Morocco
Adventure
A
true crossroads of Africa, Arabia, and Europe,
Marrakech is, for many travellers, the holiday experience to which all others in
the country are compared. The city
thrives as Morocco’s imaginative centre and
attracts visitors throughout the year with its arts and crafts and various
festivals.
An
imperial capital on more than one occasion, this ochre-coloured city has a
surprisingly limited number of attractions, but it offers a complete sensory
holiday experience that is immediately captivating. Its dynamic mix of traditional folklore
and exotic imagery is drawing record numbers of travellers into its ancient,
bustling median. However, amidst
this surge in popularity, Marrakech has been able to preserve its individual
mystique and timeless allure.
The
majority of Marrakech’s attractions lie within its ancient city walls and are
best located from the focal point of Jemaa el Fna. The minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque and
the Jemaa el Fna are the dominant images of the medina of Marrakech. The essence of the city for a visitor is
firmly around Jemaa el Fna, the bustling square that stands plumb in the centre
of the old walled medina. As you
walk past the snake-charmers and orange juice stalls and tentatively enter the
maze of alleys and lanes leading off in seemingly haphazard directions, you come
to realise that you are well and truly in the medina. Some worthwhile places of interest north
of Jemaa el Fna, such as the souks, Ben Youssef Medersa, and Marrakech Museum, you’ll have to rely on foot
power. Outside the medina are the
gardens Agdal, Menara, and Majorelle, the latter known for its photogenic
cobalt-blue buildings as well as its gardens.
Gourmet
Cuisine & Dining Out
Morocco
has a distinctive, varied and very attractive national cuisine, with dishes from
simple to sophisticated that make great and imaginative use of Mediterranean
produce. Tagine, together with
couscous, is the national dish, a slowly simmered stew, cooked in its own juices
in an earthenware bowl with a distinctive conical lid. Spend any time on holiday
in Morocco, and you’ll become just like
everybody else – a discerning tagine connoisseur. Suffering from bouts of tagine fatigue
can be countered by discovering delicious variations from the norm, such as lamb
tagine with dates and figs, chicken tagine with apricot in saffron sauce, and
vegetable tagine that isn’t one big mass of overcooked
mush.
The
centrepiece of most sit-down meals in Morocco is couscous. Fine, grain-size pieces of semolina
lightly steamed in an aromatic broth until light and fluffy, couscous can be
served with any meat or vegetable, or a combination of both. When dining with Moroccans, you’ll be
encouraged to scoop up a handful - use your ‘clean’ right hand – and roll it
into a small ball before tossing it into your mouth. This is one of the main reasons why most
dinner tables in Morocco are covered with plastic –
and easily cleaned – tablecloths.
It can also be served as a pudding with sugar, cinnamon and rich warmed
goat’s milk.
The
principal drink of Morocco is mint tea. This is green or gunpowder tea flavoured
with a few sprigs of mint and saturated with sugar. Traditionally brewed slowly over a
charcoal fire and sweetened by large chunks of sugar, the tea is poured from an
arm’s length height to aerate the brew.
This is to be performed two to three times – and tasted after each pour –
before the tea is considered ready to drink.
In
comparison to most Western countries, Morocco’s seafood is very reasonably
priced with a relatively range of daily catches. Feast on the freshest seafood –
handpicked by yourself and chargrilled while you wait – at various fish markets
and restaurants throughout the country.
For
breakfast, try a baghrir – an aerated pancake, similar to a large English
crumpet. Moroccans and visitors
alike droop over a baghrir (still warm from the pan) covered in the argan-based
amlou paste and topped with crushed cashew nuts.
Nightlife
& Party with Locals
Today’s
Marrakech seems to be living two lives, both as a playground for international
jet-setters and a place where tradition still runs deep. In this city you can eat lavishly in
magnificent surroundings, and eat cheap fresh local food in one of the world’s
great public spaces. Those seeking
a taste of old Morocco should spend at least one
night at Jemaa el Fna. Arrive
before the evening to watch the sunset, followed by an array of musicians,
story-tellers, and dancers. After
you’ve sampled the square, stroll along the adjoining rue Bab Agnaou, or take a
seat on Abd el Moumen
Square (in front of the Koutoubia Mosque) and end the
night with some prime people-watching. Culture seekers should try to visit to
the city during one of Marrakech’s festivals, while those who prefer a night of
dancing and drinks will find everything from lounges to what claims to be the
biggest club in Africa.
WHAT
TO SEE
Koutoubia
Mosque
Koutoubia
Mosque appears at its most elegant from a great distance. Approaching Marrakech from the High
Atlas, the tower rises magnificently above the barely perceptible city. It is the largest in Marrakech and the
city’s principal landmark. Although
it is closed to non-Muslims, its impressive structure is still worth a look from
the outside and the surrounding area is ideal for an evening stroll. The minaret was completed during the
reign of Yaacoub el Mansour (1184-1199) and, as the ultimate structure of its
kind - it was used as a model for the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of
Rabat. The tower is 69 metres high
and houses six rooms, one on top of the other, allowing access up to the
balcony. The top of the tower is
adorned with four copper globes, one of which was donated by the wife of Yaacoub
el Mansour as compensation for failing to fast for one day during
Ramadan.
