Rough Guides - Pocket Rough Guide Marrakesh

This Pocket Rough Guide is one of a new generation of informative and easy-to-use travel-guide ebooks that guarantees you make the most of your trip, whether youre spending an afternoon or a few days away.

From the covers all the practical information youll need, from public transport to opening hours and festivals. A handy chronology and useful language list round off the guide.

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The last few years have seen Marrakesh well and truly established as Moroccos capital of chic, attracting the rich and famous from Europe and beyond. Yet the city has always had a mystique about it. Its a place of immense beauty, sitting beneath the dramatic peaks of the High Atlas mountains its narrow alleys beg discovery while its thoroughfares bustle with excitement and vitality. Arguably the last outpost of the Mediterranean before the Sahara, Marrakesh is still steeped in nomadic and West African influences. Nowhere is this fact more evident than in the Jemaa el Fna, the main square at the heart of the old town. Here youll find a constant reminder that Marrakesh was once the entrept for goods (gold, ivory and slaves) brought by caravan across the desert.

Like all Moroccan cities, Marrakesh is a town of two halves: the ancient walled Medina, founded by Sultan Youssef Ben Tachfine back in the Middle Ages, and the colonial Ville Nouvelle, built by the French in the early twentieth century. Each has its own delights the Medina with its ancient palaces and mansions, labyrinthine souks and deeply traditional way of life; and the Ville Nouvelle with its pavement cafs, trendy shops, gardens and boulevards.

Lantern shopping in the souks

Marrakesh is sometimes called the Red City, and it wont take you long to see why. The natural red ochre pigment that bedecks its walls and buildings can at times seem dominant, but theres no shortage of other colours there are few cities as vibrant as this one. Marrakesh breathes the scents of the Middle East and Africa: of spices, incense, and fresh wood being cut and crafted in workshops on the street. Yet simultaneously it oozes a French-inspired elegance in its cool riads, haute cuisine, stylish boutiques and gorgeous clothes. Whatever the wider influences, Marrakesh is first and foremost a Moroccan city, basking in a unique combination of Arab and Berber culture, which infuses its architecture, its craftwork, its cooking and its people.

For visitors, the Jemaa el Fna is undoubtedly the focus, a place without parallel in the world; really no more than an open space, its also the stage for a long-established ritual in which shifting circles of onlookers gather round groups of acrobats, musicians, dancers, storytellers, comedians and fairground acts. It is always compelling, no matter how many times you return.

Away from the Jemaa, the rest of the Medina is a maze of irregular streets and alleys; losing yourself among them is one of the great pleasures of a visit to Marrakesh. Within the Medina's twelfth-century walls youll find a profusion of mosques, Koranic schools and zaouias (tombs of holy men and women), amid what is, for most Western visitors, an exotic street life, replete with itinerant knife-grinders and fruit sellers, mules bearing heavy goods through the narrow thoroughfares, and country people in town to sell wares spread out upon the ground. The Ville Nouvelle has its own, more modern charms, and beyond it, the Palmery is a little taste of Moroccos date-producing southern desert oases.

When to visit

Weatherwise, spring (MarchMay) and autumn (SeptNov) are the best times to visit Marrakesh itll be sunny but not too hot. At the height of summer (JuneAug), daytime temperatures regularly reach a roasting 38C, and dont fall below a sweaty 20C at night, while in winter (DecFeb) the temperature may reach a pleasant 18C by day, but it can be grey and even wet; after dark, its not unusual for temperatures to drop to just 4C or below. If you come in June or July, you can catch the Festival National des Arts Populaires with its musicians and nightly equestrian fantasia, while late November or early December is the time to catch Marrakeshs film festival. Expect accommodation to be much in demand at Easter and at Christmas, when you should book well ahead and expect extra-high prices.

When you need a break from the bustle of the city streets, you can make for the peaks and valleys of the High Atlas mountains that dominate the citys southern horizon and are just a couple of hours drive away, where wild flowers dot pastoral landscapes beneath the rugged wildness of sheer rock and snow. In Imlil you can have lunch in a grand old kasbah and walk through gorgeous mountain countryside. At Setti Fatma, you can check out a whole series of nearby waterfalls, or stay in the village for a tajine and a mint tea right by the gushing river. In season, you can even pop up to Oukameden for a days skiing.

Whats new

In recent years, some of Marrakeshs traditional crafts have been adapted to create new, contemporary styles, acquiring a chic they never thought they had. So the caftans in , a whole new line in quirky, cool tyre-based accessories.

Also within easy striking distance of Marrakesh, just three hours away on the coast, is the friendly, picturesque walled town of Essaouira. It boasts a completely intact circuit of fairy-tale eighteenth-century ramparts; a beach much favoured by windsurfers; wonderful handicrafts, not least its fine thuya marquetry work; and some great eating places, particularly if you like super-fresh fish.

Minzah pavilion, Menara gardens

Where to

Shop

The souk (market) area in the northern half of the Medina is crammed with little shops selling crafts and clothing, as well as workshops where many of the items are made, and a wander round the souks is one of the highlights of any trip to Marrakesh. Before setting off into the souks, its worth taking a look at the Ensemble Artisanal, or a fixed-price shop such as Entreprise Bouchaib, to get an idea of quality and prices. Parts of the souk, and other locations in the Medina, specialize in specific items: carpets in the Souk des Tapis, for example; babouches (Moroccan slippers) in Souk Smata; and