Marrakesh Things to Do Tips by ptitetoile

4-days trip in the south of the Atlas

Marrakech is the best point of departure for a trip to the south of the Atlas to discover the desert, the mountains, the oasis and all the beauty of the natural Morocco!

My friends and I wanted to make it on our own by combining different busses but when we discovered in the hotel Ali that the travel agency Sahara Expedition organised a 4-days-round-trip with a 4x4 and a driver, we could not hesitate! The pictures on the programm were too attractive and they did not lie!!!! In reality, it was even better!!!!! The itinery was Ait-Ben-Haddou-Ouarzazate-Draa Valey-Zagora-Merzouga-Tinerhir-Todra Valley and Dades Valley. For more info, see the corresponding towns :-)

Our driver was very friendly and very reliable!!! We made more than one thousand kilometers on every kind of roads!!!! To drive there, it is better to be used to it!!!! The tour was planned for 6 persons but we were lucky because we were only 5 : the sixth one did not show up (great, we had more room in the car)! The two other were very sympathic persons : Ali baba (surname given by berbers) and Wilma from France.

Address: Hotel Ali next to Djema El Fnaa

Walking in the Mellah Street Scenes Review

The mellah is the old jewish neighborhood whose population is now mostly moroccan moslims. There you will find almost no tourists...maybe you will have the opportunity to play with the children like Bridget! If you look for authenticity...you will find it here...but don't follow the "false guide" who will lead you to a synagogue that is not interesting at all!

Visiting the El Badi Palace El Bahia Palace Review

Visiting the resting place of the dynasty Saadian Tombs Review

Directions: in the old Medina

The nicest garden of Marrakech Majorelle Gardens Review

Majorelle Garden is an oasis of calm and cool, fresh air in the heart of the city of Marrakech. The garden was created in the years 1920 by the French painter Jacques Majorelle. It made there plant the rarest essences around a small building Art deco which was used to him as workshop until its death in 1962. After his dead, the garden and the studio were completely abandoned. But thanks to Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, its new owners, this beautiful garden has a new lease on life. It is so nice that you could stay there hours, sitting on a bank, smelling the various essences of flowers, trees, admiring the flashy blue of the house, ... and trying to capture all that with your camera!!!!

Open from 9 am to Noon, and from 2 PM to 5 PM. (3 PM to 7 PM in the summer)

Directions: On the corner of Safi Boulevard, in the northern part of the city, behind the bus station.

Walls and stones El Badi Palace Review

Old palace... There are not a lot of interesting things left...but the view from the roof is very nice and the visit of the undergrounds is funny :-)

Gardens Koutoubia Minaret & Koutoubia Gardens Review

A very nice morrocan garden with all kinds of roses and trees :-)

Directions: behind the Djemaa El Fna square and the Koutoubia

Enjoying the life on the square Djamaa El Fna - Square Review

Everybody recommend it : walk around on the quare at dawn! You won't be bored! You will find "climatised" restaurants (outdoor stands with a very nice display of delicious food), orange juice stands, snake charmer, groups of musicians, moroccans in traditionnal clothes, ... It is a real show and we found no better way to spend the evening!!! But you have to be careful, a lot of people are there to attract tourists and ask for money (for example a picture with a snake around your neck it is a kind of tourist trap)...