Marrakech
Souks and palace rooms, rooftop evenings and the welcome calm behind a riad door. 4 nights here.
Day by day.
What our planner builds for a couple on a first visit in October, at a balanced pace, staying in restored riads, who asked for food, the souks and the desert, flying into Marrakech Menara and home from there.
Day 1 · Marrakech
Arrival: Met at Marrakech Menara and driven to your riad. Afternoon: Street food crawl across Jemaa el-Fna with a local guide. Evening: Nomad, on the roof above Rahba Kedima, modern Moroccan with the spice square below. Sleep: a restored riad in the Mouassine.
Day 2 · Marrakech
Morning: Jardin Majorelle and the YSL museum on early entry. Afternoon: The souks with a buyer who knows the honest workshops. Evening: Al Fassia in Gueliz, a kitchen run entirely by women, and the pigeon pastilla. Sleep: a restored riad in the Mouassine.
Day 3 · Marrakech
Morning: Hot air balloon at dawn, landing for breakfast in a Berber tent. Afternoon: Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs and Ben Youssef Madrasa. Evening: Le Jardin, under the banana trees and several hundred candles. Sleep: a restored riad in the Mouassine.
Day 4 · Marrakech
Morning: Traditional hammam and gommage, then mint tea on the roof. Afternoon: Quad biking through the Palmeraie and the dry riverbeds. Evening: A last evening in Marrakech: dinner close to your riad and an early night before the drive. Sleep: a restored riad in the Mouassine.
Day 5 · Essaouira
Morning: About 2.5 hours by road to Essaouira. Afternoon: Pick your fish at the port grills and eat it standing up. Evening: Ocean Vagabond, out on the beach with the kitesurfers going past. Sleep: a boutique riad by the port.
Day 6 · Essaouira
Morning: Thuya wood workshops, where the whole street smells of cedar. Afternoon: A surf lesson down at Sidi Kaouki. Evening: Dinner in Essaouira at a table we book for you, somewhere you have not been yet. Sleep: a boutique riad by the port.
Day 7 · Essaouira
Morning: Checked out and on the road back to the airport, about 2.5 hours, timed against your flight. Departure: Dropped at Marrakech Menara.
Why it is this shape.
We have left Merzouga out of this one. It is 9 hours by road from Marrakech, which is most of two days out of the 7 you have. On a longer trip it is very much on.
Fly in and out of Marrakech Menara. A round trip on a short trip means staying in one part of the country rather than losing days driving across it.
We will hold small houses nobody has written about, which is where the best rooms in Morocco are.
The places on it.
Essaouira
Ramparts, working boats and long lunches in a city that rewards an unhurried stay. 2 nights here.
Other lengths.
10 days in Morocco
Marrakech, Merzouga, Fes and Tangier.
14 days in Morocco
Marrakech, Merzouga, Fes and Tangier.