Marrakesh is a fascinating city. Like the other larger Moroccan cities, Marrakesh is a mix of old and new. We visited twice, yet barely wrote about it. In some ways, I loved it. Marrakesh is exciting, vibrant, colourful, and active. Yet, my reaction at the time was less positive. We were hassled, pinched, and given too much unwanted attention.
Now that I have moved all my photos to Lightroom, and the details of my memories have faded, I see it only as a beautiful destination. See if you agree:
Personally, I love the intricate mosaics seen in many of the buildings. (This design is available on Amazon).
Inside El Bahia Palace.
A window in Dar Si Said. It is now a museum but was once an 11th-century palace.
Stairs in Dar Si Said
Worse than just having a monkey on a chain, Marrakesh is one of North Africa’s largest centres of wildlife trade, despite much of it being illegal. According to Wikipedia, the sale of tortoises for pets is popular and some also deal in Barbary macaques and snakes.
Colourful spices are a common item for sale both in and out of the medina.
The entranceway to a mosque in the old medina.
An intricately carved column and wall in El Bahia Palace.
Inside El Bahia Palace.
Jemaa el Fna is near the centre of the old city. At night we came here for food and storytellers. In the day, it is much different, offering a very eclectic mix.
Look closely above this truck. It has hit and bent a sign stating “no driving in this area of the medina.”
More Information:
- As one of Africa’s busiest cities, Marrakesh attracted over 8.1 million tourists last year.
- There is also a modern side to Marrakesh outside of the Medina. However, we spent the vast majority of our time in the old portion of the town, the fortified medina filled with the activity that makes the city so popular among tourists.
- This is another article in our throwback series inspired by rediscovering photos after moving 40k images to Lightroom.
- Rabat is the current capital of Morocco. Historically, the capital city has changed many times between Fes, Marrakesh and Rabat.
- Marrakesh or Marrakech (French spelling)? Like Fes, the city name is written in Arabic characters. They don’t translate directly to English. Both spellings are used and considered correct.
- We found Lonely Planet’s Morocco Travel Guide to be quite helpful.
Have you been to Marrakesh? What was your impression?
If you enjoyed these Marrakesh photos, please share them on social media including Pinterest:
Grammarly proofread this article. (Try it for free)
A friend of mine recently visited Marrakesh and was mesmerized by it. She recommends it – and seeing your photos and story it’s no surprise!
If you get to Morocco, be sure to visit more than just Marrakesh. It is quite different than other places in the country.
I haven’t been, but it’s on my bucket list. Nice pictures btw 🙂
Thanks Bilyana. I hope you do get there.
I enjoyed these photos very much. Beautifully seen and composed, their foreign-ness makes them quite exciting. On the spice photo, I wonder what those tall cones are?
I love the architecture in Morocco. I am not sure why spices are displayed like this, but the spice cones seem to be everywhere they sell the spices.
Would love to visit…..every time I see a photo of Morocco I just get super excited. It’s a shame about the animal welfare issue though. Hadn’t really seen anything on this before so was interesting to note this. Great photos!
I am also surprised that more people don’t talk about the animal trade.
Great capture of the streets and interesting buildings and design. Morroco is definitely on my list. Your tips will come in handy for me. Thanks for sharing it.
Glad to be helpful
Your photos are making me fall in love with Marrakesh. What kind of food do you suggest there? Are there any Michelin starred restaurants in Morroco?
From an artistic and architectural point of view, Morrocco is my favourite place I have visited to date. I have never eaten at a Michelin star restaurant. We generally eat more local. For lunch, we frequently picked up bread from a bakery and cheese. For dinners, we ate a lot of tagine and couscous.