Gardens and palaces of Marrakech

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	3
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

Marrakech really is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited and we saw many gardens and palaces on this visit. Yes it is hot, noisy, dirty and chaotic but not to an extreme.

There are trees and tall buildings to give shade, quiet courtyards for calm and some beautiful, if faded buildings. With lots of airline competition flights are dirt cheap and a long weekend here costs less than a trip to London.

This visit was with Mum and Steve and we stayed in a riad in the souk, Maison Arabo Andalouse. We were greeted with amazing blue skies and warmth – 27 degrees! Such a lovely change after the UK in February!

We had already arranged airport transfers through the riad so were taken straight to the door, having to walk the final part as the alleys are too small for cars. The room we had was lovely, with a separate lounge and it’s own private sun terrace and the owner, Paolo, was extremely helpful and gave us plenty of advice on places to see or avoid.

Koutoubia Mosque

After dumping our luggage we headed out into the city and first stop was the Koutoubia Mosque as it does really dominate the skyline. Walking around was a real experience as it is so different to anywhere in Europe. There are gardens that surround the mosque and they were very pleasant to stroll through, I can imagine the shade in the summer would be very welcome.

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Souks and Bahya Palace

The souks were fascinating to walk through and a real riot of colour. The traders were pleasant and not at all pushy which was a nice surprise. We had no idea where we were going and really just ambled around and eventually came to the Bahya Palace. This was a real Andalusian style masterpiece, wasn’t at all crowded and cost about 80p to get in!

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Morocco inherited a lot of Moors and Jews that were kicked out of Spain after the reconquista in 1492 so the building styles are similar. A lot of the later palaces were built with European slave labour, captured in raids by the Barbary Corsairs. There’s an excellent book called White Gold which gives the story of this forgotten slave trade.

After breakfast on the terrace the next day we continued our ambling. Marrakech is such a chaotic place it was really quite random if we discovered any of the tourist attractions. Sign posts are a very rare thing here and a guide would be a good idea!

Saadian Tombs and Menara Gardens

We walked to the city walls and gate and eventually found the Saadian Tombs. Mum and Steve then went off for lunch and Deb and I took a taxi to the Menara Gardens. These are quite a walk from the old city (as we found on the way back) and are quite run down but the setting is lovely. I did feel sorry for our taxi driver as I’d paid him what I thought was €10 but actually turned out to be 10 Turkish lira so the poor bloke waited until we came out of the gardens!

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Jemaa El Fna Square

Our evening meal was in the famous Jemaa El Fna square. This really was a spectacle and we arrived before it was dark to get a nice table overlooking the square. There are a huge number of restaurants all the way around it and none of the ones we visited were particularly good but I guess you were there for the views, not the food.

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Badii Palace

The third day was a leisurely walk around the Badii Palace which was another vast structure that had been pretty much stripped of everything other than the walls. There were lots of storks here and they really were amazing, the noise they make sounded just like a Predator!

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Ben Yousef Madrassa

For our fourth day we took a carriage ride around the city which was an experience! Don’t do this if you are expecting a relaxed clip clop through the streets, this was more like a James Bond chase! I think the driver had been told what we needed to see and his aim was to see those things as fast as possible in a technicolour blur! After a calming drink we visited Ben Yousef Madrassa, a gorgeous school building with some superbly intricate stonework.

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Majorelle Gardens

The Majorelle Gardens were our final destination before returning to the Riad to pack. These are in the new part of the city and were designed by Jacques Majorelle but are more famous for their association with Yves Saint Laurent. There was quite a queue but the gardens were well maintained and we spent a few hours there after lunch in the restaurant.

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So there you have Marrakech. An amazing city break, hugely different to Europe and chaotic and dirty but we had no incidents at all and we walked almost everywhere. Bargain prices too so it really is a great destination and if you have more time there are day trips across the Atlas mountains.

2013