I spent one week in Marrakesh in March 2018, visiting Marrakesh, Imlil and the Ouzoud waterfalls during a business trip which I extended by a couple of days as a holiday.
I was attending the CRU Phosphate Conference at the local conference center and I spent the weekend before and after checking out the sights. I arrived in Marrakesh from London on the British Airways BA2668 flight early Saturday morning and left a week later on Sunday evening.
Marrakesh is a big city with a long history, going back hundreds of years. Most tourists visit to buy local handcrafted goods in the Medina and to visit a hammam. One week in Marrakesh will give you the opportunity to attend a cooking class, check out the historical sights and even go skiing in the Atlas Mountains.
The newer parts of Marrakesh also offer many attractions, such as the Palmerai, or Gueliz with its shopping district, Hivernage and its nightclubs and huge luxury hotels.
The King has obviously spent a lot of money on this city as there are various wide boulevards, good quality pavements and nice new public buildings adorning this ancient city.
Places To Stay In Marrakesh
During my trip to Marrakesh I spent two nights at the Lawrence of Arabia Hotel, three nights at the Movenpick Hotel and two nights and Riad Matin in the Medina. This gave me an opportunity to visit most parts of Marrakesh on foot or by bike, without the need to walk too much or take a taxi.
For example, the Hotel Laurence d’Arabie was in the Hivernage district, about 10 minutes walk away from the train station and Gueliz, a modern part of town with lots of fixed price shops.
A Local SIM Card For One Week In Marrakesh
Once I checked into the Hotel Lawrence of Arabia I headed out into Marrakesh’s old Medina district. I did not have a map so first I walked up to the train station to buy myself a local SIM card.
I would recommend doing this in every country you visit unless you have a special deal with your home network provider. Unfortunately Three does not offer the Feel At Home package in Morocco so I bought a SIM card from Orange at the main railway station. It is a very simple process to get a SIM card in Morocco.
You walk into any mobile phone store and ask for a non-contract, pay as you go SIM card which you can use for mobile internet. You can also add some money for call credit in case you need to contact your hotel, the car rental company or you need to deal with any other urgent matter.
I spoke to the agent at the Orange store at Marrakesh railway station who told me that for 40 dirhams I can get 2 GB data and some call credit, valid for one week. This was just perfect for me as I wanted to use the internet mainly but I also had some calling credit, probably for about five minutes.
What I should note is that this will only work if you have an unlocked cell phone handset – if you are locked into your home network then you are slightly stuck. Anyway, my mobile phone is unlocked, so I can just place any SIM into it and go. This is exactly what I did in Australia as well as South Africa when I travelled there.
Walking To Marrakesh’s Medina
As soon as I sorted out the SIM card from Orange, I put the main square of Marrakesh in to Google Maps as my main destination and started walking towards the downtown area in the scorching heat.
It was so hot compared to my home town of London! I was fortunate that I had applied the sun tan lotion before I left the hotel – I saw many other tourists that did not and they were completely burned!
About halfway down the road from the railway station in Marrakesh I decided to start looking for somewhere to eat as I was starving! I only had a sandwich for breakfast that day and it was 2PM when I started walking towards the Medina in Marrakesh.
I saw a roadside restaurant where a lot of locals were eating, so I decided to have a seat and order a portion of beef tagine and a can of Coca Cola.
If you are ever in doubt about what to eat in Marrakesh, or Morocco in general, the safest bet is to order beef or chicken tagine: they are very tasty and are generally freshly prepared by a chef on site. They are also ready pretty quickly so I normally get a tagine when I am hungry and cannot make up my mind about what to eat.
After lunch I carried on walking but I would recommend renting a bicycle like I explained above. Unfortunately I only made a bike booking on my second day so I had to walk 2.5 kilometers to reach the Medina.
Buying Local Souvenirs In Marrakesh
I did not mind it very much as I could see various parts of the city but I was getting tired pretty quickly in the summer-like heat. I entered the old town of Marrakesh through a big gate at the north side of the wall from where a long, narrow streets leads into the heart of the Medina.
Unfortunately the entire length of the street was dug up and the scooters with their impatient drivers just kept rushing past so I did not really enjoy walking around here.
After about 20 minutes of wandering around in this area I found a wood craftsman who was selling various boxes and other items he claimed to be making. We started chatting and I ended up buying two boxes from him which I later found out were at least twice as expensive as the usual price.
