Marrakech is a beautiful city in the heart of Morocco. The old city center called Medina is full of ancient arab culture. The traditional architecture of the buildings is really special. It is impossible to go to the city center by car as the buildings are arranged so closely that you can only walk one after the other in some of the streets. This doesn’t stop the locals to drive their scooters through the narrow labyrinths.
The many small cafés and restaurants serve the best peppermint tea I have ever tried. You can also have a traditional berber menu like tajine which is a pottery pot with couscous, vegetables, fish or meat, depending on what you like. There is no alcohol available in the restaurants or in the mini markets but some hotels have beer or wine in stock.
In the souks – the traditional open-air markets in Morocco – there are many salesman advertising their goods to anyone who passes-by – from fresh dates and nuts to shoes, handbags, clothes, traditional genie bottles and colourful pyramides made of spices.
The most famous market place in the Medina of Marrakech is called Djemaa el Fna. Apart from the many salesman, you will see all kind of entertainment like snake charmers, jugglers, miracle healers, storytellers and – unfortunately – monkey shows. A view musicians on the market place create the typical oriental atmoshere with their instruments. Latest when visiting this place, you’ll be thrown into the Moroccan culture and the buzzing Medina of Marrakech.
Between the narrow streets of the Medina, you will probably find some donkeys pulling their carts through the city. The locals call that a berber car. As streets have no road sign and are not logically aligned, it makes no sense to follow a map. The best you can do is getting lost and drift with the flow of the city.
The big mosque in the city center is the tallest building in the Medina. Therefore you can use it for orientation as it is visible from almost any roof top terasse. There are many beautiful riad hotels in the Medina where you can stay over night. Their courtyards and patios are a real oasis in the busy city.
Another option for getting a bit of silence are the many botanical gardens in the area. The most famous one is probably the Jardin Majorelle of Yves Saint Laurent.
The Medina is sourrounded by an old city wall which is used as a nesting site by many birds. The wall separates the mystical inner city from the modern part of Marrakech. Outside of the city walls, there are many modern hotels, resorts and golf courses.
We have mainly stayed in the Medina but when heading to the Atlas Mountains for our trip to the Ourika valley, we saw that part of the city as well.
