Marrakech - Travel Guide

Marrakech is a city of contrasts with busy crowded streets and alleyways and then the calm and tranquilness of the riads.  This is not a place to visit without first doing a bit of research and you should prepare you trip and know exactly what you should expect. This city is not for everyone, if you don't like cities then this is not the place for you, also if you prefer walking around cities quietly taking in the sights then this also might not be the best place to visit. Saying that Marrakech is a great place to visit and is very interesting with different sights, sounds and smells (some good smells some not).

The currency in Morocco is the Dirham and at the time of writing this 1 Pound Sterling = 12.6 Dirham. Marrakech use to be a cheap place to visit but with more tourists and foreign investm

ent this is no longer the case.

Shopping

Shopping in Marrakech involves bartering most of the time. The salesperson usually starts at a ridiculous amount, I would recommend you start at least a quarter of this, sometimes a lot less. Below are my top tips for shopping.

• Start with a maximum you are wishing to pay in mind.
• Always start at a lot less than this value.
• If you do not come to an agreement soon then walk away. The salesperson could go with your price, say that you have only just started looking around and you will look elsewhere and might come back.
• My best tip is when you arrive go to the government run Artisan shop, this is a group of shops selling different products similar to what you will find in the Souks, but they are not allowed to barter, so this will give you a good idea of what you should expect to pay.

Restaurants

Prices in restaurants range greatly in Marrakech, from cheap cafe style restaurants to impressive expensive ones with great atmospheres. Morocco is 98% muslim and alcohol is forbidden so some restaurants do not sell wines or beers. Although this large amount of the population cannot drink Morocco makes some good wine, I would recommend the red, although a lot of people do drink the local rose.

If you are looking for somewhere cheap to eat we would recommend the Restaurant Du Progres on Rue Ben Marine. This restaurant serves a great chicken tajine with citrus fruits, the vegetable couscous was a little boring but the meal with sparkling water (alcohol free restaurant) came to less than 8 pounds.

If you are looking to spend more, but not break the bank then we would recommend La Boheme off the main square (Place Jemaa El Fna). This is a roof top restaurant with great views over the busy square, and would recommend outside for the atmosphere. This restaurant served the cheapest beer and wine we found and the staff were very pleasant. The food was good and we would recommend the lamb and prune tajine and the chicken pastilla. We had 2 main courses, 2 desserts and 4 bottles of beer for under 40 pound.

Tipping in restaurants is usually 10%.

Taxi's and transport

The best way to get around Marrakech is walking, although watch out for the scooters. We also caught a taxi a couple of times. The small taxi's are cheaper than the UK and you should not pay more than 40 Dirham to get across the city. Make sure they put the meter on when you get in. We negotiated a price before and when we arrived the driver tried to charge us an extra 10 Dirham.

General Advice

When in Marrakech go and visit the sights, they are cheap, we would recommend the Badi Palace and the Bahia Palace. Like most cities be careful around the streets, we did not have any problems and made sure our money was   well hidden and not easy to pick pocket.