A DAY AT DJEMA EL FNAA 7:00 am... and other Marrakesh, Morocco General Tips

Favorite Thing: A DAY AT DJEMA EL FNAA
7:00 am At Mic Mac Bakery (1) (by the Post Office) or at the many cafes in the Bab Agnaou Street (2) (a pedestrian street) you can have an early breakfast. If you wanna see the square awakening from a terrace, go to the Cafe Glacier (3).
9:00 am The first performers arrive: fortune tellers, orange juice sellers, henna women... Cross the Square to the Argana Cafe (4) and have a mint tea at the terrace. Buy a newspaper in the newsstand close to the CTM Hotel (5).
10:00 am Enter the Municipal Market (6) to see the rush in this moroccan food market, buy some oranges (real cheap).
11-13:00 Have an orange juice at one of the many stalls around (2,50 Dh). Wander around the souks, entering via the Souk Semmarine Street (7), the main long covered street of the the souks. If you get los (you will!), ask for the Djema el Fnaa Square, or just take a taxi back...
13:30 Lunch at a terrace (shade required), for instance in Cafe de France (8) or at the Residence de la Place(9), witha nice view of the Square at noon.
15-18:00 Back to the souks, bargain and wander.
18:30 Take a ride in a Horse-drawn carriage (10) now that the sun is down. 80 Dh for 1 hour, 50 Dh for 1/2 hour, 30 Dh for a quick ride.
19:00 The sunset is one of the main shows in Djema el Fnaa. The terraces (Cafe Glacier, Argana, Cafe de France...) get really crowded at 19, so go there in advance to take a place. The main performers start moving around, the square gets at its best!!
20:00 The many food stalls (11) in the center of the square are a wonderful animated place for dinner or, if you don't dare, just to walk around and have a look at the many different foods served there. Smoke and lights all around.
21:00 to midnightWalk around the square, look at the performers, bargain with the berbers that come to seel their goods at night. Relax and have a Mint Tea at one of the terraces, enjoy the show!!
You can take a look at some pics & portraits at the travelogue


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Favorite Thing: M'HAMID
Here is where all the roads end, that's what they say. After this point, the Sahara begins, you can only go forward in 4x4 or camel!! There are nice landscapes, dunes endless seas... It's aprox 50 kms from Zagora, if you leave at 14:00 you can make an afternoon trip and come back before the sun sets (don't drive by night there!).


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Favorite Thing: TAOURIRT KASBAH (Ouarzazate)
This is one of the best preserved kasbahs we saw. It's in the center of Ouarzazate, to the east, close to the Club Mediterranee.
You can visit the interior and the roofs, from where you can have a beautiful view of the valley and palms around.


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Favorite Thing: AIT BEN HADDOU
This wonderful kasbah near Ouarzazate is one of the best kept in Morocco. It has been background of many Hollywood films: Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, the Jewel of the Nile.... Not many people live still here, just 6 families, living from carpet-making and agriculture (and from the tourists too).
There is a new town at the other side of the river, where most of the inhabitants have moved. There are the hotels and restaurants.
To visit, cross the dry river (there are camels to cross too) and enter by the right side, where the souvenir shops are. You can hire a guide, but there's no need to.
To get there, leave Ouarzazate by the road to Marrakesh. After 23 kms there is a little road (paved) to the left, there are signs showing it.


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Favorite Thing: JARDIN MAJORELLE
This blue house with a wonderful garden belonged to Yves St. Laurent. His house is now a Islamic Art Museum. The blue color of the house seems to integrate perfectly in the exhuberant garden.
It's located in the north of Gueliz, the modern part of the town. You can go there in the n?4 bus from Djema el Fnaa, or by horse carriage.
Entrance 20 Dh.


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