11:45
Timeline
Four days: the medina on arrival, the gardens, palaces and a hammam on the second, the High Atlas on the third, a quiet morning before the flight.
Day 1 · Tue
The souks, the Ben Youssef Madrasa and Jemaa el-Fna at dusk
Marrakechland 11:00👟 ≈ 9,000 stepsLand at 11:00, the riad's driver at arrivals. Lunch on a roof, the souks and the Ben Youssef Madrasa, then Jemaa el-Fna as the food stalls light up.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →12:15
stay
Mint tea and bags at the riad📍 in Google Maps
Most riads welcome you with mint tea in the courtyard and keep the bags until the room is ready. Ask for a map with the riad marked; the lanes are hard to find at first.
12:45
food
Lunch on a roof terrace above the Rahba Kedima📍 in Google Maps
150–250 dirham each
The old spice square has several restaurants with roof terraces over it; a middle option with tablecloths and modern Moroccan cooking. A tagine of chicken with lemon and olives, or a salad of grilled vegetables.
14:15
shopping
The souks📍 in Google Maps
A maze of market lanes north of Jemaa el-Fna, each once given to one trade: leather, lamps, dyers, carpets, slippers.
freebargain
Walk Souk Semmarine north and let the side lanes pull you in: the dyers' souk hung with skeins of wool, the metalworkers' lanterns. Turn down boys who offer to show you the way; they expect payment.
16:15
sightphoto ↑
Ben Youssef Madrasa📍 in Google Maps
A 16th-century Koranic school for 900 students, with a courtyard of carved cedar, stucco and zellige tiles round a long pool.
about 50 dirham eachday's highlight
At the north end of the souks. The courtyard is the visit: stand at the end of the pool for the whole carved wall in one view.
Upstairs, the students' tiny cells look onto small inner courtyards. Late afternoon is quieter than the morning. Allow 45 minutes.
17:30
19:00
food
Jemaa el-Fna at dusk, dinner at the stalls📍 in Google Maps
Marrakech's main square, filled each evening with food stalls, storytellers, musicians and snake charmers, on UNESCO's list of living heritage.
100–150 dirham eachpickpockets
Watch the square fill from a café terrace on its north side first. The numbered food stalls cook in front of you: grilled meat, fried fish, snail soup. Choose a busy one. Photographing the performers or the monkeys costs money; agree first or do not.
If you fall behind
- Skip the souks today; you will cross them again on Friday.
- If the square is too much, eat on a terrace above it and watch.
Day 2 · Wed
The Jardin Majorelle, the Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs, El Badi and a hammam
Marrakechout 08:15👟 ≈ 10,500 stepsThe Jardin Majorelle at its 8:00 opening, the Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs after lunch. A hammam and a massage at 17:30, dinner at the riad.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →
08:30
sightphoto ↑
The Jardin Majorelle📍 in Google Maps🎟 book jardinmajorelle.com
The garden of the painter Jacques Majorelle, later owned by Yves Saint Laurent: cactus, bamboo and a studio painted in an electric blue named after him.
about 170 dirham eachday's highlighttimed ticket
A petit taxi from the Bab Doukkala gate, 10 minutes, about 30 dirham on the meter. Tickets are timed and sold online only. The first hour is the quietest.
The Berber Museum inside the blue studio is a small, separate ticket and well worth it; the Musée Yves Saint Laurent next door is a third. Allow an hour and a half for the garden and the Berber Museum.
12:00
food
Lunch in the Kasbah📍 in Google Maps
100–200 dirham each
A taxi to the Kasbah, 15 minutes. Roof cafés by the Saadian Tombs serve tagines and couscous; a middle option, with storks nesting on the walls opposite.
13:15
sightphoto ↑
The Bahia Palace📍 in Google Maps
A 19th-century grand vizier's palace of 150 rooms round courtyards, with painted cedar ceilings and zellige floors.
about 100 dirham eachcrowds
Ten minutes' walk east. The rooms are empty of furniture; look up at the ceilings and down at the tiles. The Grand Courtyard of marble is the largest. An hour.
14:30
sightphoto ↑
The Saadian Tombs📍 in Google Maps
The 16th-century tombs of the Saadian sultans, walled up by a later sultan and found again only in 1917.
about 100 dirham eachqueue
Ten minutes back west. The Hall of the Twelve Columns, with its carved cedar dome over the sultan's tomb, is seen from a doorway; the queue to look in moves slowly. Thirty minutes.
15:15
sightphoto ↑
El Badi Palace📍 in Google Maps
The ruins of a 16th-century Saadian palace, stripped of its marble by a rival sultan, with sunken gardens and stork nests on the walls.
about 100 dirham each
Five minutes away. Climb to the terrace on the walls for the view over the Kasbah and the Atlas beyond; the storks nest at eye level. Forty-five minutes.
