Marrakesh Morocco Travel Guide 2022 - 2023

Welcome to the Red City with the busiest marketplace in Africa full of fortune tellers, snake charmers, dancers, merchants, tall palm trees, and all things Aladdin. Do you want more reasons to visit? Marrakech offers rich culture, delicious food, lively scenarios, and great opportunities for unique pictures and shopping. Besides, $1 equals about 10 Moroccan dirhams as of September 2022, meaning that you can really spoil yourself with an epic adventure. So a trip to Morocco for two people for one week can cost you around $600. How can you say no to that? Besides, you can do Marrakech in just three nights if you want to, but I do recommend a week if you want to go to nearby attractions. Due to its magnificent location, Marrakech sits at the feet of Atlas Mountains. Also, Marrakech is the getaway to the Grand Sahara Desert, where you can book a camel ride, horse ride, quad bike, tours, hot air balloons. There are many options to choose from, honestly. These experiences will be unforgettable, but in this video I will guide you on how to do Marrakech in 24 hours. So here we go. We took a train from Casablanca on Friday after work and arrived to Marrakech in the early evening. If you plan to do the same, I recommend you take the VIP sitting. It's a fair price and totally worth it. We bought the regular ticket price and we ended up being 10 people in a small cabin that had capacity for 8 people, so you can imagine that wasn't fun. Otherwise, the ride is pleasant and only two hours. We just arrived to Marrakech and we're going to be staying in Novotel for Nick's birthday. I'm super excited. We're talking that we should have stayed here for a week instead of staying the whole time in Casablanca, but it's okay. I think we're going to make the most of it the time that we stay here. She's like, we're going to have a friend. She's like, your friend is arriving in a minute. We checked into Novotel, which in the future I will not recommend as my first option either, since they have poor AC, poor customer service, and terrible Wi-Fi to the point that we couldn't even surf the internet or check emails. After the check-in, we went for drinks at Barometre. Which is the first bar and restaurant dedicated to mixology in Marrakech, Morocco. They have a regular restaurant menu, a cocktail bar, amazing cocktails and desserts. We had a great time celebrating Nick's birthday this night, but just so you know, an alternative plan is to visit the Jamail Fena Square Marketplace, which apparently at night takes on a whole new personality. We did not know it opened until late hours, but now you know it's open until midnight, so have fun. The next day, we had plans to go on a walking tour around the city created by me. We took a yellow taxi from our hotel and got dropped off by Mandala Society for brunch. Since the taxis can't enter this area, it left us about seven minutes away from the restaurant. His instructions were clear. Use GPS and do not ask anyone for directions. I tell you the same. Our friends, who came at a later time, asked for directions and ended up getting lost because the helper took them to their store and took them farther from the direction they needed to go to. The people here will not harm you, so don't be scared. They're nice, but for sure manipulative, and they will try to get you into buying things. But anyways, back to the restaurant. We are here in Mandala Society. It's a bit hidden inside the, I think it's a medina, but totally worth it. It's super cute. I mean, this is the dream place for brunch, I think. It's so pretty, a lot of plants, nice decorations, great service, and now we just need to review the food, but so far so good. The food was super fresh, delicious, and healthy. The coffee was excellent. We all ordered double doses of coffee. After brunch, we walked to the Jamal Fina, which was about a five-minute walk from this restaurant. Enjoy observing everyone and everything around you. There's so much going on, and if you're not mindful, you will miss out on a whole lively experience. Jamal Fina is more than just a market. It's a cultural space and a place full of wonders. This market is a symbol of history and cultural expression. It opens at 8 a.m until midnight, and whatever time you visit, you will feel that bustling energy all around you. In the morning, there are stands selling fruits, orange juice, food, traditional medicines, and the monkey trainers, as well as the snake whispers. David, you're the best for my YouTube, always. You've always been the best. That's good luck. This is happening. Water snake? That's a water snake? You look great with it. Water snakes, water snakes. David, you look really great. You look in your element. Hey, hey. Is that expensive? No, no. Give me camera. Give me camera. Give me camera. No, no. Make sure you have cash in hand because only oxygen is free around here. Be careful who you take photos of. In the afternoon, the market really takes on another personality. You can smell the food from the restaurants around you, listen to the dance performances. It's really a magical place. From here, we walk to Le