Djamaa El Fna - Square, Marrakesh

Favorite thing: Djemaa el Fna is the central square of Marrakech, close to the old medina, and it is a focal point for the whole city. During daytime, because of the heat, there is not so much going on, just the usual orange juice stalls a few others.

Favorite thing: The square is totally different from the day time. There are lots of food stalls and you only have to find a seat and order your food. You can try various kind of moroccan food. I think you will enjoy your dinner here.

Favorite thing: Here you will find many local people selling goods, especially the medicine. They will show you how the medicine works on the animals.

Ladies, if you want to have tattoo on your hands, you can try here but make sure you will like your orange hands for a month. You should ask the money first before you do it. My friend did it and they asked for more money.

I think most people have tried the orange juice because it looks nice and the weather is hot.

You can enjoy the monkeys and snakes shows with music. You can take some photos but you have to pay for it.

Fondest memory: Running low on money as the bank machines would not accept my Austrian bank card and having to survive the day on a few notes and coins! By the evening we only had enough to buy a bowl of soup and a piece of bread! People were most surprised at tourists having no money and were really friendly and accommodating even offering to give us free food and drinks. The best part was in the main square at twilight when the colourful market stalls opened up to sell hot soup and all different types of amazing food. A snake charmer tried to get us to pay to hold his snakes!! When we told him we really had no money he let us hold his snakes for free and took pictures of us which we still treasure as it is an unusual sight and really sums up our first trip to Northern Africa - two girls with a long green snake round their necks surrounded by a large group of Moroccan men all looking at us!

Favorite thing: Visiting the Jama El Fna square, unique in the world.
eating diner in the Jama El Fna restaurants (about 40 mobile restaurants on the place).
visiting the great historical monuments : Badia, Bahia palaces, Saadiens groves, Ben Youssef College...etc.
Tour of the city in a horse car.
visitin the Gardens : Majorelle, Agdal, Koutoubia, My Abdessalam.
Horse riding spectacl.

Fondest memory: Seeing al the spectacles in Jama El Fna square.

Favorite thing: You can't miss the hundreds of orange juice stands in the sqare...all identical besides their 'number'...you'll hear, 'come back to number 43' and the like...

On a positive side, The orange juice is cheap and sweet!

Fondest memory: among the food-stalls at the Djmaa el Fna we found one that - every day - produced so much smoke, people eating there almost had tears in their eyes. however it was this stall where the benches were always full ...

Favorite thing: A DAY AT DJEMA EL FNAA
7:00 am At Mic Mac Bakery (1) (by the Post Office) or at the many cafes in the Bab Agnaou Street (2) (a pedestrian street) you can have an early breakfast. If you wanna see the square awakening from a terrace, go to the Cafe Glacier (3).
9:00 am The first performers arrive: fortune tellers, orange juice sellers, henna women... Cross the Square to the Argana Cafe (4) and have a mint tea at the terrace. Buy a newspaper in the newsstand close to the CTM Hotel (5).
10:00 am Enter the Municipal Market (6) to see the rush in this moroccan food market, buy some oranges (real cheap).
11-13:00 Have an orange juice at one of the many stalls around (2,50 Dh). Wander around the souks, entering via the Souk Semmarine Street (7), the main long covered street of the the souks. If you get los (you will!), ask for the Djema el Fnaa Square, or just take a taxi back...
13:30 Lunch at a terrace (shade required), for instance in Cafe de France (8) or at the Residence de la Place(9), witha nice view of the Square at noon.
15-18:00 Back to the souks, bargain and wander.
18:30 Take a ride in a Horse-drawn carriage (10) now that the sun is down. 80 Dh for 1 hour, 50 Dh for 1/2 hour, 30 Dh for a quick ride.
19:00 The sunset is one of the main shows in Djema el Fnaa. The terraces (Cafe Glacier, Argana, Cafe de France...) get really crowded at 19, so go there in advance to take a place. The main performers start moving around, the square gets at its best!!
20:00 The many food stalls (11) in the center of the square are a wonderful animated place for dinner or, if you don't dare, just to walk around and have a look at the many different foods served there. Smoke and lights all around.
21:00 to midnightWalk around the square, look at the performers, bargain with the berbers that come to seel their goods at night. Relax and have a Mint Tea at one of the terraces, enjoy the show!!
You can take a look at some pics & portraits at the travelogue