The moral of the story: don’t worry if you feel like you are getting ripped off – the money will end up with the locals and you will get a good show which you will remember for the rest of your life! In fact, a few days later I met a couple of Germans who recounted their own stories of getting overcharged and we just had a great laugh about it!
The Metal Workers District
From here I went down past the Mosque (entry for non-muslims is not allowed), then cross the metal working district followed by the leather and carpet makers enclave. It was such a fascinating experience walking through the metal making district with all the colourful lamps and brass items laid out inside the shops of the metalworkers. Here I was a bit more cautious and haggled quite hard to get a brass fly from one of the metal workers and I think this time I got a good deal.
I made my way towards the vegetable market district and the spice souks, followed by the butchers and shoe sellers. It was here that I decided to stop to eat something so I bought one of the special local Moroccan delicacies called pancakes filled with vegetables.
The lady made the dough in front of us and then filled it with tomato and various other things than fried it up on a hot plate. It was absolutely delicious!
A couple of carts down from the pancake shop was a fresh orange juice seller guy where I bought myself a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. With the pancake in one hand and the orange juice in the other I began looking for a place to sit but there was nowhere to sit unfortunately so I asked one of the sales guys if I could sit next to him on the pavement.
He said fine so I was sitting there, munching away on my pancake and drinking the fresh orange juice, contently watching the people passing by. Most tourists were totally terrified and I could see some of them shriek when a sales guy approached them – I wonder what they were expecting when they booked their holiday? A clean, tidy and orderly market place? Well, looking at their facial expressions that was not what they got!
Jemaa El Fna In Marrakesh
After the pancake I carried on walking towards Jemaa el Fna, the main square in the Marrakesh Medina. Here it was total cavalcade, with snake charmers, belly dancers, acrobats and everything else in between! There were lots of food and tea stalls, restaurants around and in the middle of the square and thousands of tourists and locals within.
It was a bit overwhelming at first, especially that at every step of the way someone was offering their goods, services or restaurants and after about five minutes this was beginning to drive me crazy.
The moment I stopped to enjoy the scenery someone walked up to me and began telling me his or her restaurant was the best in town and that I should eat there right away.
Never mind I already had dinner and I explained this to about a dozen other restaurant owners already, they said it’s fine, just come in for desert. When I said no they were like, OK why not come back tomorrow or later today? And they gave me their business cards.
This went on for about an hour and then I decided to get another orange juice and head back to the hotel. By this time I walked my feet off so I wanted to get a taxi, but unbelievably I had to haggle here too.
The first taxi quoted 200 for the five minute journey but I knew it should be closer to 20-30 dirham. The ride to the airport was 50-70 without receipt, so within town you should never pay more than 50-60 dirham. If you need a receipt they will add an extra 20-30 dirhams.
So in the end I had to walk up to three drivers who were all trying to rip me off charging 100-200 dirham, after which finally I found a driver that took me back to my hotel for 50. I just don’t understand why everyone thinks tourists are there to be taken advantage of?
Dinner At Laurence d’Arabia
I got back to the Hotel Lawrence of Arabia around 8PM and had dinner in the restaurant. They made pancakes with banana and nutella, so I ordered that and a glass of banana, apple and orange juice. It was great, although a lot more expensive than at the market.
The next morning I checked into the Movenpick Hotel, which was about 10 minutes away from the Hotel Laurence d’Arabia, still in Hivernage but at the end of the main boulevard that leads into the Old Town of Marrakesh.
It is a mega luxury hotel complex with several swimming pools, a gym, various restaurants and gardens as well as bars. It honestly felt like staying at the Alhambra in Granada!
They even had an underground spa with a Jacuzzi, steam room, massage room and relaxation room with a fountain in almost every area of the building. It looked truly spectacular.
Related: read my review here of the hotel.
My room was on the fifth floor at the back so I could see the mountains and the old city but I did not hear the noise from the streets. Needless to say it was quite a spectacular place to stay in for three nights!
Renting A Bicycle In Marrakesh
There was a bike rental spot not far from the hotel entrance so I rented a bike for a week while I was in Marrakesh, taking in the sites that were a little far away from each other on foot. Marrakesh offers a city wide bicycle rental system, similar to London’s or Paris’s system.
