Marrakech
Morocco
Spices, souks, and desert sunsets
Photo by CALIN STAN on Unsplash
Photos by Paul Macallan, Beatrice Sana, JR Harris and Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Morocco
March to May, September to November
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 35mm in Nov
Where it is
31.63°N, 7.99°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Get lost in the Medina souks
- Visit Jardin Majorelle
- See Bahia Palace
- Eat on Jemaa el-Fna square
- Visit a traditional hammam
- Take a cooking class
Marrakech travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Morocco
Good valueExchange at banks or official bureaux de change. Avoid money changers in the souks. Some riads and restaurants accept EUR but give poor rates.
ATMs & cards
Attijariwafa, BMCE, and Banque Populaire ATMs are reliable. Withdraw in MAD. ATMs often run out of cash on weekends in the Medina.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- airport arrivals machines
- ATMs inside the medina tourist streets
Use these instead
- Attijariwafa Bank
- BMCE
- Banque Populaire
- Société Générale Maroc
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Morocco
SafeHaggle everything in the souks — start at 30% of asking price. Ignore unofficial guides. Say "la shukran" (no thanks) firmly.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Gueliz
- Hivernage
- Jemaa el-Fnaa — in the evening, when it is at its busiest
- Palmeraie
Worth more attention
- Unofficial guides who attach themselves and then demand payment — the official ones carry a badge
- Marrakech Medina — after dark, where the alleys are unlit and unmarked and getting lost is the usual outcome
- Anyone telling you the square is closed or the tannery is this way
- Motorbikes in the souks, which do not slow down
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Morocco visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Other passports
e-Visa required~€50
Morocco operates an e-visa for a growing list of nationalities.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Morocco
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for longer stays — stray dogs and cats are everywhere
Getting treated
Private clinics in Marrakesh and Casablanca are reasonable and inexpensive, and expect cash or an insurance guarantee up front. Public hospitals are basic. Pharmacies are excellent, widespread and can dispense a lot without a prescription.
Do not drink the tap water. Stomach upsets are the most common complaint by a distance.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodEat tagine and couscous at local restaurants in the side alleys, not on the main square. Try msemen (flatbread) for breakfast and fresh orange juice (MAD 5) on the square.
Nightlife
Two entirely separate evenings: the square and the medina, which are alcohol-free and extraordinary, and the Gueliz and Hivernage bars, which are not.
- Jemaa el-Fnaa — the food stalls, the storytellers, the snake men
- Gueliz — the licensed bars, in the new town
- Hivernage — the clubs, and the hotel nightlife
Closing: The square runs to about 01:00; the clubs in Hivernage to 04:00.
A beer in a bar: MAD 40–80
Alcohol is only served in licensed hotels, riads and restaurants, and drinking in public is not acceptable.
Getting around
Workable- CareemWorks here
- YangoWorks here
- HeetchWorks here
- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
Careem Casablanca and Rabat · Heetch Casablanca
- From the airport
- Marrakech airport to the medina 100–150 dh, and the meter is rarely offered
- Against a taxi
- The petits taxis are metered by law and frequently are not in practice. Insist on the meter or agree the fare first.
The apps barely function in Marrakech — inDrive and Yango have a handful of drivers and the taxi trade resists them. The petit taxi is the system: metered by law, unmetered in practice, so agree the fare first. A ride inside the city should be 20–50 dh.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Casablanca — 4 hours ahead of you
4 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–13:00 your time, 13:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 05:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 05:00–13:00 on yours.
Friday afternoon is quiet — offices close early for prayers and many reopen after.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Morocco
Why these are Morocco's numbers and not Marrakech's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 44% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 64% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Marrakech, so these are medians for all of Morocco. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Morocco, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Arabic
- Helloمرحبا — MarhabaMAR-ha-ba
- Pleaseمن فضلك — Min fadlakmin FAD-lak
- Thank youشكرا — ShukranSHOOK-ran
- Yes / Noنعم / لا — Na’am / LaNA-am / la
4 more phrases
- Excuse meعفوا — AfwanAF-wan
- How much is it?بكم — Bikam?bi-KAM
- The bill, pleaseالحساب — Al-hisabal-hi-SAB
- Welcomeأهلا وسهلا — Ahlan wa sahlanAH-lan wa SAH-lan
Inshallah, meaning God willing, follows nearly any statement about the future and is conversational rather than religious.
Religion
Sunni Muslim
Islam is the state religion and the king holds religious authority. Non-Muslims may not enter most mosques — the Hassan II in Casablanca is the main exception. Ramadan changes opening hours everywhere.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Haggle in the souks — the first price is an opening, and good humour is part of it
- Dress modestly, particularly women and particularly away from tourist areas
- Use the right hand for eating and giving
- Accept mint tea; it is the standard gesture of welcome
Don't
- Do not follow unofficial guides who offer to show you the way in the medina; the help ends in a demand
- Do not photograph people, market stalls or performers without asking — payment will be expected
- Do not enter mosques unless you are Muslim; almost all are closed to visitors
- Do not show public affection, and avoid discussing the monarchy critically
Where to stay in Marrakech
No Holistay rentals in Marrakech yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Marrakech on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Menara RAK
15 minfrom the airport· 5 km as the crow flies
15 min to the medina.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
