Are you looking for a place to spend a few days and escape the winter blues? This is exactly what we wanted, and in January/25, we booked a 5-day winter break to Marrakesh in Morocco.
We always book a short break in winter, and the previous winter we went to Madeira. I tell all about it in my posts: Madeira – The Truth about visiting in winter – Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5. Check them out.
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This time, I will tell you everything about our visit to Morocco in winter, and perhaps I will help you decide if this is a place to go for your winter break.
After deciding that we wanted to go to Morocco, I looked for deals online but ended up booking with British Airways Holidays. They always have attractive packages of flights and accommodation that suit your dates and budget.
Our flight was early in the morning at Heathrow Airport, and as we live far away from the airport, we did as we always do. We went on the night before and stayed the night in a hotel close to the airport.
These hotels close to the airport offer packages of accommodation, dinner and car parking for the duration of your trip. However, most of these budget hotels are not very nice, dinner is from a restricted buffet, and you still need to get a taxi to the airport if you do not want to wait for the shuttle bus that goes around the hotels collecting people to take to the airport.
So, this time, I picked a better hotel (Holiday Inn Express -T5) with no dinner included (we had an early dinner at home before leaving). The car park was very close to the hotel and the airport. We would have to drive there in the morning, drop the car and take their van to the airport.
The way back was the same, catch the van back to the car park and collect our car. This worked much better than staying in the other, more economical hotels with dinner included and parking on site.
The hotel was very nice, better maintained, modern, clean and comfortable. Breakfast in the morning was pretty good too. So, this was the way to go from now on. No more, battered rooms in cheap hotels near the airport when travelling early in the morning!
Our flight was delayed, and we arrived in Marrakesh around 3 pm. Our pre-booked transfer was also late (he said he was stuck in traffic). We had to wait about an hour to finally be taken to our Riad, arriving there at about 4 pm.
We were travelling independently, but if you prefer to have everything organised by a tour operator, before booking anything check the tours offered by Tourradar. They have a variety of tours to Morocco that suits the time and budget of everyone.
If you book any of Tourradar tours via my links and use code RoseG50 you will get a discount on your booking.
It was quite warm, the temperature was about 22 degrees Celsius, and it was sunny. Our riad was in Bab Doukkala and within the Medina, but cars do not enter the Medina, so we were left outside the gate in close proximity to the riad.
We pulled our suitcases, entering the Medina, looking for the riad. We found it behind a high wall with only the entrance door and a sign to say it was “Riad Zayane”. The way to the riad was not a very attractive neighbourhood, full of sellers selling fruit and vegetables laid on the floor and dirty-looking places selling food and drinks.
The people around were very friendly, but also a bit intimidating. We were wondering if we had made a mistake by booking this riad in that location.
Behind the entrance door, the riad was an oasis of peace and quiet and looked gorgeous! There was a patio full of plants with a pool in the middle, with a fountain. The only noise was the water dripping from the fountain and the sound of the birds flying around the patio.
We were received by the manager, who sat us at one of the patio tables and welcomed us with a pot of fresh mint tea. That was delicious, and although hot, very refreshing! He took the time to explain to us the routine of the riad and what to do with the keys, etc., and after we finished with our tea, he took us to our room on the first floor.
Our room was the “Africa” room. It was lovely, decorated in a terracotta colour and with African-style furniture and objects. The bathroom was decorated with mosaics in a very Moorish style. We loved our room and felt very comfortable and happy there.
We had a shower and rested a little before going out a bit later. When we left, we followed the map to the main square, “Jamaa El Fnaa Square”. It was a good 20 to 30-minute walk from the riad to the main square; however, you don’t feel the walk as you get distracted by everything going on around you.
I mean, motorbikes, people, animals, all crossing in front of you or near you, almost running you over.
We arrived at the square without a scratch, and at that time, almost 7 pm, they had already put up all the stalls acting as little restaurants all over the square. During the day, the square is filled with fruit stands selling freshly squeezed fruit juices, some others selling other merchandise and people exploiting animals such as monkeys and snakes.
At night, the square transforms itself and turns into a sea of little stalls selling food served on fold-up tables and benches.
It was already planned to have dinner in one of those restaurants, and we looked for stall no. 32 (recommended by another blog). Apparently, this stall had very tasty harira soup, which is made of tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas served with a local merguez sausage. We were keen to try it, so we looked for stall no. 32.
We sat at a table and were offered some other food that consisted of grilled chicken and lamb as well as sausages. We also had some vegetables, mainly peppers and aubergines, some couscous and the lovely soup. All was accompanied with bread. It was a lot of food, and we ate very well for a very low price. I think both of us spent only about £20 on this dinner, including soft drinks.
After dinner, we headed back to the riad for our first night in Marrakesh. The next day was promising as we were going to start exploring Marrakesh. Hang on for the next post coming out soon.
Below is a map showing the places we went on our first day in Marrakesh:
Below is a reel from the Traveling Surveyor Instagram account. Check it out and follow me on Instagram as well.
I hope this post will give you some idea of what can be done in a day in Marrakesh and will help you plan your own visit there.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR VISIT
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in the area. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
PLEASE NOTE: Every hotel, restaurants and attractions I mention on my blogs are not sponsored reviews and we always paid the full price when visiting. We give our own opinion of the place and detail our experience, good or bad.
THINGS TO DO IN MARRAKESH – DAY 1
ATTRACTIONS
1 – Jamaa El Fnaa in the evening for dinner – *** – £
WHERE TO STAY IN MARRAKESH
ACCOMMODATION
1 – Riad Zayane – 4* – *** – ££ – (We stayed here)
2 – Dar Warda – 4* – ££
3 – Les Jardins De La Koutoubia – 5* – £££
4 – Savoy Le Grand Hotel Marrakesh – 5* – £££
5 – Palais El Roucar – 3* – ££
6 – Riad Dar Dounia – 3* – ££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation, search and book via the below widget:
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BEST PLACES TO EAT
RESTAURANTS
1 – No. 32 stall at Jamaa El Fnaa Square – *** – £ – (We ate here)
2 – Safran by Koia – £££
3 – Mouton Noir – ££
4 – Terrasses des Arts – £££
5 – L’O à la Bouche – £££
6 – Al Khayma – ££
We only tried the ones in bold , the others are the result of my researches and ones that I would like to try. If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
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