This February, I spent a few days in beautiful Marrakech, Morocco. From a tourist perspective, the city is mainly a large medina (old town) surrounded by medieval walls. Most of the main sights are located within this area.
My favorite landmarks were the Ben Youssef Madrasa (a historic Islamic university) and the Koutoubia Mosque—though, unfortunately, non-Muslims aren’t allowed to enter the latter. The biggest square, Jemaa el-Fna, is an intense experience. It’s mostly filled with stalls or carpets covered in souvenirs and other goods. There are also plenty of snakes and monkeys, though sadly, their living conditions aren’t great. Close to the square is the touristy section of the souk—colorful and vibrant, selling all sorts of trinkets. It can get a bit overwhelming, especially with the constant need to dodge bikes and motorcycles.
Interestingly, this tourist-heavy zone is really just a central strip of the medina. As you move toward the edges—around places like the old Jewish cemetery, the synagogue, and the tanneries—it quickly becomes more local. The colorful, ornate shops selling mugs, teapots, carpets, and sweets fade into market stalls offering fish (always surrounded by cats lol), meat, vegetables, and fruit. I actually enjoyed this side more
Outside the medina, the only major sight is Jardin Majorelle, a botanical garden surrounding the famous blue Cubist villa, filled with cacti and other plants. I definitely recommend reserving tickets in advance—entry is limited, and you likely won’t be able to buy tickets at the entrance.
While many people warn about tourist scams, I found my experience to be quite different. Overall, people were very welcoming. Sellers weren’t as pushy as in Tunisia (at least in my experience). The only annoying thing was that if you looked lost, someone would immediately offer to “help” you—for a tip, of course. But usually, a simple “La, shukran” (No, thank you) solved the issue. We even visited the tanneries, which get terrible reviews on Google Maps, without paying anything to self-proclaimed guides standing around the entrance.
Overall I really liked the city, I enjoyed it much more than our daytrips in Morocco (Imlil and Ouzoud waterfalls). It is sometimes bit dirty and loud, but nothing overwhelmingly annoying. The food is also excellent. Just bring cash, even the main tourist sights (excluding Jardin Majorelle) mostly demanded payment in it.