when we know that this garden was created by the French painter Jacques Majorelle in 1924 before becoming property of Yves Saint Laurent in the 80s. It is said that the painter used the gardens as an inspiration for his masterpieces. All over the garden, you will thus see highlights of bright blues and yellows added to contrast with the green of the many plants of the garden. Among the species you will get to see in the garden, there are many palm trees, bamboos, cactuses and bougainvillea. You will also pass a large pond and some fountains.

In the garden, you will also find a bright electric blue and yellow villa. This villa used to be the Majorelle’s painting studio and was later transformed by Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent into a Museum of Berber Arts where some of the items collected by the couple are now displayed. As I mentioned earlier, I recommend that you buy a combined ticket so you can also visit this museum. The elements are beautifully displayed inside the villa and you will get to learn a lot about the various Berber tribes of Morocco. From the jewelry traditionally worn by these tribes to their musical instruments, the museum tries to portray many aspects of the Berber culture.

Fashion culture check at the YSL Museum

Next to the Majorelle Garden and to the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts, you will find the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. If you bought a combined ticket at the Majorelle garden, your entrance to this museum is already included. Otherwise, the individual entrance ticket costs 135 dirhams (about 12,7€) per adult.

Inside the museum, you will learn more about Yves Saint Laurent’s career from its beginning to the end. You will also get to see some of his most iconic designs. If I found the museum to have slightly less content than the one in Paris, it is still a must-visit for anyone fascinated by the world of haute couture and fashion design.

DAY 5: UNCOVERING MORE OF THE MEDINA’S SECRETS

Following 2 days in the more modern parts of town, we went back to the Medina for our 5th day in Morocco as the walls of the historical city still had many secret places to unveil.

The Dar Si Said Museum: a very pleasant surprise

When you think of the first thing you wish to do on your holiday, a museum on carpets may not be on the top of your mind. However, thanks to the great advice of family members who had already visited Marrakesh, we headed to the Dar Si Said Museum and… we loved it!

The artisanal making of carpets is a big part of the local craftmanship in Morocco. Many of the carpets displayed in the museum are true masterpieces and are a great testimony to the huge know-how of this craft that there is in Morocco. Furthermore, the museum is located in a beautiful Moroccan mansion where you will find all the typical trademarks of Islamic architecture: wooden carved ceilings, colorful ceramic tiles, patios with fountains and stucco moldings. Additionally, you will most likely almost have the full museum for yourself as the museum does not benefit from the same notoriety as many of the other touristic sights of the Medina.

I hope that I have now fully convinced you to go visit this hidden gem located at the heart of the Medina. If you need one last argument before making up your mind, the entrance fee is only of 30 dirham (about 2,8€ per person).

Exploring the ruins of an ancient palace

Again, the Palace El Badi was one of those places that really pleasantly surprised me. Everywhere in travel guides, you will probably find reviews saying that what remains of the palace is only ruins and that you won’t see much. I would like to disagree with these statements. Yes, the palace is not in its original state and has been widely destroyed and left in ruins. However, it is huge so there is lots to see and you can really imagine how the palace used to be thanks to the written explanations placed all over the palace grounds. I also found that, even in ruins, the palace kept a form of splendor that I found mesmerizing.

At this point, you must be wandering what is this palace and how it ended up in ruins. The palace dates back from the end of the 16th century and has been built by a sultan to celebrate a military victory against the Portuguese. Its name means literally “the incomparable” due to its impressive size. It ended up in ruins after another sultan later decided to change the location of the capital from Marrakesh to another city.

In the palace, you will be able to see the gigantic main patio that will help you imagine the sheer grandeur that possessed the former palace. You will also enter the palace’s former prison cells, and some of the rooms that are still standing. Finally, you will have a nice panoramic view on the palace and on the city’s rooftops in the background from one of the towers.

If you want to discover this fascinating historical monument, the entrance fee will cost you about 6,6€ per person.

Tea time at the Secret Garden

Opened to the public only since 2008, the Secret Garden (“Jardin Secret” as originally called in French) is one of the newest touristic spots in the city of Marrakesh. The Secret Garden is a property comprising a palace and its gardens where have lived, throughout the years, several influential members of Moroccan society. It was more recently bought by private funds and renovated entirely before being opened to the public.

