Itinerary for a 4 day trip to Morocco!
While we were studying abroad in Dublin, one of our friends wanted to visit Marrakech. After we found a cheap flight and did a ton of research, we were off to the red city of Morocco! Here are is what we did over 4 days (Friday to Monday), including where we stayed and ate!
We flew in late Friday night and flew out early on Monday, so we spent all day Saturday exploring Marrakesh and drove to Essaouria on Sunday. We know there are so many things we get to do, but we hope this is a good starting point!
Where to Stay in Marrakech
While visiting Marrakech, you definitely want to stay in a riad, which is a small bed and breakfast usually run by a Moroccan family in the center of the medina. The riads are also perfectly placed to walk everywhere, including the souks. Since we booked this trip last minute and didn't want to spend a lot of money, we found a large suite in Riad Jomana on Hotels.com for only $50 for all 3 nights! They arranged a shuttle to pick us up from the airport, and even though we arrived after 9 pm, the owner of the riad, Yousseff, had a large dinner waiting for us. This included a massive bowl of chicken tagine, veggie couscous, bread, a salad, and delicious mint tea. If you book this trip more in advance, you could stay in fancier riads, like Riad Yasmine, but we loved our stay in Riad Jomana. Yousseff also helped us book our day trip and had large complimentary breakfasts ready for us every morning in the center garden in the riad.
Things to Do
We explored all of Marrakech in one day! Here are all the places we recommend going, all of which cost under 7 USD. Try going to the gardens first thing in the morning to avoid large crowds!
Jardin Majorelle
Jardin Secret
Saadian Tombs
Souks in the medina (old town)
J'maa el Finaa (main square)
Bahia Palace
El Badi Palace
Outside the Saadian Tombs Jardin Majorelle
Jardin Secret Street outside the Riad
Where to Eat
All the places we ate had cute little rooftops where we could look out over Marrakech! Definitely make reservations so you can secure one of these rooftop spots. Here were a few of our favorite spots for lunch and dinner:
Atay Cafe
Nomad
Le Jardin
Your riad! Definitely try to have at least one dinner where you're staying
Day Trip to Essaouria
We booked a day trip to Essaouria through our riad, which was on the ocean and a filming location for Game of Thrones. It was about 4 hours from Marrakech, but the drive was a lot of fun, and we passed orange trees, an Argan Oil factory, and trees with goats! We definitely recommend this day trip if you want to roam around the bright blue souks, climb the ramparts, and and eat some great seafood!
Other Tips
Try tagine, kabobs, pastilla, mint tea anywhere and everywhere (each recipe is different!), couscous, and lots of orange juice!
Avoid monkeys and snakes in the main square
Haggle in the souks to lower the prices of things
Wear long skirts or loose pants to blend in with the local culture while staying cool in the very hot weather
It's very hard to find alcohol anywhere other than the airport
Leave room in your suitcase to shop in the souks
There's so much to see and do in Morocco, so it is for sure on our bucket list to go back. Hope all these tips helped!
~Mads and Al
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