Morocco in 9 days – Best Instagram places in Marrakech
Morocco in 9 days – Best Instagram places in Marrakech
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Marrakech was on our list for so long. We’ve seen all the beautiful and colorful pictures on our Instagram feed all the time but it wasn’t until 2019 that we managed to visit this beautiful country. Most people say you can either love or hate Marrakech. Sometimes we were really overwhelmed and exhausted by this vibrant city, but overall, we had a wonderful time. We still get goosebumps thinking of the teeming Souk and the beautiful calm Riads.
Best places in Marrakech
There are so many beautiful places in Marrakech. The center, called Souk, with all its little stores and small crooked streets was definitely an adventure. But there are so many more amazing places!
1. Palais Bahia and Medersa Ben Youssef
These are the most beautiful palaces in Marrakech. Unfortunately, the former koran school Medersa Ben Youssef is closed due to construction works until 2020. We are so excited to visit this beautiful place next time. Until then the Palais Bahia is a wonderful alternative! The architecture is really amazing and the gardens inside the temple are awesome.
We loved the symmetry and the beautiful old doors. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to use a tripod, so we had to fix our camera on our backpacks, which was okay. We’ve heard of this problem from many people. So it does not seem to be made up! 🙂
2. Golden Hour at Koutoubia Mosque
We visited this place for sunset. When the sun sets a lot of pigeons and swallows are arriving at the big square in front of the tower of Koutoubia Mosque. At this time, there were a lot of local people around and some kids constantly scared away the pigeons we attracted with our seeds, meaning they sabotaged our picture well planned. haha :). It might be better to take a picture with the pigeons at sunrise. Buy some seeds at one of the small stores in the Souk, place your tripod with selftimer, feed some pidgeons and run!!
3. Exploring the Souk – strolling through carpet-, spices- and lantern-shops
You can’t overlook Souk Semmarine. There aren’t these 5 places you should definitely see. It’s more about strolling around and explore some stores here and there. There are so many spices-, carpets-, and lantern-shops, it’s fascinating. We loved one carpet shop in a little hidden area in the Souk. Search for Banque Populaire and you will find it.
We explored basically 3 different marketplaces. We didn’t like the big Square too much. There are a lot of animals which are held under really bad conditions. Also, the merchants are really unfriendly. The following two smaller marketplaces are a lot more beautiful:
The Earth Café is located directly at one of the beautiful marketplace Place des Ferblantiers, it is a good point of departure to explore the Souk.
Café des Epices is located at the much smaller spice market. You will also find the Nomad Café here. We liked this market way more!
4. Ksar Kasbah for Sunset
There are so many beautiful rooftop terraces in Marrakech with an amazing view, and Ksar Kasbah and Spa has one of the best! If you are not staying at the Riad you can write them an email if you can enjoy the sunset for a drink! Is there anything better, than the view of the mosque, a
5. Spa day at La Mamounia
Well, this place is pretty famous and pretty expensive! But if you are looking for a very good Spa day, La Mamounia has a day pass for 50 Dollars for the beautiful Spa in the old building! You can also visit the entrance hall and the huge garden for free,
6. Jardin Majorelle and Le Jardin Secret
If you are looking for some relaxing moments, you can explore one of the beautiful gardens. Jardin Majorelle has very old cactus and Le Jardin Secret looked so beautiful. We skipped it, to visit more palaces and enjoy the riads.
Beautiful Riads and Resorts in Marrakech
Well, if you are visiting Marrakech you really have to stay in a Riad. Don’t spend all the time outside the center. Staying in a Riad directly inside the vibrant city is part of the big Marrakech experience! After an exhausting day in the Souk, it was always so fascinating to come back to a Riad with a completely calm and hidden patio. You can’t tell how beautiful these are. You can finally breathe and relax in these little oases. It was always a surprise to see what’s inside the buildings. We highly recommend Riad hopping, there are endless beautiful places!
1. Riad BE Marrakech and the Yoga Flow Studio
Riad BE Marrakech was our absolutely favorite Riad. It basically includes two Riads next to each other which are connected via a rooftop terrace and the ground floor. Everything was so perfect there! Both Riads have the perfect instagram
2. Riad Tawargit
Riad Tawargit is a beautiful Riad and one of the closest Riad to the Souk. Just step outside the door and you are in the vibrant center! Enjoy some time in the whirl pool with some relaxing music and
3. Riad Zaouia 44
We booked this place very spontaneously the day before and we were so surprised by its beauty! It’s really a hidden gem! They use a simple color palette of white, grey and wooden materials. Everything looked so well designed together with the charm of the traditional Morrocan patterns of the Riad. We loved it! Another fantastic plus is the beautiful pool with all the plants and lanterns! It has one of the most beautiful patios we found in Marrakech!
