Things to do in Marrakech: 20 ideas from our local team
Palaces, gardens, souks and the great square, grouped by area: 20 things to do in Marrakech, with the time each takes, the best moment to go and what is open in 2026.
By Ismail11 min read
If you only have time for five things in Marrakech, watch Jemaa el-Fna fill up at dusk, walk the souks with someone who knows them, see the Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs first thing in the morning, visit the Ben Youssef Medersa, and book the Jardin Majorelle online for the first slot of the day. Add a sunset from a roof terrace and half a day outside the city, and two or three days is about right.
Our team lives in Marrakech, and these are the 20 things we suggest, grouped by area so you can walk them, with the time each takes, the best moment to go and what is really open in November 2026, as several monuments are still being restored after the 2023 earthquake. For the order of visits day by day, see our Marrakech itinerary for 2, 3 or 4 days; to choose a base close to the sights, read where to stay in Marrakech.
The main sights at a glance
| Sight | Time needed | Best moment | Entry in 2026 (foreign adults) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koutoubia gardens | 20–30 min | Late afternoon | Free |
| Saadian Tombs | 30 min plus the queue | 9:00 opening | 100 MAD (about €9) |
| El Badi Palace | 45–60 min | Morning | 100 MAD |
| Bahia Palace | 45–60 min | Opening or mid-afternoon | 100 MAD, cash only |
| Ben Youssef Medersa | 45 min | Morning | 50 MAD (about €5) |
| Le Jardin Secret | 45 min | Midday | 100 MAD, tower 40 MAD |
| Jemaa el-Fna | 2 hours or more | Late afternoon to night | Free |
| Jardin Majorelle | 1–2 hours | First slot of the day | About 150–170 MAD, online only |
| Menara gardens | 45 min | Clear winter morning | Free |
The south medina: palaces, tombs and the Mellah
The royal city of the Saadian sultans is compact: with an early start, the Saadian Tombs, El Badi, the Mellah and the Bahia fit into one long morning on foot.
1. The Koutoubia and its gardens
The 77-metre minaret of the Koutoubia, completed under the Almohads in the late 12th century, is the landmark you will steer by all week. Non-Muslims cannot enter the mosque, but the gardens around it are free, and on the north-west side you can see the excavated outline of the first mosque, begun in 1147. Come back in the evening, when the minaret is lit.
2. The Saadian Tombs
This royal necropolis dates mostly from the reign of Ahmad al-Mansur (1578–1603). Walled off and forgotten, it was rediscovered in 1917. The highlight, the Chamber of the Twelve Columns, all Carrara marble, carved stucco and cedar, is seen from a doorway two or three people at a time, which is why queues form: visitors in 2026 reported waits of 40 minutes or more. Be there for the 9:00 opening, entering the kasbah through Bab Agnaou, its carved 12th-century gate. Restoration work was still under way in October 2026, with scaffolding and some rooms closed.
3. El Badi Palace
Ahmad al-Mansur began this reception palace in 1578 and decorated it with materials brought from as far as Italy and Mali. After his death it was stripped of its marble, so what you visit is a vast ruin: thick earthen walls, sunken orange-tree gardens, underground service rooms and a few pairs of storks on the ramparts. Its 18-month restoration was 40 % done in September 2025, and in 2026 visitors still found empty pools, scaffolding and taped-off areas. Go if you love ruins; skip it if you are short of time.
4. Bahia Palace
Begun in the 1860s by the grand vizier Si Musa and enlarged by his son Ba Ahmed, the Bahia is the opposite of El Badi: intact and intricate, with painted cedar ceilings, carved stucco, zellige and courtyards of orange trees. It reopened a month after the earthquake, but its grand riad and upper floor were damaged, and the restoration was 30 % complete in September 2025. In autumn 2026 large parts were still closed or under scaffolding, and groups fill the open rooms by mid-morning. Go at opening or mid-afternoon, and bring cash: the ticket office did not take cards in 2026.
Next door, Dar Si Said, the national museum of weaving and carpets, has been closed for repairs since the earthquake: check that it has reopened before planning around it.
5. The Mellah and the tinsmiths' square
Between El Badi and the Bahia, the Place des Ferblantiers is named after the metalworkers who made lanterns there; a few workshops remain. Behind it lies the Mellah, the Jewish quarter founded in 1558: walk through its covered market of spice and pickle stalls, then see the Lazama synagogue and the Jewish cemetery, the largest in Morocco. Allow an hour.
