Marrakech, and Morocco as a whole, is a great destination for travelers on a budget. You can spend a night in a beautiful Riad in the Medina for 25-50 euros per night, Moroccan breakfast included. The local currency is the dirham, but euros are also accepted. Cash is king in Marrakech and always the preferred form of payment. In the souks, it is the only payment type accepted. 

Before traveling to Morocco, check with your phone operator whether Morocco is covered by your subscription. You may need to buy a Sim card when you arrive. I made the mistake of not checking this before leaving, and realized it on the spot when I received an alert saying that I was charged 60 euros already! Please learn from my mistakes haha.

A visa is not required to travel to Morocco if you are staying for less than 90 days. You are only required to show your passport and have at least one page available for the Moroccan stamp. 

Keep in mind that passport control can take quite some time. You will be asked to state the purpose of your visit, your profession and the name of your hotel/riad. 

Finally, for the return journey, please note that Marrakech airport is not equipped to read electronic boarding passes. It is therefore essential to print out your boarding pass before going to the airport. You can ask your hotel to print your boarding pass for you, otherwise the Medina is full of tour agencies that can print your pass for a few Dirhams. It is possible to print your boarding pass at the airport, but this will obviously cost you more.

Just like in other Muslim countries, you should adapt to the local culture and dress appropriately. Both men and women should cover their shoulders and knees. Not doing so may expose you to malevolent looks from the locals, and unfortunately even insults sometimes. Many travelers chose to wear the traditional Djellaba worn by both men and women. You'll be spoilt for choice of colors in the Marrakech souks if you want to buy one. As far as I am concerned, I opted for light long dresses and sandals to survive the Marrakech heat, together with a linen blazer. 

Going to Marrakech unfortunately means being exposed to a number of scams and unwelcome solicitations from shopkeepers and locals. Stay alert, do not hesitate to question the price of everything and keep in mind that nothing is free in Marrakech. The sad truth is that you will always be asked to pay a high price just because you are a tourist.

To share a personal example, we asked a cab near the Koutoubia Mosque how much it would cost to get to the airport. They told us 200 Dirhams, which is far too high, but of course described by this cab driver as the usual price to get to the airport from the center. Walking 30 meters further, we found a cab that took us to the airport for just 80 dirhams. 

The same applies to restaurants. If a restaurant offers you to book a cab for you once you've finished your meal, politely decline the offer. The price will be much higher than if you were to hail a cab on the street.

In the souks, you will be tempted to take photos of the spice stalls, golden lamps and Moroccan tea sets. Be sure to ask if this is possible beforehand, or even leave a few dirhams before or after taking the picture.

And last but not least, if you care about animals’ wellbeing, walking through the Medina and Jemaa El Fna square might be quite a challenge for you. 

Jemaa El Fna is packed with snake charmers, monkey trainers and carriages pulled by dangerously thin horses. Not to mention the many kittens barely surviving inside the Medina. Please don't support the capture and exploitation of these wild animals, and ignore all solicitations to take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, make a monkey jump in front of you or carry a snake on your shoulders. Just walk away! Your time is much better spent discovering the architectural treasures of the Medina.

This first day in Marrakech starts with the city's most famous garden, Jardin Majorelle. The garden is located between the Medina and the Gueliz district. 

Purchased in 1923 by painter Jacques Majorelle, the garden was later bought by fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in 1980. It is home to almost 300 species from five continents, most of them collected by Jacques Majorelle himself while traveling the world. The beauty of this garden makes it hard to believe that it was abandoned after the painter's death. It was even about to be sold to property developers when Yves Saint Laurent bought it.

As the garden is Marrakech's main tourist attraction with almost 900,000 visitors a year, we can only recommend going there at the opening at 8AM to avoid the crowds. You can book your tickets in advance on the garden official website here. 

Stroll around the garden, under the bougainvilleas and along the pond to the Villa Oasis. You can extend your visit by visiting the Berber Museum or the Yves Saint Laurent Museum.