17:30
tourphoto ↑
A hammam and massage📍 in Google Maps🎟 book lesbainsdemarrakech.com
A hammam is a Moroccan steam bath with a scrub; the spa hammams for visitors, like Les Bains de Marrakech, add a massage.
400–800 dirham eachbook ahead
A spa hammam near the Kasbah gate: a steam room, black olive soap, a scrub with a rough glove, then a massage. Couples can usually go in together. About two hours.
20:00
food
Dinner at the riad📍 in Google Maps
200–300 dirham each
Most riads cook dinner for guests if asked in the morning: a set menu of salads, a tagine and dessert in the courtyard. Order it before leaving.
If you fall behind
- Skip El Badi and go from the tombs to the hammam.
- If the Saadian queue is long, see the tombs on Friday morning instead.
Day 3 · Thu
The High Atlas: Imlil, a walk to Aroumd and lunch with a mountain view
Atlas Mountainsout 08:30👟 ≈ 10,500 stepsA driver to Imlil in the High Atlas, an hour and a half. A walk with a local guide to the village of Aroumd, lunch on a terrace under Toubkal, back by 17:30.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →
08:30
getting there
Driver from the medina to Imlil📍 from 🏁 Imlil
about 800–1,000 dirham for the car1 h 30 min
A private driver for the day, booked through the riad, waits at the nearest gate. The road climbs through Asni; the last half-hour winds up the valley. Ask to stop at the Argan cooperative only if you want to.
10:00
walkphoto ↑
Imlil and a local guide📍 in Google Maps
A village at 1,740 metres at the head of the valley, the starting point for walks and for the climb of Toubkal.
guide 300–400 dirham
Meet the guide booked with the driver at the bureau des guides on the square. Walking boots or trainers with grip; it is cooler here, 15–18°C in April.
10:15
walkphoto ↑
Walk to the village of Aroumd📍 in Google Maps
A Berber village of stone and earth houses at 1,900 metres, on a spur facing Jebel Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa at 4,167 metres.
includedday's highlightuphill
An hour up a mule track through walnut and apple terraces, about 5,000 steps. The guide knows the families: tea in a village house is often offered, and a small payment is polite.
The loop comes back down across the riverbed, an hour more. Snow may still be on Toubkal in April.
12:45
food
Lunch on a terrace facing Toubkal📍 in Google Maps
150–300 dirham each
The Kasbah du Toubkal above the village serves lunch to walkers on its roof terrace, booked ahead; the guesthouses in Imlil do a tagine in the courtyard for less. Berber omelette, cooked in a clay dish, and bread from the oven.
15:00
getting there
Drive back to Marrakech📍 from 🏁 The medina
1 h 30 min
The same driver; ask for a stop at a viewpoint above the Asni valley.
20:00
food
Dinner in Mouassine📍 in Google Maps
250–400 dirham eachbook ahead
Restaurants in old riads round the Mouassine fountain serve set Moroccan dinners in candlelit courtyards; some have music. Pastilla, the sweet-savoury pigeon pie, is the dish to try. Book ahead.
If you fall behind
- Turn back at Aroumd instead of walking the loop.
- If the weather in the mountains is bad, go to the Ourika valley instead: lower, with a riverside walk to waterfalls.
Day 4 · Fri
Le Jardin Secret, the Maison de la Photographie and the flight
Marrakechout 09:15👟 ≈ 5,000 stepsLe Jardin Secret at 9:30, old photographs of Morocco and a last lunch on a roof. The riad's transfer at 14:45 for the 17:30 flight.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →
09:15
stay
Check out, bags at the riad📍 in Google Maps
Settle the bill, which may be in cash, and book the transfer for 14:45.
09:30
sightphoto ↑
Le Jardin Secret📍 in Google Maps🎟 book lejardinsecretmarrakech.com
A 16th-century palace garden restored in 2016, with an Islamic garden of four quarters and a tower over the medina's roofs.
about 100 dirham each
Five minutes from the riad. The tower costs a little more and shows the roofs and the Koutoubia minaret. Forty-five minutes.
10:45
sightphoto ↑
Maison de la Photographie📍 in Google Maps
A riad holding about 10,000 photographs of Morocco from 1870 to 1960, mostly of Berber life in the mountains.
about 50 dirham each
Ten minutes through the souks. Three floors of prints, many of the valleys you walked yesterday; the roof terrace café looks over the medina to the Atlas.
12:15
food
Last lunch and shopping in the souks📍 in Google Maps
100–200 dirham each
Lunch on a roof over the Rahba Kedima, then the last purchases: argan oil, slippers, a lantern. Leave time; bargaining is slow.
If you fall behind
- Skip the Maison de la Photographie and shop instead.
- If you are tired, stay in the riad's courtyard until the transfer.