The north medina: the medersa, gardens and souks
North of Jemaa el-Fna, the souks stretch up to the Ben Youssef Mosque, with the medina's best small museums in the lanes on either side.
6. Ben Youssef Medersa
Commissioned in 1564–65 by the Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib, this was the largest Koranic college in the Maghreb. It closed for restoration in 2018, reopened in April 2022, and is open to everyone. Stand in the courtyard with its rectangular pool, zellige, carved stucco and cedar, then go up to the students' tiny cells. It opens every day and costs 50 MAD. Our guide to Ben Youssef and the medersas of Fes explains how to read the decoration.
7. Le Jardin Secret
On Rue Mouassine, a palace garden laid out in the Saadian era and rebuilt in the mid-19th century opened to the public in 2016 after restoration. It is the calmest place in the medina at midday: water channels, fountains, shade, and a tower (40 MAD extra, not for children under 6) with a view over the roofs. Entry is 100 MAD; in November and December it opens 9:30–17:30, later in summer.
8. Dar el Bacha and its coffee house
Built in 1910 for Thami El Glaoui, pasha of Marrakech from 1912, Dar el Bacha became the Musée des Confluences in 2017, with temporary exhibitions around a riad garden of carved cedar and zellige. Many visitors come for Bacha Coffee, the café in one of its period salons: arrive at opening or expect to queue. Closed on Mondays.
9. Maison de la Photographie
In an old house near the medersa, this private museum, open since 2009, shows photographs of Morocco from about 1870 to 1960: Atlas villages, rural Jewish communities, portraits and the Marrakech of a century ago. Finish with a tea on the roof terrace, and allow an hour.
10. The souks, with someone who knows them
Souk Semmarine leaves the north side of Jemaa el-Fna and splits into Souk el-Kebir and Souk el-Attarine. To the east, the triangular Rahba Kedima sells baskets, hats and traditional remedies, with the Criée Berbère carpet market beyond. To the west, near the triple-arched Saadian fountain of Mouassine, skeins of wool hang over the lanes of the dyers' souk, though little dyeing is done there today. Mornings are calmer; motorbikes use the lanes all day, so keep to the side.
Our guide to the Marrakech souks and how to bargain covers prices and haggling. For a first visit, the afternoon half of our private guided tour of Marrakech is spent in the souks and on the square with a guide who knows which lanes lead where.
Jemaa el-Fna, from morning to night
UNESCO proclaimed the cultural space of Jemaa el-Fna, with its storytellers and musicians, a masterpiece of intangible heritage in 2001. The square was repaved in 2025–26, the juice and food sellers received new identical carts in spring 2026, and the food-stall area was still being reorganised in the autumn.
11. The square by day
In the morning the square is half empty: orange-juice carts, water sellers with brass cups, henna artists, snake charmers and men with chained Barbary macaques, a protected species in Morocco. We suggest not paying for photos with the monkeys or snakes; if an animal is put on your shoulder, hand it back and walk on. Agree on the price of henna before the first line, and expect anyone you photograph or film to ask for a few dirhams.
12. Dusk from a terrace, then the square at night
In the late afternoon, musicians, Gnawa players and storytellers gather circles of listeners, the food stalls wheel in and light their grills, and by dark the smoke rises over the crowd. Watch it begin from a café terrace around the square, where a mint tea buys you the seat; with Morocco on GMT all year since September 2026, the sun sets at about 17:30 in December and 19:40 in June. Then go down and wander. Our guide to the Jemaa el-Fna food stalls explains what to order and how not to overpay, and what to eat in Marrakech covers the city's own dishes.
Outside the walls: Majorelle, Gueliz and the gardens
13. Jardin Majorelle and the YSL Museum
The painter Jacques Majorelle began this garden in 1923; Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought it in 1980 to save it from a hotel project. Expect cacti, bamboo and Majorelle's cobalt-blue studio, now the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts; the Musée Yves Saint Laurent opened next door in 2017. Tickets are sold only on the official website, for a set time, and tickets bought elsewhere are refused. Book as soon as your dates are fixed and take the first slot (the garden opens at 8:00). In 2026 the garden costs about 150–170 MAD (€14–16) and the combined ticket with both museums about 300–330 MAD (€28–31); the YSL Museum is closed on Wednesdays. The full story is in our guide to Jardin Majorelle and the YSL Museum.
