What Marrakesh Is Really Like (From Someone Who's Been There and Can't Wait to Go Back)

I've been travelling for forty years — not as a professional travel advisor for all of that, but as someone who has spent four decades in airports, hotels, and difficult itineraries around the world, figuring things out the hard way so my clients don't have to. Marrakesh is one of those places I thought I understood before I arrived. I didn't.

That's not a complaint. It's the best thing about it.

The Medina Will Get Under Your Skin

The old city — the Medina — is one of the most alive places I've ever set foot in. The sounds layer on top of each other: scooters, vendors, children, the rhythmic hammering from the metalworkers' quarter. And if you're a light sleeper, here's fair warning — the call to prayer starts at three in the morning. Right there, woven into the streets around you.

It's not noise. It's the city doing what it's always done. Once I understood that, I stopped fighting it and just listened.

The souks are the other thing people warn you about without really preparing you for. They're not a market. They're a labyrinth of specialist trades, each section with its own craft and its own logic. Carpets here. Leather there. Spices around the corner. The trick is to slow down, accept that you'll get slightly lost, and let a shopkeeper offer you mint tea. Not because you're obliged to buy anything — you're not — but because sitting down with a glass of tea and having an actual conversation with someone whose family has run that stall for three generations is the whole point of being there.

I made friends in Marrakesh. I'm going back next year to see them.

The Pottery Trick No Guidebook Tells You

Here's something practical that will save you money and save you from ending up with something that looks beautiful in the souk and disappoints you at home.

When you're looking at Fez pottery — and you will, because it's everywhere and some of it is genuinely stunning — turn the piece upside down and look at the rim on the inside of the base. If it's orange, that's terracotta. Good, honest, sturdy earthenware. If it's cream, that's ceramic, which is finer, more delicate, and generally what you're actually looking for when you're buying a piece to use rather than just display.

Most people pick a piece because it looks pretty. Now you can pick one because you know what it is.

That kind of local knowledge — the stuff that doesn't make it into the Lonely Planet — is what forty years of actually being in places gives you. It's also what I try to pass on to every client I work with.

The Desert Is Closer Than You Think (And You Don't Need a Camel)

The Sahara sits a few hours south of Marrakesh, and the landscape between the city and the desert is extraordinary in its own right — the High Atlas Mountains, Berber villages, valley roads that feel like they belong to a different era. You can do a day trip to the edge of the dunes, or stay overnight and watch the stars from somewhere that has almost none of the light pollution we've all forgotten isn't normal.

I'll be honest: the camel rides are a bit of a tourist set piece. The views don't require one. If you want to go, go — but don't feel like you've missed the desert experience if you don't.

Why Morocco in Winter Makes Sense

Peak summer in Marrakesh is genuinely hot — 38°C and above, with the Medina holding the heat in a way that makes a long afternoon's wandering feel like hard work. October through March is a different matter. Warm days, cool evenings, no crowds at the major sites, and the kind of light that makes the terracotta buildings glow.

"Morocco in winter" is still underrated as a travel idea in the UK. It shouldn't be. It's three to four hours by air, no jet lag, and culturally a world away from anything in Western Europe.

Thinking About Morocco?

If Marrakesh is somewhere you're turning over in your mind — whether it's a solo trip, something with a partner, or a group who want something a bit different — I'm happy to talk through what it actually involves to plan it well. The logistics, the best time to go for your priorities, what to spend your money on and what to skip.

That's what Kite and Compass Travel is for. Not booking you a package and wishing you well, but actually thinking it through with you.

Reach out through the website or find me on Facebook. I'll be in Marrakesh again next year — you're welcome to come.