48 Hours In Morocco: 5 Must-Have Moments in Marrakesh
Jemaa El-Fnaa
Tucked between the Koutoubia Masjid and the south of the city lies the biggest market square in Africa; Jemaa-El Fnaa is home to an abundant array of jewellery artists, snake charmers, pottery makers, market sellers and aggressive auntie ji’s that try to shout at you in French as a means of persuading you to buy their henna. No. Whilst this market is great to catch good deals on everyday items and specific pieces such as bracelets and leather satchels, it is actually rather expensive for what it’s worth. I found the market prices equating to that of Madrid’s, not really sure what that’s saying about Madrid, but we can talk about that later.
Aesthetically it is beautiful, you can enjoy fresh orange juice and a great typically Moroccan atmosphere. It reminded me of a slightly smaller version of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, except there are also several little café’s where you can stop for traditional North African delicacies. The market opens around 9am and tends to not close till 9/10pm, however getting ripped off in this place has to be the most off putting thing about the whole experience.
If you don’t speak Arabic and your French is a shambles like mine then it’s already quite a challenge, just watch out for the fake henna artists who will try to sell you shocking nonsense designs for 30 euros and up. It was actually a disaster, she started doing it and I immediately with drew my hand, reminding her I’m Pakistani and we already do this better than she ever could. Nevertheless, I foolishly let her continue till it was a tad too late and the only way to bounce from the situation was to shout, make several gestures, grab my bag and leg it. So it’s 10am and I am running through this market cussing everyone around me in English and Urdu, hijabi scam squad is chasing me 20 metres down, my friends are nowhere in site and everyone is literally staring at the entire situation gossiping to themselves. Thank God I had no idea what they were saying.
Le Jardin Majorelle
Located in the heart of Marrakesh’s bustling sandy roads and quaint market alley’s, Le Jardin Majorelle occupies what seems like acres and acres of greenery. Different species of cacti, exotic plants, fountains, lakes, memoir statues, beautiful ivy stems and various museums and coloured buildings made up the gardens, which were built by French architect and artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920’s. The gardens are home to the Marrakesh Islamic Art Museum and was later opened to the public in 1947 by designer Yves Saint Laurent and Paul Berge.
Instantly, the gardens will strike you as perhaps the most vibrant and colourful part of the city centre, the bold sapphire and amber artistry clearly inspired by berber designs, quite accurately capturing traditional Moroccan style. Yves Saint Laurent died in 2008, and upon his cremation his ashes were actually scattered across the garden (kind of creepy?), hence the street the gardens are on is also named after him. Regular entry price is 70 DHS for the gardens and 30 DHS for the museum, but if you take your student ID its just 35 DHS for the gardens and 25 DHS for the museum (bargain!). I’d say the average tourist spends about an hour in here, so you can definitely do it in an evening. We arrived at our accommodation at 4pm but still managed a full tour of the gardens which close at 6pm in the summertime.
Ouzoud Waterfall
After an hour and half hiking up the Atlas Mountains we made it to the Ouzoud waterfall, an experience I would definitely recommend, especially to those who havn’t been to North Africa or the range before, and don’t have time to camp out in the Sahara but still want to see a bit of geography on the way.
It’s about an hour drive from the city and its cheaper and more convenient to go with a guided tour, prices vary, I’d say haggle as much as you can but we got a tour of the mountains, waterfall, and camel rides for 210 DHS, about £18.00, so not too shabby at all. Definitely visit the local supermarket the night before and get snacks for the journey, and don’t forget to wear your trainers. A few daft individuals thought flip flops were a good idea, they’re not, as it’s a long relatively strenuous and steep climb and you don’t want to get stuck up there in the 40 degree summer scorch.
You’ll see an abundance of Berber villages and community markets, including fresh orange juice stalls and wells/pipes with fresh clean drinking water (great for making wudu half way up a mountain!) If you take a day tour, you should hear the Dhuhr Adhaan from the top of the range, the echoes create a truly breath taking experience.
The waterfall itself was really beautiful, the water was relatively clean but rather cold, and yes obviously I was annoying all my friends with a geography lesson about the various landforms we saw on the way. It’s a great alternative to the Sahara if you’re short of time but if you do have time for both, I’d thoroughly recommend it. I visited the Sahara in 2013 in Tunisia whilst doing fieldwork, it was incredible and we were lucky to stay in several different luxury hotels right in the middle of the desert so there wasn’t a need to camp. I don’t know if hotels in the middle of the desert exist in Morocco but do your research properly before hand!
Bahia Palace
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to visit this stunning palace but luckily my bestfriend did the week after me! Farah’s advice as follows: Definitely go! It was a really beautiful place and my favourite part was the intricacy of the artisitic details in the walls and ceilings. The colours are also really vibrant so it’s a great place to take pictures!
However, it is quite a maze though, and every door lead to another part so it was easy to get lost, it’s best to dedicate a whole evening or afternoon to this particular visit. The gardens were especially stunning, there were 2 central gardens with identical rooms on each side, so the entire palace appeared very symmetrical, undoubtedly adding to the hypnotic mystique of the place.
Kasbah Masjid
It’s beautiful inside, with pretty white ceilings, Moorish architecture and elegant chandeliers, the woman actually have just as much space, perhaps just slightly less, space to pray than the men which was a nice surprise. Moreover, the layout meant easy access for everyone, the atmosphere especially at Isha time is really great. However, don’t try to go for Fajr salah, locals say it’s not safe for tourists at that time, but if you really must go, visit in a large group or with at least one local Moroccan.