Is Marrakech Worth Visiting? My Honest Review After 4 Nights
Marrakech really surprised me.
I knew it would be interesting. What I did not expect was to like it as much as I did, because almost everything I had read beforehand came with a warning attached. Too intense. Too crowded. You will get hassled constantly. Go for two days, tick it off, get out.
I went in braced. Four nights later I was trying to work out how to fit more of it in! So here is my honest review of Marrakech: what it is actually like, the one thing everyone gets wrong about the souks, and who I think should skip it.
Is Marrakech Worth Visiting? My Quick Answer
Yes, and it is one of my favourite cities we have been to!
My rating is 9 out of 10, and the only reason it is not higher is that it asks something of you. Marrakech is bold and vibrant and slightly overwhelming, and it is all of those things at once. If you meet it halfway it is extraordinary.
The short version: come for the souks and the riads, stay for the food, and give it three nights rather than two.
What I Expected vs What Marrakech Was Actually Like
I want to be specific about this, because the gap between the two is the whole review.
What I expected: wall-to-wall hassle, feeling constantly on edge, being ripped off, and a city I would admire more than enjoy.
What I got: a city where the culture is genuinely everywhere. Music in the streets. Markets buzzing. Something happening on every corner. It is a little overwhelming, but in the best way, and I found it addictive rather than exhausting.
The thing nobody told me is how much of Marrakech is calm. You are in a lane with forty people and a motorbike, you push open a wooden door, and you are standing in a silent courtyard with an orange tree and a fountain. That contrast, ninety seconds apart, is what the city actually is.
The Marrakech Souks: Are They as Pushy as Everyone Says?
No, and this is genuinely the single most useful thing I can tell you before you go, because I think the reputation puts people off a city they would love.
Across a full day of wandering the souks, two people tried to pull us into a shop. Two, in an entire day. Everyone else let us look, browse, walk past and move on without a word. I kept waiting for it to start and it never did!
We came to Morocco straight from Egypt, where the markets are genuinely full on and you are worked hard from the moment you arrive. The difference was so stark that Dan said out loud, "crazy what happens when people don't irritate the hell out of you." We both enjoyed shopping in Marrakech far more as a direct result, and I suspect the traders do better out of it too.
I am not going to promise that nobody will ever approach you, because of course some people will. But the reputation Marrakech has for relentless hassle did not match a single day of our experience there.
How the souks actually work. They are not one market. They are a whole quarter of connected lanes, and they specialise. There is a stretch for ceramics, a stretch for spices, one for lanterns and metalwork, one for leather, and a corner where forty colours of wool hang above your head. We found a man hand-making chess sets, and then a stall selling a Louis Vuitton branded football!
Top tip: do not try to see it all, because you cannot. Pick a direction, commit to it, and accept that you will come out somewhere you did not expect. Getting lost is the activity.
On haggling. Almost nothing has a price on it, and almost nowhere takes card. Take cash, ask the price, and expect to have a friendly conversation about it. It was never aggressive with us.
What I Loved About Marrakech
- The riads. I did not know what a riad was before this trip and they are now my favourite kind of accommodation anywhere in the world. Under A$200 a night for a restored courtyard house with a plunge pool and a roof terrace!
- The food, which I will come back to. It is the thing I underestimated most.
- The contrast. Chaos and complete silence, thirty seconds apart, all day long.
- The rooftops. Almost every riad and half the restaurants have one, and the city looks completely different from ten metres up with a mint tea in your hand.
- The cafe scene. I was not expecting Marrakech to have genuinely excellent modern cafes. It does, and Mandala Society was good enough that we went two days running!
- How affordable it is. A tagine dinner for two at a nice place was A$59. A coffee is A$3 to A$7.
- The craftsmanship. Watching things actually being made, by hand, in the lane where they are sold.
What I Didn't Love About Marrakech
Being fair about this matters, because "amazing, 10/10, go now" is not a review.