Next on our itinerary is the Koutoubia Mosque.

Erected in the twelfth century, the mosque's 75-meter-high minaret was used as a prototype for the minaret of La Giralda in Seville. Like every mosque in Marrakech, the Koutoubia minaret has a wooden pillar on top of the minaret to show Mecca's direction.

Non-Muslims are not allowed inside the mosque. However, you can easily appreciate the Mosquee by just walking around. From the outside, you can see the remains of the old prayer hall. It is said to have been destroyed by an earthquake in 1755.

For lunch, head to Kabana, one of Marrakech's finest rooftops, with a breathtaking view over the Koutoubia mosque. Kabana serves some great tropical vibes and international cuisine and delicious cocktails. The only downside is that their prices are a bit higher than in other rooftops in Marrakech.

This itinerary continues with a visit to one of Marrakech's iconic palaces, the Bahia Palace. The palace is only  a 15-minute walk away from the mosque. Bahia means ‘the magnificent’, and this is no exaggeration when you enter the small riad, the courtyard of honor and the grand riad of this palace built by the grand vizier Si Moussa at the end of the nineteenth century. 

Marble, mosaics, carved wood, fountains... nothing has been overlooked in the splendor of this palace. The courtyard of honor, restored only in 2018, extends over 1,500 square meters. The Grand Riad is the oldest part of the palace.

Admission costs 70 Dirhams per person.

Next on this itinerary is Ben Youssef Medersa. This richly decorated former Koranic school was once one of the largest in North Africa. It's a temple of Saadian architecture, and our favorite place in Marrakech.

We recommend visiting Ben Youssef Medersa at 5PM, only one hour before closing time. Mainly because most visitors will be leaving the place near the closing time and because the light at the end of the day is perfect for capturing the beauty of the place. 

Upstairs are the 132 rooms of the talebs, students of religious science. The galleries leading to the rooms are decorated with carved wooden beams. 

The large inner courtyard features a pool and marble paving. Finally, you'll be impressed by the grandeur of the prayer room door.

Admission costs 40 Dirhams.

With most attractions closing their doors at 6PM, it's time to head to Jemaa El Fna square to watch the hustle and bustle, but above all to admire the sunset from one of its many rooftop cafés and restaurants.

Jemaa El Fna is a place of curiosities. Quiet in the morning and bustling at the end of the day and into the night. Street food, henna tattoos, fortune tellers, musicians and vendors selling clothes, beauty products and Moroccan crockery... it's simple, there's something for everyone on the Jemaa El Fna square. It all comes to life in a cheerful chaos.

To watch the sunset, head for the terrace of the Café de France or the M Rooftop by Medina Heritage.

Moroccan cuisine is known all over the world. Traveling to Marrakech means getting a chance to appreciate the authentic taste of pastillas, tajine and traditional pastries. To close this first day in Marrakech, we recommend going to the new town, in the Gueliz district, and book a dinner at Al Fassia Gueliz. This restaurant is known for employing women exclusively.

This second day in Marrakech starts with the exploration of the busy souks. 

The colorful stalls set up in the narrow streets of the Medina form a never-ending market where everything is sold and traded in a cheerful chaos of tourists, locals and workers with their donkeys.

The main souks are in the Medina and around the Jemaa El Fna Square. To explore them we recommend starting from the north of Jemaa El Fna through the Souk Semmarine till Rahba Kedima square.

The Medina is a real labyrinth, so we can only recommend hiring a guide to take you to the various souks, such as the Fekharine souk for pottery, the shoe-making workshops (Souk Smata), the Haddadine souk for blacksmiths and the spice souk.

We did a 2-hours walking tour of the Medina and the souks with Marrakech with locals and it was great. To be honest, we wanted to go back to some of the souks we visited with our guide afterwards, but could not find the way to get there because of all the narrow streets of the Medina!