4. Es Saadi Resort and Palace
After exploring all the beautiful Riads in the Souk you might search for a nice Spa day. Es Saadi has an incredible pool and Spa! It is located a little outside the center next to La Mamounia but the round marble pool surrounded by symmetrical marble pillars was the perfect photo spot! The entrance hall is absolutely beautiful and majestical. We had the chance to stay for a luxury night in Es Saadi Palace and it was an amazing experience.
Desert Experience
You might probably already know that a part of the Sahara Desert is located in Morocco. But it’s a long drive to the Sahara, it’s not possible to visit the Sahara on a day trip from Marrakech. The perfect alternative could be Scarabeo Camp in the stone desert also called the Agafay desert. It’s only a 45-minute drive from Marrakech. Only keep in mind that the Sahara desert has the big sand dunes and that the Scarabeo Camp is located in a claystone desert, no sand dunes but not less beautiful.
1. Scarabeo Camp in the Stone desert
We had wonderful two nights in the Scarabeo Camp in the Stone Desert! We got a transfer to the camp and after 45 minutes we arrived in this beautiful place surrounded by endless hills. We had the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises here and even walked a camel. When we saw our tent it definitely exceeded our expectations! Everything is so beautifully designed. There are so many lanterns and the old suitcases, globes, and books are the perfect photo accessories. The colors and materials were modern but at the same time, it felt like being in an old movie. It was our best glamping experience so far!
2. Experiencing the Sahara Desert
Although we really love the desert and would have loved to see the Sahara, we skipped it for this time due to the driving distance. Our last
To get there, you can drive 4 hours with a rental car through the Atlas Mountains to Aid Benhaddou and Ouarzazate and stay there for the night. The next morning you are driving another 5,5 hours passing Souss-Massa-Draâ, Dadestal, and
Day Tours from Marrakech
You can easily rent a car in Marrakech and explore the other beautiful areas in Morocco! These following destinations are reachable by several day tours. If you want to drive to Féz or Chefchouen it might be good to stay for a stop over in Casablanca, which is located on the way to Fez.
1. Atlas Mountains
It’s really nice to see the Atlas Mountains, the landscape is so different compared to Marrakech. In the winter there is even snow! Two hours away from Marrakech you will find yourself driving in endless curved mountain roads. You can drive the paved roads with a normal car, there is no need for an SUV. Compared to the stylish and big Riads in
2. Aït-Ben-Haddou and Salon du Tée
Aït-Ben-Haddou was a great experience and we highly recommend visiting it! It’s an old city made of clay called Ksar in Morocco, located at the foot of the Big Atlas Mountains. The clay buildings were built on a 1300 meter high mountainside and belong to the UNESCO world heritage. The river in front of the town is mostly dry but is still feeding date palms which were used for baskets and mats.
The village is still occupied by Berbers. Walk through the clay buildings to the top of the mountain and imagine how they filmed many movies here. Shortly before the summit, you will find the Salon du Tée with the best rooftop terrace in this area! The best visiting time is at sunset!! There is also a hotel La Kasbah with a parking spot.
3. Ouarzazate and Kasbah of Tifoultoute
When you visit Aït-Ben-Haddou, you should also drive 30 minutes further to Ouarzazate. It’s a bigger unspectacular town but you will find the Cinema Studio Atlas there, which was a movie set for many movies. Even more beautiful is the close Kasbah of Tifoultoute, another clay town with the perfect parking spot for sunset. Just drive through the village until you reach the parking space. You don’t have to climb somewhere!
4. One day in Casablanca and The Hassan II Mosque
Casablanca was a little bit difficult for us. We started at 6 am from Marrakech with our rental car and planned to be there 2h 40min later. We thought the Mosque only opens at 9am. Well, the traffic in Marrakech was terrible and we arrived later than planned, meaning missed the best light for photography. When we arrived we noticed that everything except the Mosque inside was accessible all day long, so it might be better to stay one night in Casablanca and enjoy sunset and sunrise at the Mosque!
Also, the guards didn’t let us use our tripod but they couldn’t give us a reason for that. They ended up giving the okay for fixing our tripod on our two backpacks with self-timer. Despite all the difficulties, we highly recommend visiting the Hassan II Mosque. It’s so so beautiful!! The symmetry and the beautiful huge doors are fantastic!! We’ve never seen such an impressive building directly at the ocean! If you want to go inside the Mosque they offer guided tours at 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm and 2 pm, the times vary on Ramadan! For the forecourt of the Mosque, there isn’t a dress code, for the inside of the Mosque women and men need to cover shoulders and knees.