14. Gueliz and Cyber Park
Gueliz, the new town laid out under the French protectorate in the 1910s, is where Marrakchis shop, work and go out: wide avenues, cafés, galleries and Art Deco buildings, 15 to 20 minutes on foot from Majorelle. Avenue Mohammed V links it to the Koutoubia, with Cyber Park (Arsat Moulay Abdeslam), a free and shady garden, along the way.
15. The Menara and Agdal gardens
Laid out around 1157 by the Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min, the Menara gardens are olive groves around a large basin with a 19th-century pavilion and, on a clear winter morning, the snowy High Atlas behind: the city's classic postcard. The gardens are free; the pavilion charges a small fee and adds little. With the medina and the Agdal gardens, they have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. The Agdal, orchards and old reservoirs south of the royal palace, opens only on some days, usually Friday and Sunday, and closes when the king is in residence.
16. MACAAL, for contemporary African art
The Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, in the Al Maaden golf estate outside the centre, reopened on 2 February 2025 after a post-earthquake refit, with its first long-term display of its own collection: more than 150 works from across Africa. Check its opening days before you take a taxi out, and see our guide to contemporary art in Marrakech for the galleries and the 1-54 art fair.
Experiences worth your time
17. A hammam
Hot room, black soap and a vigorous scrub with a kessa glove: join the locals in a neighbourhood hammam for very little, bringing your own things, or book a spa hammam for more comfort at a much higher price. Our guide to the Moroccan hammam explains what happens and how to choose.
18. A cooking class
Moroccan cooking is best learned with your hands. Most classes take place in a riad kitchen in the medina; ours takes you out of the city to cook with a Berber family in an Atlas village: tagine, couscous, salads and bread, then lunch with your hosts, in about seven hours.
19. A hot-air balloon at sunrise
Collected before dawn, you fly for about an hour over the plain and its villages as the sun rises behind the Atlas, then have breakfast after landing: about three hours in all. Flights depend on the weather. Is it safe and worth the price? Our guide to hot-air balloon flights in Marrakech answers both.
20. Sunset in the Agafay desert
Camel rides are sold in two places. The Palmeraie, a palm grove 15 to 20 minutes from the medina, is now dotted with villas and resort hotels. The Agafay desert, 45 minutes away, is a stony desert of bare hills with the High Atlas on the horizon, and we prefer it: the landscape is open, it is quiet, and the sunset is the whole point. Our Agafay desert evening combines a camel ride or quads with dinner in a desert camp. It is not the Sahara: real dunes need two or three days.
When you need a break from the city
- The Atlas villages and the Ourika valley: Berber villages, waterfalls and lunch in the mountains, about an hour away; see our Atlas Mountains day trips from Marrakech.
- Essaouira: the ocean, the fishing port and the sea walls, about three hours west.
- The Ouzoud waterfalls: 110 metres of cascades among olive trees, a full day out.
- Ait Ben Haddou: the UNESCO-listed ksar beyond the Tizi n'Tichka pass, a day of about 11 hours.
We compare them in the best day trips from Marrakech.
What we would skip (or do differently)
- Paid photos with chained monkeys or snakes. Watch from a distance if you like, but don't pay.
- Men who offer to "show you the tanneries" or say "the square is closed today". The walk ends in a shop that pays them a commission, or with a demand for money. Go with your own guide or not at all; licensed guides carry an official badge.
- Turning up at Majorelle without a ticket. There is no ticket office at the gate.
- All the palaces in one July afternoon. Average highs are close to 38 °C in July and August: visit monuments in the morning, rest at midday, go out again at dusk.
FAQ
Is two days enough for Marrakech?
Yes, for the medina: one day for the south and its palaces, one for the medersa, the souks and Majorelle. A third day adds Agafay, a balloon or the Atlas without rushing.
What can you do in Marrakech at night?
Jemaa el-Fna after dark, a rooftop at sunset, a hammam, or our favourite: dinner under the stars in an Agafay desert camp.
Which sights in Marrakech are free?
Jemaa el-Fna, the souks, the Koutoubia gardens, Cyber Park and the Menara gardens (only the pavilion charges), plus the Agdal gardens on the days they open.
If you would like help fitting all this into your stay, send us your dates and interests on WhatsApp, and we will suggest an order that avoids the queues and the midday heat.