The souk is the perfect place to buy souvenirs, spices or Moroccan argan oil. We bought a Moroccan tea set and some medjoul dates as they are much cheaper (and tastier) in Morocco than in Europe.

If you want to buy something in the souk, be prepared to negotiate. First, ask the price of the item you are interested in. This price will, of course, be much higher than what the item is actually worth. You can then make a counter-offer of half that price (and no, it's not excessive, because they really give you a high price to start with). Then negotiate an in-between price.

It took us a good 20 minutes to bargain the tea set we bought. A bit exhausting to be fair but it was all part of the experience. 

Just to give you an idea, the owner wanted to sell the tea set (tea pot, 4 glasses and a tray) for 1,200 dirhams. We bought it for 350 dirhams. Back home, we asked a Moroccan friend of ours to let us know if we'd been ripped off. He told us that he wouldn't have paid more than 150 dirhams for the tea set we bought!

Our next stop is the secret garden. A sumptuous haven of peace right in the heart of the Medina.

The garden is open from 9:30AM to 6:30PM, except from March to September, when it is open until 7:30PM. Admission costs 80 dirhams.

Located inside a Riad, this traditional Islamic garden has an in-ground irrigation system. The rooftop bar offers a great view over the garden. 

We loved the charming café on the ground floor where you can linger and escape the hustle and bustle of the souks.

For lunch, enjoy some local food in a similar setting at Le Jardin. This restaurant is located in the courtyard of a seventeenth-century riad, right in the heart of the Medina. This is the perfect place to enjoy a Moroccan meal in a very green setting. You might even see  turtles walking around.

This itinerary continues outside the Medina by visiting another palace, the Badi Palace. 

This gigantic palace was once paved with gold and crystal and is now… in ruins. Nevertheless, it's easy to imagine its former grandeur as you stroll through the remains of the ancient halls lining the immense inner courtyard. A projection room inside the palace shows images of the building in its heyday. 

Climb the ramparts to enjoy the view over the city and even spot some storks' nests.

The palace is open daily from 9AM to 5PM.

The next stop on this itinerary is the Saadian Tombs. But before you get there, we recommend enjoying a coffee or mint tea on the rooftop of the café Kasbah for a great view over the Kasbah Mosque.

The Saadian tombs are open from 9AM to 5PM. The entrance is not easy to find. In fact, this tomb is so well hidden within the Kasbah that it was forgotten for years until aerial images re-exposed it to the world in 1917. The entrance to the tombs is just opposite the Kasbah café. Admission costs 70 Dirhams.

This sumptuous necropolis was imagined by the extravagant Sultan Al Mansour, after the construction of the Badi Palace. To the left of the entrance is the Chamber of the 12 Pillars, which cannot be entered but can easily be admired through a door. Like the Ben Youssef School and the Bahia Palace, the walls of this necropolis are also covered with traditional mosaics called zellige.

We recommend going there before closing time, to avoid being hindered by groups of tourists and to enjoy the end-of-day light on the ochre walls of the necropolis.

To round off this trip to Marrakech, we recommend escaping the city a bit for a diner and a sunset in Agafay desert.

There are many options for a day trip from Marrakech. You can visit the Palmeraie, Ouzoud waterfalls, the city of Essaouira or the Atlas Mountains...the choice is yours and it is not an easy one! If you are staying longer than two days in Marrakech, we can only recommend to do at least two day-trips from Marrakech.

Our choice went to Agafay desert where we were willing to go to watch the sunset. The Agafay desert is located less than an hour's drive from Marrakech, which makes it easy to access without having to leave Marrakech too early. We could not resist the idea of having one last Tajine while watching the sun going down. The choice was easy!

We booked a tour through Get Your Guide. Many tours offer a combination of a drive through the Agafay desert and a diner with traditional music.

This magnificent sunset brings this two-day Marrakech itinerary to an end.