Exploring Marrakesh, Morocco

Intense, beautiful, interesting & stressful all at the same time. Full of wonders, culinary delights, culture and history at every turn. Join me in exploring Marrakesh!

Why Morocco?

Morocco has been very high on my travel destination list for a while now. Like everyone else, the pandemic wrecked my travels for two years… While I know a lot of people who were okay with it, I was feeling a bit lost. In 2017, after a health scare, I made the decision to up my travel game, travelling either for photography or cycling (or both… Talk about a packing challenge). In those 3 years before the pandemic hit, I travelled to Norway, Myanmar, Bali, Chile, Argentina, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Columbia and Belize.

I booked a trip to Japan for November 2021, as my 40th birthday present to myself. Sadly, international travel was still rocky at the time and the trip was postponed. It was postponed once again in 2022 (Japan was still mostly closed to visitors at the time), so I booked a last minute trip to ride my bike in Morocco instead, set to take place in October, just a few weeks after I got back from a trip to Croatia.

This is the story of that Morocco trip (October 2022)! Or at least a part of it, because cramming 5 days of riding + the Marrakesh experience in one post might be a bit too much for me to write and for you to read.

The post below has a lot of photos. For best viewing quality, click on each one. Or better yet, I linked to a dedicated gallery with all of the photos at the bottom of this post.

Before we get into it, I want to mention the Sept 2023 earthquake. My heart goes out to the communities affected in the Atlas mountains & Marrakesh.

Off to a rocky start

I landed in Morocco without my bike, or my suitcase. Luckily, I arrived 4 days before the cycling part of the trip was set to start and I had airtags in all my bags (10/10 recommend), so I knew exactly where the my bags were (stranded in Lisbon) and many calls later, I was able to get them the following day.

I should note that the airline will not deliver your bags to you in Marrakesh. You will need to go to the airport and pick them up, which can be quite the hassle. Also, if you are staying in the medina, its kind of tricky to have a lot of luggage, like say… A big hardcase bike bag! Cars do not go inside the medina, and the streets are mostly cobble stone, narrow and very crowded.

Another consideration to be aware of, especially when traveling with a lot of luggage, is that hotels in the medina are Riads. Riads are essentially small, tall courthouses, with very narrow stairs (and obviously no elevators), so if you are not staying in a room on the ground floor, you will need to arrange for a spot for your bike.

I was in two different Riads during my stay, one before we started riding and another after. I was on the ground floor in the first riad so that was not an issue. After the trip, I packed up my bike and left it with the cycling guide company. Their driver took me to the airport and brought the bike with him when he picked me up, which was very helpful. It was great avoiding having to find space for it at the Riad and then having to drag it through the medina again.

Marrakesh is beautifully chaotic

Let me start by saying that exploring Marrakesh can be chaotic at times. the Marrakesh medina is nuts. I got used to it fairly fast, but OMFG, it’s intense, beautiful, interesting & stressful all at the same time. The medina is the old city and as expected, the streets are narrow, there are people everywhere and no cars are allowed in. Instead, there are people on foot, on motorcycles, old bikes, donkeys and I even saw sheep wondering around.

If you are wondering if you should stay in the medina though, the answer is absolutely yes! There are things to do in the new city (good restaurants, etc), but most of the things you will likely want to see when exploring Marrakesh are in the heart (or the outskirts) of the Medina. Making your way through the souks can be very overwhelming at first, but I think it is an experience like no other and there are endless things to see.

Pro tips – Be okay with getting lost, ignore everyone unless you actually want to buy something (haggle if you do) and walk as if you have a purpose / know exactly where you are going, especially if you are a women traveling solo. And watch out for those darn mopeds / motorcycles!

My Tourist Hitlist

My hitlist included, well, all of the things – I walked so much, all over Marrakesh! There is so much history and different cultures and religions that blend so beautifully together… Luckily, I had a few days to successfully cram everything in both before and after my cycling adventure. Here are the places I really enjoyed and were worth a visit, in my personal opinion, no particular order.

House of Photography

This is an old riad full of history through photos, mostly portraits, from ~1850 to ~1950. It is tucked away in a north-east corner of the medina, on a quiet street. Some reviews warn that the area is not safe, and while I did not feel unsafe it’s best to pay attention to your surroundings and be careful anywhere in the medina.

I am very much into photography, which is why I jumped on the opportunity to visit a photography museum. When I read the Google reviews, I found a lot of the lower reviews to be ridiculous. Many of them state that their reasoning for the lower rating is because they are not interested in photography or because its just a bunch of photos…

Well, I mean, duh. It’s called house of photography for a reason! If you’re not interested in photography and you do not have spare time, perhaps you could skip this one. But if you enjoy photography, I recommend this small and charming museum as I thoroughly enjoyed walking around looking at the photography.

Of note is that I would have loved to see more information presented in each room for better context. I did not feel the need for it, but I can see others might. Also, you could argue that the photos are not the best representation as they were taken by westerners. That is the case because Morocco was under colonial rule in that period of time and it would be a shame for those photographs to be lost in time.

Perhaps in the near future, they will add the work of Moroccan photographers from more recent times – I think that will be a great addition to the collection.

