My family (wife and I and three pre-teen children) are going to Marrakech next February during the US school vacation week. We've never been to Morocco before.
I am interested in tips on Marrakech, including day trips and itinerary suggestions and places to eat and shop. Our 9-year old is not a very adventurous eater, so I am worried what kind of food he'd be able to eat there. Also would you consider hiring a guide for a couple of days?
For an exhaustive list of FAQ's and other useful info, check the "triotours" website.
For eating, I would try to book one night at Le Tobsil, one of the best restaurants in Marrakesh and a superb ambiance. There are lots of snack places in Marrakesh, including a couple of shwarma/kebab stands on the pedestrian street just off the Djemaa el-Fna. I would think that if your son eats hamburgers and chips you should be ok. However, moroccan cuisine is delicious and is fairly meat based, with an interesting balance of sweet and sour in many dishes. I have yet to meet a youngster who didn't enjoy chicken or beef tagine! Particularly good are the tagines made with apricots, prunes, and preserved lemon. Typically a Moroccan meal will include a number of cold and cooked salads to start. I guess if you are losing the battle there's always the Mcdonald's in the new town (shudder). The Djemaa is a great place to eat at night but be careful to choose places where more Moroccans than tourists are eating, and try to stick to stands that only do a few dishes. The stands that offer a number of choices run the risk of serving food that has been sitting for too long, and hence, more likely to give you food poisoning.
Getting out to the Ourika valley is a must, your hotel can help you arrange a driver for the day or you may want to look into car rental for a few days. A bit further away but still possible as a day trip are the Cascades d'Ouzoud, some very lovely waterfalls to the north and west of Marrakesh. Essaouira (along the coast) Zagora (the desert) and Mt Toubkal are all fascinating places, though in reality none of them are really viable as day-trips, an overnight at least would be advisable as you are looking at several hours driving in either direction, in the case of Zagora, you would really need two or three days to do it properly. Again, once you're in Marrakesh you'll find lots of options for booking excursions.
People usually hire guides for tours of the medina, though I personally feel that the medina of Marrakesh doesn't warrant it, but to reduce the hassle factor it may be more advisable to have someone to get you to the main sights. Guides are anywhere from 120-200 dirhams for half/full day tours. The best shopping is done in the medina, you'll get dizzy with all the selection of carpets, textiles, ceramics, leather work, brass work, candles, etc. Bargain hard!
Chanol, I wonder if you have a tip on Marrakech riads inside the Medina. There are just so many of them to choose from. Would you happen to know any good ones at reasonable prices (< 100 Euro per night)?
Thanks for the reply. My problem is that I've got a list of so many riads to choose from that I am a bit overwhelmed.
Also, it's really hard to get in touch with some of the riads. I heard back from about one out of four riads I contacted via email even though all of them have professionally looking web sites.
But I am still determined not to stay in a hotel in Morocco
Riad Sheherazade is a nice, inexpensive Riad. The Jnane Mogador is an excellent value, but not very good at responding to e-mails, or for that matter, honoring reservations (so I've heard).
Why not try the 'marrakesh-riads', website...Abdelatiff owns four very nice Riads at different price ranges..I've recommended them before to friends with positive results.
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