In this post, I will tell you about Day 5, our last day in Marrakesh. We were on a 5-day winter break in Marrakesh, and after spending Day 1 and Day 2 exploring Marrakesh, we spent a day visiting Casablanca on Day 3. Day 4 and Day 5 we spent continuing to explore Marrakesh.
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.
Subscribe to my blog, so you will not miss any of my posts published every week.
Although it rained during the night on Day 4, it didn’t rain anymore, and the day was cloudy but dry. It was not cold either; the temperature was quite pleasant.
We enjoyed breakfast at Riad Zayane and soon left for the visits of the day.
We started by visiting Almoravid Koubba located near the Marrakesh Museum, but we didn’t have time to visit on the previous day (see my post Day 4).
Below is a map showing the places we visited on that day in Marrakesh:
VISITING MARRAKESH
1 – Almoravid Koubba
The Almoravid Koubba, is a small domed structure in Marrakesh dating to the 12th century. It is the only remaining building in the city from the Almoravid period.
The structure was part of a larger complex that included a mosque and ablution facilities. It likely served as a fountain or pavilion for ritual washing before prayer. The interior features an ornate dome with carved floral and geometric patterns, showcasing early Moroccan-Andalusian architectural elements.
Rediscovered in the 20th century after being buried for centuries, the Koubba is now preserved as a historic monument. It is notable for its early use of decorative motifs that would become common in later Moroccan architecture.
This is a very beautiful structure, and it was lucky to find this architectural treasure of such historical value. We walked around the complex and took various photos of the unique structure before moving on to our next visit.
2 – Dar El Bacha Museum (Bacha Palace)
We continued on the narrow streets of the Medina and the souks, passing through some interesting places and some not that appealing. On the back roads, there are lots of derelict buildings, dirty roads and poverty displayed.
We arrived at El Bacha Museum, and at the ticket office, they didn’t accept credit cards. We had to go out and look for a cash machine to get some cash out to be able to buy the tickets. Many places in Morocco don’t accept credit cards. Mainly tourist attractions, the restaurants we went to all accepted cards.
Dar El Bacha Museum, also known as Dar El Bacha – Musée des Confluences, is located in the medina of Marrakesh, in the Dar El Bacha palace, built in 1910 for Thami El Glaoui, then Pasha of Marrakesh.
The palace is an example of Moroccan architecture, with zellij tilework, carved cedar ceilings, stucco decoration, and a large central courtyard.
The restoration and opening of the museum was in 2017.
The museum’s collection includes art, manuscripts, ceramics, textiles, and scientific instruments from various cultures and periods, emphasising cross-cultural exchange. It also features temporary exhibitions and a café serving traditional Moroccan and international coffees.
Dar El Bacha functions as both a cultural museum and an architectural site, illustrating artistic and scientific interactions across regions and civilisations.
The Café
We thought that this museum/palace was one of the most beautiful in Marrakesh. It was lovely and the café and shop on the premises was one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. We spent about an hour there before moving on to the next stop.
3 – The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden in Marrakesh is a restored 19th-century riad featuring traditional Islamic art, geometric tilework, and two distinct gardens: an exotic garden with global flora and an Islamic Garden organised by water channels.
It’s a quiet space framed by high walls, offering a contrast to the surrounding medina.
The Secret Garden is one of those rare places that feels entirely removed from its surroundings, despite being hidden in the heart of the medina. Behind heavy wooden doors lies a 400-year-old riad complex meticulously restored to showcase traditional Islamic architecture and garden design.
The space is divided into two main gardens: the exotic garden, filled with plants from around the world and arranged for contrast and colour.
The other one is the Islamic Garden, structured around symmetry, geometry, and water channels that reflect the historical importance of irrigation in Moroccan design.
Elevated walkways and a central tower offer panoramic views over the medina’s rooftops, while shaded paths and flowing fountains create a sense of calm that’s hard to find elsewhere in the city. It’s not a grand monument or a tourist spectacle—it’s something quieter, older, and deliberately hidden.
The garden is very beautiful, but not so secret anymore. When we visited, it was full of tourists.
After we visited the Secret Garden, we walked to Tinsmith Square.
4 – Tinsmith Square
Tinsmith Square, just off Place des Ferblantiers in Marrakesh, is a small but distinctive part of the medina known for its metalworking shops and quiet rhythm compared to the larger souks.
Craftsmen shape brass, copper, and tin into lanterns, trays, and teapots, often by hand and in open view. The steady tapping of hammers against metal gives the square its character, more auditory than visual at first.
It is a working space with a long memory, where technique matters and tools haven’t changed much in generations. A few cafés sit at the edges, mostly in the shade, offering a spot to watch the slow, methodical work unfold.
