Marrakech
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The Imperial City of Marrakech – a theatrical, pink-ochre city, rising out of the desert on a vast stage deep with date palms, its backcloth the snow-capped peaks of Morocco's High Atlas mountains.
At its heart lies the médina, a maze of mud-floored narrow lanes packed with people, sounds, wondrous sights and endless activity. Shops display goods of infinite variety and colour, spices scent the air, the sound of hammering metal drifts from tiny workplaces. Laden donkeys plod through dusty streets echoing with the muezzin’s call to prayer. Endless surprises hide behind simple doorways and austere walls.
The Djemaâ El Fna square sits centre stage. Scruffy, dusty and a busy marketplace by day, at night it becomes a magical, crowded, ever-changing source of exotic food and entertainments, of singers and storytellers, snake-charmers, acrobats, jugglers and dancers. Colourful water carriers pose, monkeys perform. Here you can get your hair cut and your hands decorated with henna; the brave can get their teeth fixed, their fortunes told and their ailments cured by medicine men. Smoke swirls from food stalls, drums beat, voices chant. And it’s not just for tourists. Local families are drawn here as if by magnets, for the sheer fun and vitality of it all.
New meets old
Laid out by the French in the 1920s, Guéliz, the ville nouvelle, has broad tree-lined boulevards decorated with flowers and strung with international hotels, banks, apartment buildings, cafés, restaurants and smart shops.
On the outskirts of the city, about a 15-minute taxi ride away from the centre, expensive villas with sparkling blue pools hide behind high walls in palm groves, and luxurious resorts with pristine designer golf courses attract players in search of winter sunshine.
But for the seeker of history and atmosphere, the medieval city, dusty, people-packed and endlessly fascinating, is the draw.
Hotels with a history
Riads, hidden away in the médina, are very special places to stay. Once the family homes of traders, now beautifully restored and traditionally furnished, they are oases of calm and serenity. The rooms are set around tiled and rose petal-strewn courtyards bright with flowers, climbing plants, citrus trees and gently splashing fountains. Sun-shaded rooftop pools look out across the red-roofed city.
Stylish resorts, reached by fast dual carriageways, have sprung up on the city’s palm-groved outskirts. In the pink-washed Palmeraie Golf Palace and Resort, luxurious rooms are set around gardens filled with bougainvillea, jacaranda trees, roses and hibiscus. As well as the 18-hole, par 72 golf course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr, it boasts five swimming pools, a spa and fitness centre, plenty of sports and activities and numerous bars and restaurants.
Haggling and hassles
Haggling over prices is a national sport, and hassling tourists used to be – but since the arrival of the vigilant, plain-clothed Brigade Touristique on the streets of Marrakech, with heavy fines for locals caught hassling visitors, it’s much less of a problem. Shop-owners in the souk call out persuasively, but that’s all part of the rich and colourful scene.
If you’re afraid you’ll get lost in the labyrinthine maze of souks, consider hiring a guide for your first visit. Make sure he or she is a registered guide – your hotel will put you in touch with one. If you explain what you want to see and buy, a guide can be invaluable. Once you’ve got the hang of the place, and it’s not all that difficult, you can wander back there at your leisure.
Shopping
Bring back leather goods, slippers, silver and gold jewellery, copper and brass work, metal lanterns, handmade carpets, rugs and pottery, olive oil, herbs, spices and exotic perfumes. Shops close for a two-hour lunch, four hours on Fridays. Most shops in the médina close on Friday.
In a city where the buildings are painted pink by decree, and are built no higher than a palm tree, as dusk falls, the long low rays of the sun bathe this endlessly intriguing world in rich warmth. If you love colour, you’ll love Marrakech. And it’s only three hours’ flying time from London.
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