Jemaa
el Fna
In
the heart of the pink-walled Marrakech Medina is the central square Place Jemaa
el Fna. This is the city’s
liveliest night-spot, which transforms from a daytime bus station and market to
an open-air theatre of folklore in the evening. As the sun sets, coaches give way to
food vendors and performers. While
locals tuck in to bowels of snails or a sheep’s head, visitors mainly prefer a
kebab. Beyond the stalls, acrobats
climb and tumble while exotic dancers entertain. The arcane also features heavily with
fortune-tellers, live bands, acrobats and story-tellers.
The
Menara
Gardens
The
tranquil Jardin Menara in Marrakech is a perfect place to escape the hustle of
the city and enjoy a picnic. Its
wide olive groves are surrounded by a loam wall and a mesmeric pool lies in the
middle framed by the distant snow-capped Atlas
Mountains.
The
Majorelle
Garden
One
of the city’s major attractions, this small botanical garden was created in the
1920s by French artist Jacques Majorelle and reflects his affection for contrast
and strong colour. It is now owned
by the couturier, the late Yves Saint-Laurent (who was born in
Algeria). The scent and colour of bamboo thickets,
huge cacti, multicoloured bougainvillea, and towering palms is offset by the
brilliant cobalt-blue of Majorelle’s former studio, now a small Museum of Islamic Arts.
Saadian
Tombs
Marrakech’s
Saadian Tombs were created by Sultan Ahmed el Mansour of the Saadi Dynasty in
the late-16th century as a cemetery for himself and his successors. In all, there are 66 indoor tombs,
decorated with intricate mosaics.
The central Hall of Twelve Columns, containing the tombs of Ahmed el
Mansour and his family, is dark and lavishly ornate with a huge vaulted roof and
grey marble from Carrara,
Italy. Outside, there are hundreds more tombs
among the palm trees in the serene gardens. The tombs are one of the most visited
sites in Morocco, so in order to recapture
some sense of serenity and isolation – go either early in the morning or late
afternoon.
Bahia
Palace
The
lavishly decorated Bahia Palace in Marrakech was built in the
late-19th century as a harem’s residence by Si Ahmed ben Musa. It is set in extensive gardens and
features the key elements of Moroccan architecture – light, symmetry and
water. The rooms vary in size, but
each has its own quiet courtyard.
The whole building features carved-cedar ceilings, ceramic-tiled walls
and fountains, shiny marble finishes, stucco cornices and decoratively painted
(zouak) ceilings.
Marrakech
WHAT
TO DO
Golf
Introduced
to Morocco by the British back in 1917,
the sport of golf gained the royal seal of approval during the late 1960s, when
King Hassan II became hooked. A
spate of course building followed, and today there are around 20 golf courses in
Morocco ranging from 9 to 36 holes,
some of which were designed by well-known masters Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent
Jones, and Jones’s protégé, Cabell B. Robinson. The best known of the country’s courses
is at the Royal Dar es Salaam Golf Club in Rabat.
Set in a forest of cork, eucalyptus, and oak trees, the club offers two
18-hole courses (called red and blue), and one 9-hole (green) course. The red course – rated in the world’s
top 100 golf courses by GOLF magazine – plays host to Morocco’s annual
Hassan II Golf Trophy. Within the
environs of Marrakech are three 18-hole courses: the Marrakech Royal Golf Club,
La Palmeraie Golf Club, and the Amelkis Golf Club.
Shopping
Nobody
leaves Marrakech without buying something. Although some particular crafts are
better procured elsewhere – ceramics from Fes
and silver jewellery from Tiznit – most travellers come here to make their
purchases. Almost every form of
Moroccan arts and crafts can be found amongst Marrakech’s labyrinth of
shops. Leatherwork, brassware, and
copperware are traditionally of high quality and reasonable cost in Marrakech,
but there’s so much of everything here that it’s easy to suffer from souk
overload. The souks are among the
finest in the Arab world offering different spices, traditional medicine, fine
textiles, perfumes, soaps and so much more.
The
benefits of argan oil (produced from trees exclusive to south-west
Morocco) are only beginning to be
known in the Western world. Argan
oil, valued for its nutritive, cosmetic and numerous medicinal properties,
remains one of the rarest oils in the world. Argan oil is available at two new shops
in the medina. If you are anywhere
near the Acima or Marjane supermarkets, have a look at their argan oil and spice
collection. Although obviously
lacking the medina shopping atmosphere, you are very likely to find the same
products at a fraction of the price.
Nightlife
& Casino
Put
on your jacket and tie and join the jet-setters at the Hotel La Mamounia’s Grand
Casino. Roulette, blackjack, craps
and slot machines crowd into this historic casino in the Hivernage. If you are looking for some cocktails to
be washed down to the tinkling of a piano, head for Le Churchill Bar in the
Mamounia Hotel. The Mamounia Hotel
was Winston Churchill’s favourite haunt, and his suite is preserved with his
books, bed and photographs of him painting in the garden.
Hiking,
Biking & Horse Riding
Marrakech
is superbly located as an initial base for a walking holiday. Hill walkers can easily drive out in the
morning to explore the lower valleys of the High Atlas passes or the Central
High Atlas. Toubkal National Park is ideal for trekking and
mountain biking. For those
interesting in horse riding, the Ourika Valley just outside Marrakech is the ideal
getaway.