Hey there!
As you might know if you are following me on Instagram I just spent a couple of days in the beautiful city of Marrakech. I have always wanted to travel to Morocco. The architecture, the food, I don’t really know, but I’ve always been fascinated by this place and when my friends Nadja and Laura mentioned that they’ve also been aiming to go there for ages we decided to plan a little trip. In today’s post I want to share some tips on where to stay, what to eat, where to go and what to visit. I know I have only spent a couple of days there, but five amazing days, filled with all amazing experiences and I feel like even though I am by no means a Morocco expert nor have I visited every corner of Marrakech or eaten at every restaurant I feel like I’ve got a fair few reccomendations for any of you planning to travel to Morocco or I might eveb be able to convince some of you that you should definitely make Morocco your next holiday destination.
So let’s start with where to stay.
Where to stay?
My friends and I stayed at Riad BE a Riad owned by a Swiss woman and her Moroccan partner. As we entered the rather plain building, well it just looked like all of the others, red, we were literally blown away by the beauty of this place. Everything is so nicely put together, it looks just like one of those rooms you would find on Pinterest and about which you wonder where on earth those places are hiding. In addition to looking amazing, it is also super affordable to stay at Riad BE Marrakech. I think we payed 100 € per night which is really not a lot considering we were three people. I mean that’s 33 € each per night and that’s probably less than what we’d pay here to stay at a youth hostel, breakfast not included and you’d sleep in a community room. However, on top of having a beautiful room we were also served the most amazing breakfast consisting of flat bread, a typical Moroccan pancake called M’smen, fruit salad, muesli, yogurt and a variety of jams, cream cheese and avocado to enjoy with the bread. My personal favourite was definitely the M’smen , so delicious.
I honestly cannot complain about this place, oh and did I mention that it is also super close to the Souk, Jema el Fna and a couple of amazing restaurants. Ok, I’m gonna stop now, I could seriously go on and on about how I absolutely adore this place and about how I am surely going to return as soon as possible but that would probably be super boring. So let’s continue with the most important part of any trip, you guessed it, the food!
Where to eat?
Le Nomad – Le nomad is a beautiful restaurant located in the middle of the Souks. It serves delicious somewhat modernized Moroccan food, plus you get an amazing view over the whole Medina, if you happen to get a spot on the roof top terrace. I’d recommend to book a table if you want to go there as it is always super crowded and I suggest going there during the day time as it is located in the middle of the Souks and as parts of the Souks get closed at night it could get somewhat difficult to get out again.
Le Jardin – Le Jardin is a beautiful restaurant that offers a variety of Morroccan as well as non- Moroccan dishes. It is a beautiful restarurant and as it is located at the rims of the souk also appropriate for dinner. I personally just wouldn’t go there if it is really cold as the majority of the restaurant is outdoors.
Atay – Great place for more traditional food. Atay is a restaurant located at the outer skirts of the souks. It serves delicious more traditionally Moroccan food. We actually went there in the evening as it was located super close to our Riad.
What to do?
Medersa Ben Yussef – Medersa Ben Yussef is an ancient Islamic college situated in Marrakesh’s Medina. Luckily we had the amazing guide we had booked for the day leading us through the college and he told us loads of super interesting things about this place. However, on top of being extremely interesting history wise it is also just beautiful to look at.
The Jewish quarter – Amazing for buying spices and just pretty to look at.
Hammam – As it was raining for two of the five days of our stay we decided to spend an afternoon at the Hammam Les Bains d’Orient and oh my, most relaxing experience ever. We all got a massage and we also got a whole cleansing package including henna tattoos at the end and we payed less than 70 €, however we could have also had it way cheaper if we didn’t get a massage.
Walk through the souks and buy lots of awesome things 🙂 !
Take a cooking class at Riyad el Cadi.
How to dress?
Make sure to dress appropriately according to cultural conventions in Marocco. I think this is a guideline you should follow anywhere you go. There were lots of tourists who were wearing really short skimpy clothing, however I feel like when you travel you should respect the country’s culture you are visiting.I usually wore loose fitting pants, blouses or maxi skirts and when it got a bit cooler I just wore jeans.
General tips:
Directions:
If you ever lose your way make sure to ask one of the people selling water, they usually give accurate directions and they won’t ask for any money in return. Also we were told if random people on the street are trying to tell you to go somewhere because this one place you want to go to is closed they are usually not telling you the right thing.
Haggling:
As far as haggling in the markets go, make sure to always suggest half of what the seller initially wanted you to pay. You will usually end up paying about 30% less than the initial price. And by the way saying you don’t want it and then leave can help as well. We acatully had it happen to us that the seller ran after us and approved to whatever sum we suggested.
Ok, that’s it as for now I can’t think of anymore tips or tricks I’ve got evolving around Morocco. Incase you’ve got any further questions, just ask in the comments or send me an e-mail. Also if you are looking for an amazing guide, let me know and I can send you the details of the guide we had.
So people, have fun planning your travels. I mean you’ve probably already started looking at flights cause doesn’t it just look so amazingly pretty?!
Bisous
Looks amazing!
Thank you!!