- It is genuinely overwhelming at times. Not unsafe, not unfriendly, just a lot of input. Narrow lanes, constant motorbikes, noise from every direction. By late afternoon on our big souk day I needed to sit down somewhere quiet.
- Getting anywhere with luggage is hard. Cars cannot reach most riad doors. Our first arrival was a 20 minute walk over cobbles dragging a suitcase with a broken wheel, at night, having been turned down by three taxis.
- Maps do not work properly in the medina. Your phone will confidently send a driver down a lane that is pedestrian only. Add 50% to every walking estimate.
- The riad pools are freezing. Beautiful, and very few are heated, so from about November to March they are more of a feature than a facility.
- You will need to cover up more than you might at home, and it is worth knowing that before you pack. I wore my gym kit under looser layers for the walk to the gym, which was completely fine and just took a bit of planning.
None of that stopped me loving it. But if you want a city you can drift through without thinking, this is not that.
The Food, Which I Did Not Expect to Be This Good
I came in thinking Moroccan food meant tagine, and that after three days I would be bored of it.
I ate a tagine at four different places and every one was a genuinely different meal. Chicken with olives. Beef with couscous. Lamb. Meatballs with an egg cracked into the sauce. I think Moroccan food beat Egyptian food for us, and I did not expect to be saying that.
The single best thing I ate in Morocco was in a riad rather than a restaurant. It was a lentil and tomato soup served with chebakia, a sweet sesame and honey pastry, and you are meant to eat them together. Sweet and savoury at once. It should not work and it was one of the nicest things I have ever eaten!
The other one I still think about is the simplest thing on this page. Sliced orange with cinnamon and a little sugar, served cold. It is everywhere in Morocco and we have made it at home ever since.
Eat dinner in your riad at least once. Both of ours did food better than any restaurant we tried in the city, and at Palais Andara the chef hand delivered every plate himself and then sent out a free dessert because he wanted us to try one more thing.
For a proper night out, Safran is a famous restaurant with a live show at 9pm. It cost us 680 dirham, A$111.81 for two, which is the most expensive meal of our 24 days in Morocco and a 10 out of 10!
Is Marrakech Overwhelming?
A bit, and I think that is the honest answer rather than a warning, because the density is part of what makes it good rather than a flaw to be managed around.
The medina is dense, loud and busy, and if you have never travelled somewhere like it you will feel it on the first day. What makes it manageable is the rhythm: souks in the morning when you are fresh, somewhere with a roof in the middle of the day, and a riad courtyard to come back to. Build the quiet into the day and the loud parts become the good parts.
The other thing that helps is knowing you cannot see it all. Once I stopped trying to find specific places and just walked, the whole city got easier.
Who Marrakech Is For, and Who Should Skip It
Come to Marrakech if you like markets, you eat everything, you enjoy places with a strong character, and you want an enormous amount of culture and food for very little money. If you have ever come home from a trip saying it was nice but a bit sanitised, this is your antidote.
Think twice if you want a relaxing, low-effort holiday, you find crowds and noise genuinely draining, or you are travelling with a lot of luggage and limited mobility, because the medina involves walking on uneven ground and cars cannot reach most doors.
And if the noise is the worry but you still want Morocco, do what we did: give Marrakech three nights, then go to the coast. We spent 16 nights in Tamraght and Taghazout afterwards and the two halves of that trip could not have been more different.
How Long Should You Give Marrakech?
Three nights, and split them either side of something else if your route allows.
We did four nights across two visits, and coming back after two weeks away meant we got the first-time thrill twice rather than slowly wearing out. I have written up the full day-by-day version in how many days you need in Marrakech.
Where to Stay in Marrakech
In a riad, in the medina. This is most of why the city is good, and it is what turns an intense day into a genuinely lovely one.