Best Restaurants in Marrakech
We loved to try a lot of different restaurants and cafés and we found so many good ones! All of them had a lot of vegetarian and vegan options and have either a very nice design or the perfect view!
1. La Famille
This was definitely our favorite restaurant! It’s so special, we never experienced something like this before. It is only open from 12:00 to 16:30 pm. We didn’t reserve a table place but we got a place although there were already a bunch of people waiting at 12 pm for the opening doors. Inside it felt like an oasis of a beautiful garden, everything was decorated as a beautiful summer party. They offered a few selected only vegetarian meals – and holy moly – they are so good! We both experienced an explosion of flavors!
2. Café Nomad
Café Nomad is a beautifully designed restaurant open from 12 to 11 pm in the evening. If you are coming for dinner it is necessary to reserve a table at the day because it’s a really hyped and famous place! The rooftop terrace is awesome, sadly we were too late to get a table on the terrace. The meals are higher priced than in a small traditional restaurant but it is an amazing experience for sure!
3. Atay Café
Atay Café has one of the best rooftop terraces in Marrakech! Go there for sunset and enjoy the view! The meals are delicious and not that expensive and you have a view at the beautiful Medersa Ben Youssef!
4. Dar Cherifa
Dar Cherifa is a famous, traditional restaurant! The restaurant is a little hard to find, ask the people at the Souk about the way. It has a beautiful patio in a very old building! Be prepared for flute players and some great architecture!
5. Earth Cafe
Earth Café is a nice and simple place to enjoy a cold fresh orange juice at noon after strolling through the Souk. It is located directly at one of the market squares and you can easily watch the hustle and bustle of the stores and horse-horse-drawn carriages from here.
6. Cafe des Epices
Cafe des Epices is located at the same beautiful marketplace as Cafe Nomad. It has a wonderful rooftop terrace where you can look at the hustle between the carpet stalls. Also the tajines are very tasty!
7. Zeitoun Café
From Zeitoun Café, you have a good view
More time left?
- Fès: do a 2 or 3-day tour to Fès, the fastest route is along Casablanca. It’s 3 hours away from Casablanca. Fès has a beautiful old city and the famous palace.
- Chefchouen: On your route along Casablanca and Fès, you can drive north all the way to Chefchouen, the blue city
- Sahara: Visit the Sahara desert! From Marrakech to Merzouga it’s 9,5 hours with the car. Halfway you can stay Aït-Ben-Haddou or Ouarzazate. There is also a little airport in Ouarzazate.
Which SIM Card is the best and what about Airport Transfers?
The first thing we do at every airport is buying a SIM Card. We can recommend Orange with 5€ for 2GB. Unusually there was no ATM at the airport, only an exchange house with high rates. It might be best to carry on some cash. Converting the currency is easy, 10 Dirham is equal to 1€.
Most of the Riads offer an airport transfer, often it is even included. It’s a lot easier than taking a taxi in front of the airport for 100 Dirham (10€).
Renting a car or having a driver
We can highly recommend renting your own car. You are a lot more flexible if you want to shoot at sunrise for example. The traffic is a little bit confusing but doable. Just keep in mind to get an insurance that provides full coverage without a deductible. Someone hit our car in a roundabout in Casablanca and we were very lucky to have one!! In contrast to Germany people in a roundabout have to wait if someone wants to enter from the street. That might be helpful to know!! We always rent a car with Car del Mar. It’s cheap and really reliable.
If you don’t feel confident enough to drive a car in Morocco it might be a good idea to have a driver. It’s always cheaper to contact a driver directly than booking with a tour agency!
Is it save? How friendly are the people?
We felt totally save all the time! Also as a woman, I didn’t experience any inappropriate situation! It might be better to respect the culture and to leave the miniskirt at home. But you don’t need to wear a headscarf! Only inside mosques, it is necessary to cover knees and shoulders. All the time people were very friendly with only a few exceptions. At the big Square, someone yelled at us, because we didn’t want to take a picture with him and his snake. Two times someone wanted to show us the way to the Riad and demanded money afterward. Except for that, we had a wonderful experience and we highly recommend Morocco to everyone!!
*Anzeige/ad On our trip to Morocco we’ve been invited by Scarabeo Camp, Be Marrakech, Riad Tawargit and Es Saadi Resort. Our reviews reflect our honest opinion about the experience at these accommodations.
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