Jardin Secret, a super elegant and impressive palace complex that dates back to the Sardinian dynasty, more than 400 years ago. The structures inside portray outstanding examples of Islamic art and architecture. The exhibition features four important elements, water, architecture, gardens, and history. If you didn't know, Muslims consider water to be a symbol of life and a sign of spirituality, existence, and power. The education and experience I got from this place was very unique, and it's also a super romantic place. So if you're coming with a lover, please take them here. Definitely recommend it. Next, we got lost in the souks as we made our way to Le Nomade de Marrakech, which is the largest and best carpet shop in Marrakech. All of the places around this labyrinth in the Medina are impressive as they are full of artisanal and top quality Moroccan art. Guys, I think that this market is just so spectacular. I went to the one in Casablanca and it's pretty cool, but this is spectacular. If you have a new house, if you want to decorate it with really beautiful exotic things, you have to come here. Like, this is the place to be. And there are also clothes and jewelry and stuff like that, but I don't think I see myself wearing it. I definitely see myself decorating my house with this stuff. Well, something you need to know is that there are so many museums that you can visit in this area, like the Museum of Moroccan Photography or the Museum of Marrakech. Moreover, this area is full of beautiful roads and riads, which are traditional Moroccan houses that have beautiful gardens and Moroccan architecture inside and outside. They are more intimate than a hotel, so the attention is usually very good. The recommendation though is that you book a ride that has over four stars just to be safe. If you have extra time, make sure to pass by a spa and get a beauty treatment or massage. After walking for hours, because the medina is huge, we were super thirsty. The most popular restaurants in this area are Café d'Espèce Marrakech, not sure if I'm pronouncing that right, and Nomad. Both have super cool terraces that are well decorated with cushions of colors, plants, great food, and of course tea. We had a great time at this place. Later, we took a 60-minute walk to the most important mosque in Marrakech, the Gotoubia. Unfortunately, it's closed on the weekend, so we couldn't enter to see the plaza and the gardens. Keep in mind that if you're not Muslim, these are the only things you can see, the plaza and the gardens. You're not allowed to enter the mosque. There's one more spot you can't miss if you come to Marrakech, and that is Jardin Majorelle. So this is the house of Yves Saint-Laurent, famous designer and perfume designer and other design. But it looks really cute. Which was created by a French Orientalist artist, Jacques Majorelle, almost 40 years ago. Years later, the property was purchased by Yves Saint-Laurent, who renewed it and also where his mansion was established. This is truly a gorgeous place. It really transports you to something completely different. I'm sure you've never been in a place like this before, because when I was there, that's how I felt. For your information, you can buy the tickets when you arrive, but if you get there after 5 p.m., you won't be able to visit the mansion, just the garden, which is what we did, but we still had an amazing time. After this, we were tired, so we took a taxi to the hotel to rest and get ready for a fabulous dinner. We went to Compteur Darna, which is only a few feet away from Novotel, so we went walking, which was amazing. Now, are you ready for this experience? This restaurant is not only a restaurant, it's also a show performance venue. They bring in oriental dancers and musicians to spice up the dinner time. They have different performances on different nights, and we got to see this spectacular show of belly dancing. Here's me belly dancing. What a night! The food was also top of the line. We loved everything we had here, and the experience of this place was 100% amazing. And just because we're still young, we didn't want to finish the night so early, so we went to the casino and best nightclub in Marrakech named Teatro Marrakech. Come with money, because even if you don't plan to drink alcohol, water bottles are as expensive as an alcoholic drink. The reason why is because Muslims don't drink alcohol, but they still like to party, and you know, the place needs to make some money, so they charge water as expensive as alcohol. The things that I mentioned are things that you can do in a full day in Marrakech. There are other places that you can visit in the city, like the Ben Youssef Madrasa, Bahia Palace, and other museums and restaurants. However, for more adventure, I totally recommend you make some time to go on day trips to explore the outsides of Marrakech. As I said earlier, they are fantastic. I will leave you some recommended day trips in the description below, so check that out. So, now that you have seen Casablanca and Marrakech, which one would you choose to go first? Have an amazing day, and I'll see you very soon in another video.