What I’m reading: this Vittles article and Rosie MacKean’s brilliant recipes, both on Substack
What I’m listening to: this album by Nourished by Time
What I’m eating: lunch at the brilliant Mountain (below) - highlights included the walnut toast with winter tomatoes and the torrijas
I went on a little trip to Marrakech last week, in search of some winter sun. Temperatures were in the mid 20s, which felt like the perfect antidote to below freezing conditions in Ireland and the UK. Flight time from London is only around 3 hours, so it’s quite possible to do a short trip, but having been to the surf towns on the west coast (about 8 years ago), I do recommend making the journey out to Agadir or Essaouira if you have the time.
Here is the riad we stayed at, and it was quite basic but perfectly fine - I do, however, recommend staying a little closer to the souk/main square if you can, as the walk back to the riad at night time was slightly sketchy at times.
Restaurants
Sahbi Sahbi: probably my favourite meal of the trip. It’s out in the French district, so you’ll probably have to get a taxi if you’re staying in the medina. Fully female-run, with an open kitchen and a gorgeous wood fire. The food was delightful, and they serve alcohol (which is not a given in Moroccan restaurants).
Nomad: a really lovely rooftop bar/restaurant, maybe more notable for its views of the city (try and go at sunset), but good food nonetheless.
Bars
Morocco isn’t a dry state, but it can be difficult to find a bar. If you feel like a pint after dinner, we found these places - Le Slimana, La Pergola, Terrasse des Épices, Kechmara - where you can get a drink, and they even had some delicious Moroccan wine options.
Things to do
I highly recommend going to a hammam, and if you’re lucky, there may even be one in your riad. They’re kind of like Turkish baths, and you’ll get to go into saunas and steam rooms, and can get all sorts of massages and treatments, if you’re into that kind of thing. I really wanted to go to the hammam in Hotel Mamounia, but it was slightly out of budget - however if you do go, please tell me how it was.
We did a quad bike tour in the desert which was really fun. There are a few good options on Get Your Guide - this is the one I opted for as I had no interest in riding a camel, but again - different strokes for different folks. They picked us up from our riad and dropped us off after, and we got a solid hour and a half zooming around the desert, plus the tour included a stop for snacks and mint tea.
I also recommend Jardin Majorelle, which is just on the outskirts of the medina. It was named after its founder, French artist Jacques Majorelle, and later bought by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, so there’s also an Yves Saint Laurent museum next door, and the Musée Berbère is also on site.
The main activity (for me) is wandering around the souks. Souk Semmarine and the nearby square are really busy and vibrant, and I think you could quite easily spend a day fluting around and shopping, with a break for lunch or tea.
Travel tips
The airport at Marrakech is pretty disorganised. We were lucky that we didn’t have to queue long for immigration when we arrived, but I’ve heard stories about people being stuck in the passport control queue (in arrivals) for up to 4 hours - so allow some extra time, and maybe don’t make a dinner reservation on the first night. Our flight out of Marrakech was definitely a bit hectic - there are 5 different places you have to queue, and they don’t accept boarding passes on your phone, so make sure to have yours printed if you’re not checking in bags.
Beware of scammers! We narrowly avoided being scammed on the first night by a man who told us that we couldn’t walk back the usual way to our riad as there were prayers in the street. He showed us his “tour guide” badge and offered to show us a different route. Extremely naively (in hindsight), we followed him for a couple of minutes before deciding something was up and going back the way we knew. He asked for money and when we said no, got half-chased down the road, where we found our way (and there were no prayers happening in the road). Apparently it’s a pretty common scam, so just have your wits about you. It’s also a good idea to load your directions on Google Maps before you leave a WiFi connected area, as it should be able to keep you on track, even if you have no internet.
I hope that this is useful! Please feel free to share with a friend x