Lazama Synagogue

I think most people would not necessarily add a synagogue to their tourist hitlist when visiting Marrakesh (or most places, really), but regardless of your religious beliefs, I think this one is absolutely worth your time as it is by far the most the most beautiful synagogue I’ve ever been in and is incredibly rich in history. It is bright blue and you just feel at peace as soon as you walk in…

It is located at the south-east of the medina between Badi Palace and Bahia palace. Walking the narrow streets of the Mellah (Jewish quarters), you can feel the history of the community, but sadly, there are very few jews in Marrakesh these days (~200). Despite that, the Lazama synagogue is still an active one. It was built in 1492, shortly after the jewish expulsion from Spain, when Sephardic jews settled in Marrakesh. I found this short article, briefly and beautifully sharing a bit of background. While it is not my heritage, I grew up with many jews of Moroccan roots and vising this synagogue was a special experience for me.

Badi Palace

Built in the 16th century, the palace remains are there for you to wander through. The Palace construction started by Sultan Ahmed al-Mansur of Saadian dynasty in 1578, designed to showcase wealth and grandeur. It was neglected after al-Mansur died in 1603 and some materials, like marble, were stripped away to be reused in other buildings around Morocco.

I really enjoyed using my imagination to fill in the blanks in what that place used to look like way back in the day, when the pools were full and the palace was lived in before it was destroyed.

There are underground areas, and various rooms to visit, as well as a video room and signage showing the palace layup, so you can learn more about it.

I mostly used my phone for photos (other than one of the photos below). I wish I was more deliberate with using my camera, but that’s for another post.

Saadian Tombs

Small, but amazing architecture and details, showcasing historic design and legacy. It strikes the balance between preserving authenticity and being well maintained, which is appreciated. Afterall, they were built in the 16th century! You should read more about the history here, as it is super interesting in my opinion.

It was quite busy when I was there, especially around the bigger chambers, so the photos below are a mix of phone and camera shots.

Dar El Bacha Museum

It is a grand residence built in 1910 and was the home of Thami El Glaoui, who was appointed as the Pasha of Marrakesh in 1912. More recently, In 2017, the building was renovated and transformed into a museum.

It does not look like much when you walk through the entrance, but then you go into the orange tree filled courtyard and get to explore amazing and colorful architecture. You can visit a very interesting museum, full of history and culture of Marrakesh and Morocco.

Le Jardin Secret

Probably my favorite in Marrakesh, and it was right around the corner from the Riad I was staying in during the first part of my trip, so I visited more than once. It is simply an oasis within the chaos and a much needed escape from everything!

You should absolutely pay a tiny bit extra for the tower tour – Its worth it for the architecture inside the tower (those doors!) and the 360 degree views of the city from the top. Our guide was fantastic and fluent in a few language, flipping between them interchangeable to cater for everyone in the small group. Once again, I only took one photo with my camera.

Jardin Majorelle and the YSL museum

I have mixed feelings about these two spots… They are both located one next to the other, outside the medina. They were pretty cool, but also stupid busy. You’ll need to wait in line and walk around far too many women dressed very inappropriately for a visit to Morocco who are clearly only there for the instagram photo.

While to each their own, I am a believer that when you visit a country, you should respect it’s customs. While my understanding is that it isn’t as strict for tourist as in the past, in a country like Morocco, a part of it to dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees.

The colors are everything

The colors of Jardin Majorelle are absolutely fantastic and the highlight is the museum inside, so be sure to visit it, even though there will likely be a line. The YSL museum is impressive, especially if you are into fashion, but truthfully I went through it faster than other places I visited.

Important – You need to get your tickets online, in advance. Note – I did not bring my camera with me, so phone photos only.

As for the famous Jemaa el-Fna square – You will walk through it for sure, so I didn’t include it above as a destination of its own.

You’ll see all sorts of things there, from snakes, to monkeys, to various vendors and a lot of people. I wanted to take some night photography there, or daytime long exposures to better capture it all, but I did not feel safe standing with a tripod and camera (at nighttime or daytime) as a solo female traveler.

The best thing I did in the square was pause, listen to the sounds (trust me, its an experience on its own), take it all in for a few minutes, get a fruit smoothie from one of the million stands in the square and then move on. Be sure to walk a bit south, towards the Koutoubia Mosque and walk around it (you can’t go inside).

Exploring Marrakesh – The Souks

There are a lot of souks you can visit and initially I had them marked on Google maps… I quickly gave up on that and changed my strategy to simply allow myself walk around and to get lost.

I know some of you might not be comfortable with that, but they all weave together anyways and you kind of loose track of time and sense of direction when you are in the midst of it all.

Just embrace the chaos and as I mentioned above – Keep your guard up, but know that exploring Marrakesh means you should be okay with not knowing exactly where you are, haggle like a champ and pretend like you know where you are and where you’re going.

I found it to be a bit of a challenge exploring Marrakesh in a relatively short duration and finding the time to soak it all in, as opposed to rushing through it.

There is so much more to my Morocco trip… Next up, will be the 5 days of cycling in the Atlas mountains and then there is the food! I had some mixed success with finding good gluten free options and striking the balance between great hidden restaurants and what felt like a tourist trap. Celiac safe food options might deserve its own post.

If you would like to view the photos in a dedicated gallery, click here.

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