We picked one of the cafés on the square and had some lunch. We had an egg tagine and mint tea each. It was fine, but again not the best of the lunches.
After lunch, we just strolled through the Medina, exploring the little alleys and enjoying the lively atmosphere. In the end of the afternoon, we headed back to our Riad for some rest and waited for dinner time.
You can book a tailor-made City Tour with your own private Guide HERE or you can book a tour that will take you to Ben Youssef Madrasa (see my Day 4 post), Dar El Bacha and the Medina. You can book this one HERE.
We had a restaurant booked at 8 pm, it was called “Le Fondouk”, and we had high expectations for this one after so many good reviews of the place.
We booked a taxi to take us there, and again it left us near the place, and we walked there.
5 – Le Fondouk
Historically, a “fondouk “ (also spelled foundouk) in Marrakesh was a caravanserai, a roadside inn for merchants and travellers. These structures were typically two or three stories, built around a central courtyard where camels and goods could be unloaded.
The ground floor was used for stables and storage; the upper levels housed sleeping quarters and sometimes workshops. Located along trade routes or near city gates, “fondouks” were vital nodes in the commercial infrastructure of medieval Morocco, supporting the flow of goods, especially along the trans-Saharan trade network.
In the medina, many “fondouks” later evolved into artisan hubs, housing craftsmen like weavers, dyers, or metalworkers.
6 – Le Fondouk Restaurant
Le Foundouk restaurant occupies one of these former spaces, repurposed from trade to leisure, but retaining the original architectural logic: inward-facing, utilitarian, and self-contained.
“Le Foundouk “is a rooftop restaurant in Marrakesh’s medina that blends French/Moroccan fusion with one of the city’s more polished dining settings.
Hidden down a narrow alley and accessible only by lantern-lit paths, the entrance feels theatrical, deliberately hard to find, like much of Marrakesh. Inside, the design is split between candlelit interiors and an open-air terrace with views over the old city.
The menu is a hybrid: duck pastilla, lamb tagine, saffron risotto, executed with Western precision but rooted in local flavours. Service is formal by Medina standards, and the atmosphere is posh. It’s not trying to be authentic in the traditional sense; it’s staging Marrakesh as experience, not accident.
We enjoyed our meal at “Le Fondouk”, it was one of the best dinners we had in Marrakesh
They serve alcohol, so I had some nice wine to accompany my food. I had beef tagine, and my husband had a fish dish. Both dishes were excellent.
It was a nice evening, so after dinner we decided to walk to our Riad for the last time. The following day, we would return to the UK at lunchtime.
Conclusion
We found Morocco a very interesting country full of history and culture to explore. We really enjoyed our break there and would go back sometime. Marrakesh is very attractive, full of attractions to visit to fill up your time there.
We preferred Marrakesh to Casablanca, but both cities are very dirty and chaotic, with Casablanca being the dirtier and Marrakesh the most chaotic. You get used to it after some time, but when you first arrive, it is difficult to understand how they survive the traffic and the chaos inside the Medina.
Weather-wise, unlikely our break in Madeira in winter last year, we were lucky this time. It only rained once during the night. Although the roads in the Medina were quite muddy, the rain didn’t disturb us for the full 5 days we spent there.
It was quite warm for the end of January, and we thought it was worth going there during the winter. In the summer, it must be very busy, and the heat might be unbearable.
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 TO MARRAKESH
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Marrakesh. 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 4
ATTRACTIONS
1 – Almoravid Kubba – ***
2 – El Bacha Museum – ***
3 – The Secret Garden – ***
4 – Tinsmith Square – ***
5 – Fondouks – ***
WHERE TO STAY
ACCOMMODATION
1 – Riad Zayane – 4* – *** – ££
2 – Riad Zahri – 3* – ££
3 – Riad Mama – 3* – ££
4 – Riad Dalla Santa – 4* – ££
5 – Kenzara Suites & Pool – 5* – £££
6 – La Villa des Orangers – 5* – £££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation, search and book via the below widget:
I use affiliate links such as the links above for Booking.com, Get your Guide, Viator and others. It means that if you use any of my links to make a booking, I will get a small commission from the partners I’m affiliated with without any additional cost to you. Please, use the links provided when making a booking, this is a way of supporting blogs like this so we can continue writing informative and interesting posts. I’m very thankful for that.
BEST PLACES TO EAT
RESTAURANTS
1 – Le Fondouk – *** – £££
2 – Le Grande table Marocaine – £££
3 – Nobu Marrakesh – Japanese – £££
4 – Toro Marrakesch – £££
5 – Kiss Ko Marrakesh – £££
6 – Cantine Mouton Noir – ££
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!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
Leave a Reply