Most bicycle rental stations in Marrakesh have a helper on hand so if you don’t feel comfortable doing it on your own they will be happy to help. The system is quite easy to use in Marrakesh: you go online, enter your details, get a password and use it during your entire rental period.
The first hour is always free, but if you go over the limit it will cost 10 dirhams per hour and you will need to go online to pay it. Alternatively, the helpers will do this for you but the easiest is to just stick to the one hour limit, return the bike within an hour and take out another one immediately.
The bike stations in Marrakesh are within 10 minutes from each other so unless you go out of town there will always be a bicycle rental station in Marrakesh near you.
So I rented a bicycle and went to visit Jardin Majorelle, a beautiful garden about 10 minutes cycling away from the Medina. It costs 70 dirham to enter and the visit will take about 30 minutes if you don’t go in the museums on site.
Tip: visit early in the morning at 8AM when the garden opens, otherwise you spend your day in the queue!
Visiting Jardin Majorelle In Marrakesh
Jardin Majorelle was designed by a French man and built in the early 20th century but later fell into disrepair. This is when Yves Saint Lauren came in the picture, rescuing the gardens and buildings from certain destruction.
Yves Saint Lauren and his boyfriend spent the next 50 years renovating the place and turning it into what it is today: a heavenly garden away from the hustle and bustle of the old town.
The compound is walled around and there are hundreds of trees, cacti, flowers and even a fish pond and two other smaller ponds – one with a fountain.
I imagine when Yves Saint Lauren bought his place there were no high rise buildings around here but now unfortunately the main road goes past here and there are dozens of nondescript apartment blocks surrounding Jardin Majorelle.
There is even a hotel overlooking the gardens, so I think the tourism aspect of things have been slightly overdone in this respect. This was also my feeling in other parts of Marrakesh: it felt like the essence of the old town, and why many tourists came here in the beginning is slowly disappearing.
I saw many of the old, winding streets where the merchants used to sell their ware being replaced with new buildings built from concrete, bricks and cement, including brand new wooden windows which I felt was a step too far in commercialising Marrakesh.
I wonder if there is even a preservation order in place as most of the streets are being repaved with unattractive concrete slabs and the old buildings are getting torn down to be replaced with concrete blocks.
A Good Old Moan About The Scooters
I can understand the residents are sick and tired of the old style of living, plus the water seeps in easily into the old mud buildings, but the whole point for a lot of tourists visiting Marrakesh is to see how people used to live and to have a nice walk around the (not so) ancient Medina.
Anyway, apart from the fact that everywhere I looked there were road works and construction going on it was very nice. One last thing I did not like were the scooters everywhere – even in the narrowest streets in the Medina there were these people rushing around on their motorbikes!
I thought it was absolutely crazy, just when I was about to enjoy smelling the spices and fragrances the stinking smoke out of the scooters hit my nose! Anyhow, it is just part of the experience, they are not about to prohibit scooters from the center of Marrakesh.
Meeting The French Woman
For my second day in Marrakesh I decided to have lunch at the Jemaa el Fna so I parked my bicycle up at the Koutoubia Mosque and walked to the square. Here I found a really cheap restaurant called where I happened to sit in front of a French woman who owns a house in town.
Isabelle has owned a house in Marrakesh for 14 years and was here for a couple weeks holidays to enjoy the sun. We had a nice chat about what we were both doing there, a bit about our lives then we spent the entire day together, cycling around town. She was cycling on her own bike and I on my rental.
She showed me an antique store which used to be a private home but it now functions as an antiques store selling items around the world using DHL for delivery. Some of the vases and other items were worth tens of thousands of euros, so it was obviously not my kind of store!
We also went to a hammam, the secret gardens, a couple of museums and hotels and some other places around Marrakesh. She even helped me buy a special blue coloured stone which I will use to paint my pavement back in Hungary when I am there.
It was nearly 6PM when we finished cycling around the place and I was pretty exhausted so I headed back to the hotel for a short snooze then checked out the spa in the hotel. I was so tired that in the end I decided to have an early night and fell asleep just before 10PM.
The CRU Phosphates Conference in Marrakesh
I spent the next three days in the conference meeting my clients and checking out some of the presentations, so it wasn’t exactly touristy stuff but that’s work. One evening I cycled into town to have dinner at the Jemaa el Fna again and the second night we were all taken off to the Palmerai for dinner.