Inside, you can now see art exhibits, have a tea and pastries in the 2 cafés of the palace and learn more about the palace’s history and how this monument got renovated despite the terrible state of conservation that it had come to reach. The Secret Garden could best described as an oasis of peace in the city. The grounds have been remarkably reformed and there is a true sense of serenity when visiting the palace’s gardens nowadays.

The entrance to the Secret Garden costs 100 dirhams (equivalent to 9,4€ per person).

DAY 6: A MIX OF CULTURE & SOUVENIR SHOPPING

For our last day in Marrakesh, we went to visit the Museum of Mouassine Music and then had a shopping spree in the souks of the city in search of the best souvenirs to bring back home.

Learning more about local traditional music

On the morning of our last day in Marrakesh, we headed to the Museum of Mouassine Music. This museum was opened by Patrick Manac’h, a very active French man in the Marrakesh cultural scene as he is also the director of the Marrakesh House of Photography.

We discovered this museum thanks to flyers found in another touristic sight of the city. The flyers advertised the concerts organized by the museum every week. Unfortunately, we found out about it too late and the concerts of the week had already taken place. We, however, were intrigued enough to go visit the museum located in a reformed traditional Saadian house.

During the visit of the museum, you can truly sense the love that has been put in the curation of the museum. Throughout the different rooms, you will get to discover the different traditional musical traditions of Morocco and the instruments usually used in traditional Moroccan music.

At the top of the building, you have a beautiful terrace giving onto Marrakesh’s rooftops. There, we had the chance to meet the owner of the museum who spent a moment to greet us very nicely.

On a quest for the best souvenirs

After our visit of the Museum of Mouassine Music, we took the direction of the souks to buy some souvenirs for us and our family. One of the things that most amazed me about Morocco is the great diversity and quality of craftmanship that you can find there. Unfortunately, in Europe, it is now very rare to find affordable artisanal souvenirs when you travel somewhere. In Morocco, however, you can find unique leather shoes, stunningly decorated wooden boxes and trays, beautiful artisanal cushions, covers, carpets and much more. Another typical thing to bring back from the Marrakesh souks is a teapot accompanied by colorful tea glasses to reproduce the traditional mint tea at home.

Of course, make sure to negotiate the prices before buying anything. It is normal and well-seen to do so in Morocco!

WHERE TO EAT IN MARRAKESH?

• Terrasse des Epices – https://maps.app.goo.gl/YbujJKyY4QdF5by19: Located in the middle of the city’s souks, this restaurant is everything you want a vacation meal to be. Think a terrace with the best Moroccan food you’ll ever have, live music and fun oversize hats to wear embroidered with the name of the restaurant left at your disposition during the meal. I had one of the best tajine I ever tasted there. Price-wise, a chicken tajine will cost you 18,3 € (195 Moroccan dirhams) there.
• Restaurant Dar Cherifa – https://maps.app.goo.gl/XUKpKGFLVS2BfEaZA: Another gem well-hidden in the Medina, this restaurant is hard to find but absolutely worth the search. Inside, you will eat on a beautiful patio a fantastic tajine. Count about 21,5 € for a tajine (230 Moroccan dirhams).

WHERE TO STAY IN MARRAKESH?

In Marrakesh, the must-do in terms of accommodation is to experience a stay in a traditional riad. We personally stayed at the beautiful Riad La Perle Rouge –https://maps.app.goo.gl/BxpNMYvoDw9qMu6t5 – for about 100 € per night. When we arrived, we were offered tea and pastries. In our room, our towels were folded in the shape of swans on the bed. Apart from all these charming little attentions, the decoration of the riad was stunning. We were served a delicious and filling breakfast everyday on the riad’s terrace with views on the city’s rooftops. In the riad, you could also borrow board games so we had fun Scrabble games on the rooftop terrace during our stay.

On this note, I finish this tale of my wonderful honeymoon trip to Marrakesh. On my next post, I will talk about another city that I visited in Morocco before coming back to Europe: Essaouira.