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Morocco
Marrakech has two faces: the medina, a maze of souks and riads around Jemaa el-Fna square, and the newer districts outside the walls, with avenues, gardens and resort hotels. A riad puts you in the heart of the old city; a hotel outside it gives you space, a pool and a car to the door.
This guide helps you choose an area. Hotel prices and availability are checked when you search with dates and guests.
The old walled city of souks, mosques and palaces, with riads — guesthouses built around a courtyard — down its lanes. Unforgettable and busy; cars cannot reach most doors.
Sources and further reading · The medina and Jemaa el-FnaThe southern medina around the Saadian Tombs and the El Badi Palace, a little calmer than the souks, with riads and roof terraces.
Sources and further reading · The KasbahThe modern centre outside the walls, with cafés, shops and restaurants, and taxis to the medina. Easy and practical.
Sources and further reading · GuelizA district of large hotels, gardens and nightlife between Gueliz and the medina walls. Resort-style, and a walk or a short ride from Jemaa el-Fna.
Sources and further reading · HivernageA palm grove on the edge of the city, with resorts and villas in large grounds. Quiet and spacious; reaching the medina takes a car or the hotel’s shuttle.
Sources and further reading · The PalmeraieThe airport is close to the city. Taxis wait outside the terminal, an airport bus runs to Jemaa el-Fna and Gueliz, and many riads and hotels arrange a pick-up. Cars cannot enter most of the medina, so a driver usually stops at the nearest point and someone walks you to the door. Agree a taxi fare before you set off.
The medina is walked: its lanes are narrow, many are closed to cars, and motorbikes and carts share them with you. Outside the walls, petit taxis are the usual way around — agree the fare or ask for the meter before you set off. Horse-drawn calèches wait near Jemaa el-Fna.
A riad, a guesthouse around a courtyard in the medina, for atmosphere and the old city on foot; a hotel in Hivernage or the Palmeraie for space, a pool and a car to the door.
Inside the medina, within a walk of Jemaa el-Fna, or in the Kasbah, a little calmer. Ask how to reach the riad from the nearest point a car can stop.
Close. Taxis and an airport bus run to Jemaa el-Fna, and many riads arrange a pick-up. Agree a taxi fare before you set off.
Yes, with planning: hotels in Hivernage and the Palmeraie have pools and gardens, while the medina means narrow lanes, stairs and busy souks.
Spring and autumn, when the days are warm and sunny. Summer is very hot, and winter nights are cold.
The right hotel is not the grandest on the list; it is the one that fits the days you planned. Five checks, in this order.
The booking closed at one price and the bill shows another. Usually that is not a mistake but a local tax.
Two flights at the same price can be very different trips. Everything that tells them apart is already on the result — it only has to be read in the right order.