Parking A Car In Central Marrakesh
On Wednesday evening I picked up the car at the airport. I rented a car from Holiday Autos for four days, coming in at just under £110. and parked it up straight away in a downtown car park in central Marrakesh.
In retrospect it was a bit silly to rent a car on Wednesday evening but originally I was planning to take the Thursday and Friday off but then my plans changed. Anyway, parking in Marrakesh only cost 70 dirham per night, so I left it there for two nights while I was working in the other hotel.
After I parked up near Koutoubia Mosque I went to check into the Riad Matin in the north of the Marrakesh Medina.
Related: Read my review about Riad Matin here
Visiting A Local Hammam in Marrakesh
I really wanted to try a local hammam but they all seemed super expensive and geared towards the tourists so I kept putting it off. For example, a 2 hour massage and steam room in a tourist trap hammam cost you between 800-1200 dirham! That is about £70-100! I would never pay that much even back in the UK!
So Yahia in Riad Matin told me to visit a local hammam which is attached to a mosque. Local normal people come here to have a clean up on a daily basis and the entrance fee is only 12 dirham. The male and female sections are separated and if you want you can order a scrub for an extra 50 dirham. I decided to only get the soap and hair wash and proceeded inside to check out this ancient establishment.
There were three main rooms inside, all heated to a different temperature. With my bucket in hand I walked into the farthest room which was the hottest. It was here where I filled up my bucket with hot water and sat in the corner on the floor, beginning the process of washing myself like the locals.
The soap I bought was the traditional Moroccan style gooey stuff of brown colour and no smell. It was also extremely slippy so it was a special experience cleaning myself with it.
Sitting on the hot stone floor, pouring hot water on myself in the steamy bath was quite fascinating and difficult to describe. Given that the only reminder of the modern times was the plastic buckets and the shampoo I could totally imagine flying back 500 years in time!
This particular hammam has been here for 100s of years and almost nothing changed in that time, except the wall tiles which they probably renovated in the 1970s or 1980s.
After this room I went to the middle room and then the third room, following which I went to the cold room to cool down and dry myself. In all I probably spent about an hour inside, enjoying this great invention with the locals at a fair price.
Evening Cooking Class in Marrakesh
One evening I also attended a cooking class at the Hotel “La Maison Arabe” a luxury hotel in the north of the Medina. They actually have an entire floor dedicated to the cooking class with stoves, hubs and TV screens helping out the tourist cook a good Moroccan meal.
The class I went on lasted 2.5 hours and would cost 600 dirhams to a tourist but I got it for free from the local tourism board in exchange for writing about it.
For the first half hour we sat on the ground floor in the hotel’s restaurant where Yousef explained the techniques they use and the history of cooking in Marrakesh. He gave a fascinating account of how and why cooking developed the way it did in Marrakesh, which in itself made the visit worth the trip.
After the speech we proceeded to making a cup of traditional Moroccan tea with mint and sugar, using a metal jug. The helper explained how to filter the tea and mix in the sugar as well as the reasons behind doing those things. I never knew that the first cup of tea needs to be poured away as that contains the sediments and dirt from the tea leaves – like they say you learn something new every day!
Following the tea making exercise we went upstairs to the cooking classes. They have two main classrooms – one with about 20 cooking stations and a smaller with only four stations. In the large room there were TV screens on the kitchen worktop where students can watch the teacher explaining how to cook certain things.
As there were only three people in my class we went into the small room where Dada, a local berber woman explained how to make proper bread, chicken tagine and Marrakshi salad.
The actual cooking exercise lasted about an hour and a half with hand-on experience chopping the vegetables, mixing the spices and cooking the chicken. I really enjoyed the experience of cooking with others and having a conversation during the whole thing!
Although I think it is a bit on the pricey side I would say it is worth for the experience especially that in the end you can eat what you have cooked.
Now if you consider that going to a restaurant a tagine will cost you between 30-80 dirham plus a drink and desert, it is easy to see that the 600 dirham contains a lot of charge for the “experience” factor and that you are in a five star hotel. But if you can afford it then nothing should stop you as it makes for a great evening out with family or friends.
