This gorgeous townhouse is the medina’s premier exhibition space. Parts of the building date back to the 16th century and it has been lovingly restored by owner Abdelatif Ben Abdellah, who’s taken great pains to expose the carved beams and stucco work while leaving walls and floors bare and free of distraction. Regular exhibitions lean towards resident foreign artists.

Phone:

+212 (0)24 42 64 63

Opening hours:

9am-6.30pm daily

Address:

8 Derb Charfa Lakbir, Mouassine, medina

On the northern edge of the Mellah (or Jewish Quarter) is the Bahia Palace, built principally by Ba Ahmed Ben Moussa, a powerful vizier to the royal court in the 1890s and a man of ‘indomitable will, and cruel’. Entered via a long garden corridor, it’s a collection of paved courtyards, arcades, pavilions and reception halls constructed in a modern style but smothered in traditional Moroccan decoration.

Phone:

N/a

Opening hours:

8.30am-11.45am, 2.30pm-5.45pm Mon-Thur, Sat, Sun; 8.30am-11.30am, 3pm-5.45pm Fri

Address:

Riad Zitoun El Jedid

Almost since opening in 1923, the Mamounia has been so famous as to be practically synonymous with Marrakech. It was the palace of the crown prince of Morocco when the French administration annexed it for a hotel. During that romantic era of early travel, the Mamounia was not just a hotel, it was a way of life. In post-war years it was a favourite haunt of Winston Churchill’s. Even if you’re not staying here, do visit for the excellent poolside buffet Trois Palmiers and the Churchill Piano Bar.

Phone:

+212 (0)24 38 86 00

Opening hours:

Trois Palmiers 12.30pm-3pm daily; Churchill Piano Bar 7pm-1am daily. Hotel currently closed for renovation until Feb 07.

Address:

avenue Bab Jedid, medina

It’s the main open space in Marrakech but to call Jemaa El Fna a public square is misleading. Uncontained, disorderly, untainted by grandeur or pomp, untamable by council or committee, Jemaa El Fna is nothing less than bedlam. It’s an urban clearing, as irregular in shape as an accident of nature, and thronged day and night with a carnival of local life – totally at odds with its name, which roughly translates as ‘Assembly of the Dead’.

Phone:

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Opening hours:

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Address:

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The persistence of one curious French official in the 1920s was rewarded when he discovered a narrow, dark lane, wide enough for a single person that ended in a tiny arched door. He pushed through to enter a courtyard garden and see what apparently no infidel had ever seen before – the holy tombs of the Saadian sultans.

Phone:

N/a

Opening hours:

8.30am-11.45am, 2.30pm-5.45pm daily

Address:

rue de Kasbah, Bab Agnaou

There are some serious peaks in the Atlas. At 4,167m (13,667ft), Jebel Toubkal is North Africa’s highest mountain. There are two main passes over the mountain range which work well as a touring route of the area. The Tizi-n-Test, to the south-west, runs up past the 12th-century mosque of Tin Mal, snakes over the spectacular pass, and hairpins down to the Sous Valley and the pre-Saharan town of Taroundant. The Tizi-n-Tichka to the south-east, runs over the mountains near the kasbah of Telouet, and then down to Ouarzazate and the edge of the Sahara.

Phone:

N/a

Opening hours:

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Address:

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At 77m (252ft) the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque is not actually that high, but thanks to Marrakech’s flat topography and a local ordinance that forbids any other building in the medina to rise above the height of a palm tree, it towers majestically over its surroundings. As such, the minaret is the first thing that any visitor sees when approaching the city from afar.

Phone:

N/a

Opening hours:

The Mosque is not open to non-Muslims.

Address:

N/a

From the outside it’s a well-behaved little villa on a quiet residential street, but inside the place buzzes with dressed-up diners on the ground floor, while upstairs a sizeable lounge is filled each weekend night to within a whisper of health and safety violations. The crowd is a mix of good-looking locals, sharper expats and wide-eyed tourists delighted to have stumbled on the Marrakech they’d always heard about.

Phone:

+212 (0)24 43 77 02

Opening hours:

4pm-1am Mon-Thur, Sun; noon-1am Fri, Sat

Address:

avenue Echouada

On the flat dusty plain that is the proposed new hotel zone Pacha stands alone like a sun-burnt Theban funerary temple. It’s monolithically massive. Only a part of it is the club: the rest is a chill-out lounge (open 6pm-2am Mon-Sat), two restaurants (open for lunch and dinner) and a swimming pool with sunbathing terrace. The dancefloor and associated bars can accommodate up to 3,000 smiley souls.

Phone:

+212 (0)24 38 84 00

Opening hours:

11.30pm-6.30am Mon-Sat

Address:

boulevard Mohammed VI, Zone hôtelière de l’Aguedal

One of the few posh Moroccan restaurants in town that allow diners to order à la carte, El Fassia is also unique in being run by a women’s co-operative – the chefs, waiting staff and management are all female. We’d recommend skipping starters (mainly pastillas), not because they’re not good (they are), but because the main courses are so huge.

Phone:

+212 (0)24 43 40 60

Opening hours:

Noon-2.30pm, 7.30pm-11pm daily

Address:

55 Zerktouni, Gueliz

 

 

 

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Source: Expedia