Palais Andara Riad & Spa
A$184 a night with breakfast, which is A$92 each. About 10 to 15 minutes walk to a main souk, with a courtyard pool, a roof terrace and a hammam. The chef hand delivered every plate at every meal and the food here was the best we ate in Morocco.
Riad Zehra
A$91 a night with breakfast, which is A$45.50 each. Smaller and about 30 minutes walk out in a quiet local area, and they upgraded us to a suite on arrival without being asked. Black and white tiled courtyard, a plunge pool, and food just as good as the expensive one.
Full comparison, and what you get for the extra A$93 a night, in my honest review of both riads.
Watch Our Marrakech Vlog
The whole city is in this one: the arrival from Spain, the souks, both riads, and dinner and a show at Safran. If you are still deciding whether Marrakech is for you, this will answer it faster than I can in writing.
Watch the Marrakech vlog on YouTube and subscribe to Ell's Passport for the rest of Morocco, including the Sahara and the surf coast at Taghazout.
FAQs About Visiting Marrakech
Is Marrakech worth visiting?
Yes, and I would rate it 9 out of 10. It is bold, vibrant and full of culture, the food is far better than I expected, and the riads are the best value accommodation I have found anywhere. It asks a bit of you because the medina is dense and busy, but it gives back much more than it takes.
Are the Marrakech souks as pushy as people say?
Not in our experience. Across a full day in the souks, two people tried to pull us into a shop. Everyone else let us browse and walk on. We came straight from Egypt where the markets are far more full on, and the difference was striking enough that we both commented on it.
How many days do you need in Marrakech?
Three nights. That gives you an arrival evening, a full day in the souks, and a slow riad day. Two works if it is all you have. If your route allows, split your nights either side of something else, like the Sahara tour, rather than doing them all in one block.
Is Marrakech overwhelming?
A little, especially on your first day. The medina is dense, loud and busy, and there are motorbikes in lanes barely wide enough for people. It becomes easy once you build quiet into the day: souks in the morning, a rooftop in the middle of the day, and a riad courtyard to come back to.
What is the food like in Marrakech?
Much better than I expected, and it was one of the highlights. I ate tagine at four different places and each was a genuinely different meal. Eat dinner in your riad at least once, because both of ours cooked better food than any restaurant we tried in the city.
How much does Marrakech cost?
Very little by European or Australian standards. A tagine dinner for two at a nice restaurant was A$59, coffee is A$3 to A$7, and riads run about A$90 to A$200 a night including breakfast. Our whole Morocco trip averaged A$63.95 per person per day on the ground.
Do you need cash in Marrakech?
Yes, and more than you would think. Almost nothing in the souks takes card, and on the occasions where a card machine does exist it very often does not actually work. Across our whole Morocco trip, cash was 48.5% of everything we spent.
Is Marrakech better than other Moroccan cities?
I can only speak for where we went, which was Marrakech and the coast around Taghazout and Tamraght. Those two are completely different experiences and I would recommend doing both. Marrakech for the culture, the souks and the riads, the coast for slowing down.
What should you wear in Marrakech?
Cover your shoulders and knees and you will be comfortable and appropriate everywhere. I wore looser layers over gym clothes for the walk to the gym and it was completely fine. In November and December the days were pleasant and the evenings needed a jacket.
Final Thoughts: Is Marrakech Worth It?
Completely, and having now spent four nights there across two separate visits, I think it is quite unfairly represented online.
Almost everything I read before going framed Marrakech as something to be endured for the photographs. That is not the city I found. I found somewhere loud and warm and full of craft, where the food outran my expectations, where the markets were far gentler than their reputation, and where you can sleep in a 200 year old courtyard house for under A$100 a night.
Go for three nights. Get lost in the souks on purpose. Eat dinner in your riad. Sit on a roof in the middle of the day and do nothing at all!
Ready to book? Palais Andara Riad & Spa for the full experience, or Riad Zehra if you would rather put the difference towards the desert.