Visiting Safi On The Moroccan Coast
On Friday morning I visited Safi on the Moroccan coast as I was invited to a plant visit by a major fertilizer company. The drive there took 2.5 hours on country roads, crossing some really nice green fields and low mountains.
The Safi coast is very pretty with the turquoise waters and rock cliffs and apparently the sea food here is the best in the whole of Morocco.
After the plant visit the company representatives and I went to a local restaurant called Restaurant Ryad De Pecheur where I had sweet beef tagine but the others ordered a whole fish for lunch. You can see the picture below – it looked very interesting but I am not a great fan of fish so I was happy with my beef.
Driving To The High Atlas And Staying At Imlil
I arrived back in Marrakesh from Safi around 6PM and went to pick up my car from the car park near the Koutoubia Mosque. I arrived there just on time, having left the car there almost exactly 48 hours before!
My destination for the day was a place called Imlil, about 1.5 hours away from Marrakesh towards the south. It is in Imlil where you can set up camp if you are planning to hike the highest mountain in the Atlas Mountains called Toubkhal.
It is more than 4,100 meters tall, and takes about two days return, walking from Imlil. Imlil is basically a very small town with two parking lots and a number of restaurants and cafes along its main street.
There are also lots of shops in Imlil, with the same tourist stuff on offer by sales men who are a bit less obtrusive than those in Morocco.
I was staying in the Dar Adrar Lodge on the mountain side which meant I had to park the car up and then the son of the owner came to pick me up. He walked to the car park to find me and then we had to walk up a steep hill to reach Dar Adrar Lodge – the walk took about 15 minutes.
If you have a lot of luggage this is probably not the best place to pick but if you tell them in advance they will bring a donkey and pack all your luggage on it for you.
Staying in Imlil is kind of like stepping back in time – the roads end here and if you want to go further uphill you will need to hike or take a donkey for your luggage. It was quite fascinating but fortunately I only had a small rucksack so it was no big deal for me.
They served dinner at the Dar Adrar when I arrived around 8PM after which I went downstairs and crashed out sleeping. I was sleeping like a log until 8AM when I had breakfast on the terrace, overlooking the valley and the surrounding snow-capped mountains.
Skiing in Oukaimeden in Morocco
Instead of doing big long hike I decided to head back down to the main road and drive up to Oukaimeden, the highest ski resort in North Africa. The drive from Imlil to Oukaimeden took nearly two hours but there are not many hotels near the ski resort so Booking.com and other online tools will either offer you to stay in Marrakesh or some place like Imlil.
The drive was very scenic, following winding roads along the river valley, overlooking these spectacular snow-capped mountains. I personally never imagined there would ever be so much snow in Africa, let alone a ski resort.
I’ve driven around Morocco once and visited the desert, the dried out plains south of Midelt, the oasis in the desert valleys and many other places but I never expected to see an Alpine ski resort with this much snow.
The road up to Oukaimeden is of OK quality although there are some potholes here and there and plenty of hairpin curves so I never managed to drive faster than 40-50 kilomteres per hour. The speed limit is 60 but you would have to be crazy to go that “fast”!
I arrived in Oukaimeden around 1230 and paid for the parking then went looking for something to eat. My plan was to stay in Oukaimeden for the night, but I quickly found out that most of the hotels were closed down and there really is nothing to do here after the chairlift closes. So, instead of staying for the night I did a bit of skiing and then headed back to Marrakesh for the night.
Sliding Down My Ass
The skiing wasn’t so much of skiing to be honest – more like sliding on my ass downhill for more than a kilometer! That trail was a black route and I am only a beginner skier so I completely chickened out, took the skis off and started walking and sliding down.
Before I went up to the top I met a policeman and a ski instructor at the base of the mountain who invited me for a cup of tea. We started chatting about the mountain and what I was doing there all the way from Hungary.
The ski instructor said that he would be happy to help me ski there and in retrospect it was a great decision otherwise I would have shit myself at the top. He told me he would get me a pair of skis and boots from the local guys who were hiring out stuff on the roadside and then we would go up together in the chairlift. He said this would cost me 100 dirham in total which I thought was a reasonable price.
The skis and boots were not in top-notch condition but they did the job and off we were going up to the top of North Africa’s highest ski resort! I nearly fell off the chair as I forgot to take my rucksack off but fortunately I managed to hold on and quickly take the bag off!
