In an attempt to keep the January blues at bay, my boyfriend and I booked a short city break to Marrakech. We left Gatwick early on Thursday afternoon and got back on Sunday, which doesn’t seem like enough time to visit Africa really, but was unquestionably better than staying in the UK to face freezing rain.
The flights between Gatwick and Marrakech were just under four hours, cheap enough to book without guilt, ran on time and were mercifully uneventful.
This wasn’t my first time in Morocco, but it was my first time doing it properly.
I went once before in March 2020, just before the world shut down, on a different kind of holiday. That girls’ trip was all-inclusive, resort-based, mostly poolside, with one visit to the souk before retreating back to sun loungers and buffet decisions. It was fine. Lovely, even. Relaxing. It did exactly what it was supposed to do.
This time felt completely different. Less contained, more immersive and authentic. I felt like I actually got to know the place.
Riad Life
We stayed in the Click Riad and Spa, about 15 minutes walk from Jemaa el-Fnaa, the big square and market place in the medina quarter. It was inexplicably cheap (we’re talking £50 a night for both of us) and genuinely charming.
From the outside it looked unremarkable. It was close to a demolished building, which we briefly worried might be our destination. It wasn’t particularly well signposted and we walked past the door about four times before a friendly local rescued us. But, on the inside, it was calm, tiled, very (maybe too?) softly lit, and also contained a spa which was handy.
Although they spoke almost no English (and despite a year of Duolingo my boyfriend’s French is only slightly better than my own which is fairly non-existent – I did German at GCSE instead) they were happy to bring us mint tea and breakfast whenever we emerged in the morning.
My only warning is that if I were one or two dress sizes bigger, the ensuite might have impossible to get into.
If you can speak passable French, you’ll get along well in Marrakech. Most locals speak it as well as Arabic, and English is much less common, which is fair enough. The local currency is Dirham though Euros were accepted in most places we went, which we discovered too late to be useful.
The Souks of Jemaa el-Fna
You haven’t experienced Marrakech or Morocco if you’ve not gone to a souk market. The souks of Jemaa el-Fna were exactly as expected, if not even busier; loud, colourful, bustling and massively overwhelming. If you don’t like crowded spaces then they are not for you.
The general rule in Marrakech appears to be that if someone is coming at you on a moped (or occasionally a car), it is entirely your responsibility to get the fuck out of the way. They buzz down the busy cobbled streets; as do bikes, donkeys, people with carts of goods and a lot of foot traffic. As long as you have your wits about you, you’ll be grand.
It’s fun to browse, but if you actually want to buy something – and they do have some nice stuff there including pottery and argan oil which you’ll struggle to get as cheaply outside of Morocco – then bargaining is expected, which I hate. I am WAY too British to haggle effectively. However, it is the done thing and so you must, however much it pains you.
The Medina is a maze. Every turn brings something new; spices, leather, lanterns, rugs, ceramics, tiny workshops where people were still making things properly, as well as a lot of tat probably imported from China. A bit like Etsy, really.
Surrendering control and getting entirely lost is part of the souk market experience. Google Maps exists for a reason, and being outside of Europe we bought E-sims before we went – they cost £4 and gave us as much internet as we could use over the weekend.
Moroccan Hammams: 50% Relaxation and 50% GBH
After a day in the souks, a traditional Moroccan hammam was less of a treat and more of a necessity. Luckily our riad was also a very well rated spa and when the taxi didn’t turn up for our pre-planned desert trip, they were able to slot us in for a massage and hammam.
Fair warning: you will be reduced to single-use paper pants. You will look devilishly sexy and if you’re having a couple’s massage, your other half is going to have to try hard to contain themselves.
The hammam is not a soft, whispery spa experience; it’s more akin to waterboarding. You are steamed, scrubbed thoroughly with black soap and a kessa glove, and hosed down. You emerge slightly pink but feeling as though several layers of stress have been physically removed.
Argan oil is one of Morocco’s biggest exports and you’ll find it everywhere you go, including on the massage table. The massage that goes along with the Hammam is a more relaxing experience. It was one of the most memorable parts of the trip and exactly what my nervous system needed after being shouted at by a thousand sensory inputs.
Mint tea afterwards was essential.
Desert Adventures and Tagine Under the Stars
We decided to go for the tourist special; quad biking, camel riding, dinner and a show in the Agafay Desert.
The whole experience cost about £30 each and we booked it via one of the little stalls in the souk market, after the experience we’d pre-booked via Viatour failed to show up. We waited over an hour, they replied to the live chat four hours later insisting they were on their way, and I have absolutely no intention of using them again. Boo to them.
The taxi drive to the Agafay desert was around an hour but it went quickly because there’s a lot to see on the way, particulary once you are out of the mental city traffic – the weaving mopeds and near misses is enough to cause palpitations. They really do drive differently in Marrakech.
Quad biking across rocky terrain was great fun.
I opted to sit on the back and let my boyfriend do the driving rather than have my own bike, which meant I could take in more of the Agafay desert and the Atlas mountains beyond. I am always happy to be a passenger princess.
I was less enamoured with the camel ride.
I would have preferred not to do this part of the experience – I’m not a fan of animals for entertainment – but it was part of the package and I didn’t have much of a choice because, as noted previously, my French is shit to non-existent.
The camels are tethered together in a caravan and you sit on one and while it’s kneeling down, then it gets up and you cling on for dear life as it trots around in a loop. It is not kind on your thighs or bum bones, and I strongly suspect it’s not much fun for the camel either.
After that, the third part of the experience was dinner and a show.
At this point we were taken to the restaurant, where we waited for other holidaymakers to arrive. We were picked up from Marrakech city at 2.30pm; with hindsight I would advise a later start to the desert experience because it does involve a lot of waiting around for the food and show to start otherwise. With hindsight, I’d recommend a later pick-up. A 4pm start would avoid a lot of waiting around – there isn’t a lot to do in the meantime except admire the desert.
We watched the sun set as the desert shifted colour, then dinner was served; a traditional tagine, eaten under the stars, warm, comforting, and surprisingly good for having been cooked in the middle of a desert.
There was entertainment in the form of traditional Moroccan music which I would describe as tolerable, over enthusiastic French tourists, and a small chap doing his solo fire show, before a taxi ride back into town.
Drinking, Food, and Managing Expectations
Morocco is not a destination you visit for a big drinking culture, which is fairly obvious. It’s a Muslim country, so modesty matters and drinking alcohol in public can land you in trouble.
Alcohol does exist, but discreetly in hotels, riads, and rooftop bars. We had food and drinks at Le Grand Bazaar, Le Bistro Arabe, and La Salama, all of which were relaxed, calm, and civilised. There are no gangs of rowdy hen and stag dos, and no out of control tourists. This is not Ibiza or Magaluf. Thank god.
It is also more expensive to drink than you might expect if you’re comparing it to a European city break, as most alcohol is imported. Public drinking isn’t a thing, and after long days exploring, one drink followed by bed feels entirely appropriate anyway.
Mint tea, however, is plentiful and underrated as a holiday beverage.
Despite it being January and snowing back home in the UK, Marrakech was warm enough during the day for t-shirts, especially on the rooftop terraces, without tipping into ‘lie by the pool all day’ territory. Based on my past experience, it will be beach weather by March. It is still winter, though, and at night, particularly in the desert, it was properly chilly. Bring layers.
We managed to see and do a lot during our weekend in Marrakech.
It was very different from my pre-2020 resort trip and I really enjoyed it.
Would I go back? Yes, though probably not before ticking off a few other places first. But for a short break that delivered culture, food, adventure, rest, and a lot of mint tea, this one was hard to fault.
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