Marrakech hits you before you've put your bag down: cumin and cedar in the air, a motorcycle wailing through an alley built for donkeys, the feeling of being completely overwhelmed and deeply glad you came all at once. For anyone with an eye for design, the city is somewhere between inspiration and obsession. Here's your guide.
What to Do
The best thing you can do in Marrakech is put your phone away and start walking. Begin in the souks, where narrow alleys open into workshops where artisans hand-cut tiles and hammer brass lanterns into shape, past spice stalls arranged with an almost suspicious level of art direction and, inevitably, a man with a rug who is completely certain you need it. You will buy it, so budget accordingly. Getting lost is inevitable, too, and once you stop fighting it, it's genuinely enjoyable. The medina has a way of eventually depositing you at Djemaa el-Fna. This central square spends its days being touristy and its evenings genuinely transfixing, when Gnawa musicians, food stalls, and storytellers who have been doing this for centuries take over the whole thing. Go back twice just to see the difference.
Beyond the medina, Jardin Majorelle lives up to every photograph you've already seen of it, which is saying something given how many photographs there are. Yves Saint Laurent gifted it to the city, and the cobalt-blue pavilion against the bougainvillea is one of those rare things that actually looks better in person. Fifteen minutes on foot from there is the Bahia Palace—19th-century rooms of carved cedar, hand-painted ceilings, encaustic tile work that puts most contemporary interiors to shame—and you will leave with an immediate urge to gut-renovate your home. For the souks specifically, working with Scott Dunn is worth it; their guides know which vendors are genuine craftspeople and which are very good actors, and that distinction changes the experience considerably.
Where to Eat
Marrakech has always had good food, but the restaurant scene has quietly become something worth planning a trip around. NOMAD is where the design-conscious crowd tends to end up, and deservedly so. The rooftop terrace overlooks Place des Épices, the modern Moroccan menu is confident without being showy, and the homemade sorbets alone are reason enough to book ahead. For something more occasion-worthy, Sesamo at the Royal Mansour Marrakech made the World's 50 Best MENA list and sits inside gardens beautiful enough to justify arriving early to walk them before you sit down.
Tucked into the medina alleys, La Famille is the lunch spot worth knowing about: shared tables, a short daily menu of salads and flatbreads, and herbaceous fruit tarts that disappear fast, with lunch-only sittings that fill up quickly enough to make a reservation non-negotiable. Bacha Coffee, open since 1910 inside the Dar el Bacha Museum, is the most stylish place to have breakfast in the city, with white-jacketed servers serving single-origin Arabica from golden pots alongside truffle eggs and exceptional pastries.
For dinner, Le Marocain at La Mamounia serves Moroccan cooking at a level most restaurants don't attempt. Think lobster pastilla, foie gras meatballs, and couscous that is simultaneously light and deeply rich. Even if you're not sleeping there, it's always worth finding a reason to get through the doors.
Where to Stay
You won't find cookie-cutter hotels in Marrakech. The city's accommodation is considered as everything else here, ranging from centuries-old palaces to intimate riads where every detail has been sweated over, and the decision of where to sleep is as much a design choice as anything else you'll do here. La Mamounia is the one everyone means when they say legendary: nine acres of walled Moorish gardens, Art Deco interiors that never tip into pastiche, three pools, an in-house hammam, and a spa that earns its reputation rather than trading on 100 years of history. Heads of state and artists have been checking in since 1923, and a recent renovation only sharpened things without disturbing the place's soul.
Riad Brummel, a 19th-century palace on a quiet medina street renovated by Barcelona-based architect Claudia Raurell, has tadelakt walls, hand-poured terrazzo floors, vintage rugs sourced from Bab El Khemis, and a rooftop plunge pool. Oh, and it's just five rooms, adults only, and a breakfast worth rearranging your morning around.
Dar Rhizlane operates on a grander scale in the quieter Hivernage district, where water gardens planted with hyacinths and papyrus lead to a zellige fountain thick with rose petals, the rooms open onto Andalusian gardens, and the chef cooks with ingredients from their own farm. Grand without ever feeling stiff, and genuinely difficult to leave.
If you can swing it, skip the hotel altogether. Villa Dar Saliha, bookable through Oliver's Travels, is a beautifully appointed riad with a pool, rooftop terrace, private chef, dedicated staff, and interiors that feel genuinely lived-in rather than styled for a brochure. It's the kind of place that makes you understand why people return to Marrakech year after year.
Marrakech, Morocco