Tip: Always have your rucksack at the front of your body when you get in any chair lift!
The Ski Chairlift in Oukaimeden
Incredibly, this is a brand new chairlift and hardly anybody uses it because skiing is not a national sport in Morocco. Given that almost nobody knows about this ski resort it is highly unlikely it will ever turn profit.
During the two hours I was there I counted less than 10 people going up on the chairlift, which is a pity as it is a great place to ski.
The ride to the top took a bit more than 10 minutes and the views were absolutely spectacular – clear blue skies, pure white snow and almost no wind! The highest mountain in Morocco was right in front of us, just over the valley and many other high hills surrounded as, providing for a great photo opportunity.
Unfortunately if you don’t ski you are not allowed to come up here, but if you do ski I would definitely recommend a visit here. It is well worth the 100 dirhams and it will be an unforgettable experience for sure.
For me it was definitely unforgettable as I froze and my legs went jelly the moment I saw the gradient of the slope! After about 200 meters of skiing I decided to take the skis off and the instructor took them on his shoulder and I proceeded to descend the hill – on my ass!
The hill was so steep I literally could not stand up, especially because the ski boots kept sliding on the icier bits. It was slightly terrifying and it must have been a great show for Rachid, who took the president of TV3 up here once!
I told him to not wait for me, just go ahead and wait at the base of the hill but he wouldn’t leave me there which was very good of him! He even asked someone to give me his gloves which came in very handy as my hands were about freeze off!
Getting down the hill took me about an hour and a half but I enjoyed every minute and I was laughing my ass off sliding there like an idiot! If only I had my ski trousers with me I would have been able to slide a bit faster.
The problem was I did not prepare for this trip and I only had my jeans on which got soaked within minutes. I was pretty cold I must admit but fortunately I had a big winter coat on me which kept my upper body warm.
Once I got down to the base I gave Rachid a nice big bonus and also gave some money to the guy that gave me his gloves, then headed back to the car and drove back to Marrakesh.
Since I really enjoyed staying at the Lawrence of Arabia I booked it again and spent a night there but in a different room this time. It was facing the street so the room was a bit noisier than the previous weekend but it was still good.
The internet connection was fast and the shower hot so there was nothing to complain about. I went downstairs to have the same banana and nutella pancake with orange juice than I passed out sleeping as I was so tired from all the adventures of the day.
Driving To The Ouzoud Waterfall – Morocco’s Niagara Falls
The Ouzoud Waterfall is about 2.5 hours northeast from Marrakesh, driving on narrow country roads into the mountains. The waterfall is 110 meters tall and is made up of three tiers. It is not as big as the Niagara Falls and the color is completely different but it does look amazing as the huge volume of water is gushing down the side of the cliff.
When I was there it was after several weeks of rains so the waterfall swell and seeing it made for a great day out. At the base of the waterfall are some small ponds which the locals use to take tourists close up to the waterfall. It is almost like the Maid of the Mist at the Niagara Falls.
If you arrive by car, self driving you will need to park somewhere and then walk to the falls. There will be lots of touts telling you to park in their lot and that parking anywhere else is forbidden. This is a lie and you can park in any spot with green-white strips on the curb.
What I did is drive into one of the quite side streets parallel to the river and parked at the end of it. Then I crossed the fields and arrived on the side of the waterfall about five minutes later. This way I completely avoided the touts and I could just take it easy and look around on my own.
I spent about an hour here after which I drove back to Marrakesh to have dinner and drop the car off before catching the flight back to London.
Dropping The Car Off
Unfortunately I had an argument with the car rental company as they did not tell me to clean to car before returning. All their paperwork was in French and I don’t speak French so there was no way to understand it.
Basically, it turns out in Morocco you need to return the car after you’ve been to the car wash. My advice is to fill your car up at the Afriquia petrol station which is only about 700 meters from the airport entrance and then use their car was for 50 dirhams before you return the car.
Also, allow at least one hour to go through all the security checks at Marrakesh airport – they have a scanner at the main gates, another one before passport control and then another check just before the gate. It took quite some time getting through and it was during a quiet period – I heard it took hours for some people returning from the conference.
Anyhow, other than these minor issues I really enjoyed my trip and I would recommend a visit for anyone thinking about going to Morocco!