Fun things to do in Marrakesh

When you arrive at Marrakesh Airport look for the INWI booth. You can buy a SIM card for your phone using their product TIC TAC for 1 Euro a day, which will give you unlimited Internet access. The big advantage of this besides Internet access for all the usual apps is your GPS and map functions will work. This will mean you can pinpoint your Riad / Hotel and never get lost. It even works in the souks.

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If you know me then you know that I enjoy tasting the local beers. Here in Casablanca there are 2 - Casablanca and Speciale. Hubby liked the Speciale and I liked Casablanca.

You can't buy beers in and around the market square because Morocco is mainly Muslem so if you want a beer you either have to go to one of the expensive restaurants or find a place that sells it in the back alleyways behind the central square. We found one and went back there a few times. We also had a meal there and enjoyed looking at the decorative walls and lights.

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Hubby loves snakes so he had to stop and check them out in the Djamaa El Fna Centre Square. I had warned hubby that it was going to cost a tidy sum...but he had to get a good pic with his new toy :o) .....In fact I reckon I outdid him in the photo stakes this time lol.

Anyway, of course after these snake charmers relieved hubby of a couple of hundred Dirhams they conned the poor dear into kissing the snake for good luck.

Good luck?!! .... haha. Poor Howie was sick for the next 2 weeks..... but he still managed to somehow enjoy our trip out into the desert.... with the help of an extra couple of loo rolls in the baggage... :o(

Tip..... Don't kiss the snakes!!!

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It is an easy daytrip to Essaouira, where you can eat fresh fish and walk along the sea. You cannot buy a retour busticket. But at the busstation in Essaouira if they don't have anymore tickets, they arrange small private busses back to Marrkesh.

April is a lovely month to be there doing this - generally the spring months March to May are the loveliest months to see Morocco at its most beautiful with a variety of flowers and blossoms appearing at different times though this period - this is a standard circuit of mustsees when you only have a few days in Morocco - so its a very nice route - if you have a look through my pages you will see a few tips recommending this route and these places - there are other VTers who have good pages with tips and recommendations also - so thats part of the fun of VT roaming around and looking at other peoples travels.

Going by rental car is my ideal - I love doing that - and I have in my tips a good recommendation for rental car company who are good friends of friends of mine I work with in London so they have that expectation to live up to - but I have used them and they proved above other local companies Ive used - one of the most important advantages has been that they happily save time and energy by bringing the car to the airport and meeting you there, doing the payments and paperwork right there so you can then just drive off - a small car is all you need - I usually then drive off to Marjane to fill up on supplies to go driving with - back up food supplies so you dont always have to rely on finding a place to stop and eat at though that is of course one of the things to experience in morocco - red wine in particular is good there

April is a lovely month as its the further end of spring coming into hotter temps such as early summer - usually lots of flowers and colours around - the weather could be lovely every day or you might have rain - its fairly usually warm in the day so you could be down to tshirts and sandal footwear but take layers and a light fleece in case its chilly, especially at night up in the higher areas, up the gorges or in the desert.
Even Marrakech can still be cold at night - even in june midsummer its suddenly hit with freezing temps when normally its warm to hot - so anything can happen.

The roads for driving are pretty good - drive in the daylight and arrive at your destination before dark - though night driving is fine but bothersome with having to take extra care of pedestrians, animals and tranportation that dont illuminate themselves and can meander all over the road even without warning - so you have to learn to drive Moroccan style (or even outback Australian style ie in the middle of the road!)

When you get to Erg Chebbi there are many hotels scattered all around the desert, accessible by signposted gravel or sand roads from off the main roads - I have a few recommended places in my MOrocco and Merzouga pages - and these places all arrange camel trips and 4x4 trips into the desert.

So really Morocco is quite an easy country to travel and enjoy as an independent traveller.

Let me know anytime if you want help with anything.

Hello :-).

I just went to Marrakech and there is no dress code ;-).
You only have to be covered if you will visite a mosque.
Skirts until the kness are more then fine.

Must see www.lesbainsdemarrakech.com
www.comptoirdarna.com

And a lot of more things.
The information i got was from www.myresidencemarrakech.com
They really helpt me with all the information i needed.
So if you need more info you can email me or to info@myresidencemarrakech.com

Good Luck!

Cheers Christina

Now which traveller at some point doesn't get fed up with washing their clothes on the road?
Well here is the solution at NaoKazo - a launderette come cafe come chill out place, not to forget the all important WiFi access.

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The Koubba Ba’adiyn was built in 1117 and the only remaining building - part of a mosque - in Marrakech from the Almovarid dynasty. That is why this ‘koubba’ is also called the Almovarid Koubba. It once belonged to a mosque and most probably was used for ablutions before prayer. For centuries it was covered by the many rebuildings of the (new) Ben Youssef Mosque. The ‘koubba’ was rediscovered in 1948 and excavated in 1952.

When we approached this rather small building from the Marrakech Museum, it didn’t look like an important building. Initially we just saw the upper half, because its base lies meters beneath ground level and we had to descend some stairs to stroll around on this small site.

The ‘koubba’ (= domed pavilion) has an ablution basin; the inside is richly decorated with pine cones, palms and acanthus leaves. Around the ‘koubba’ itself we saw a water cistern, remains of fountains for performing ablutions and public latrines. It is just a pity the information board on the site were absolutely illegible. We had to read the most from guide books and later from the internet and then understood the significance of this small building.

Opening hours: every day 9.00 am – 7.00pm. April – Sept. / 9.00 am – 6.00 pm Oct. – March.
Entrance fee (Dec. 2007): just for the Koubba 10 Dirhams, but there is a combined ticket for the Museum of Marrakech, Ben Youssef Medersa and Koubba Ba’adiyn for just 60 Dirhams.