Marrakech Travel Tips

Marrakech Travel Tips for Your Family Trip

Here are the Marrakech travel tips we wish we had known before our family trip, from getting around the medina to cash, clothing, markets, and staying safe.

Transportation

First on our list of Marrakech travel tips is how to get around!  Seems important, right?!  In general, public transportation is not great nor as abundant as you would find in countries in Europe or Asia.  If it’s not walkable, plan on taking a taxi or something similar like private driver. Be aware, many taxis in Marrakech will not transport more than three persons (even if your fourth is a baby!) you must find a large taxi if you are more than three and they are not as common.  Tip: barter the price before getting in the taxi or you could get ripped off.  From all the tips I read on other blogs, it is a bit of a crap shoot what you are going to pay, and you may not even know that you are being taken advantage of.

We opted for the driver our Airbnb host suggested.  His name was Aziz.  He was great, spoke 4 languages (English, French, Arabic and Berber) and drove a new, clean Mercedes van (see below photo). You can contact him and arrange for airport pick up, day trips outside of Marrakech or even text him the day before if you need a ride to lunch or a site too far to walk to. If you would like his contact information, please shoot us an email, we would be happy to share it!

If you are looking for a driver to take you around all of Morocco like we used after departing Marrakech, we can’t speak highly enough about Suntrails Morocco and our incredible driver Boujeema. Please visit our post on Sun Trails Morocco, to learn more about our road trip between destinations and the amazing company/individuals that made it not only possible but an incredible experience. By far the most convenient way to see Morocco!

Getting Lost is a thing

Second on the list of Marrakech travel tips, traversing the medina.  It is a bit of an initiation into being in the city, you must experience it once, whether you like it or not. You will try to follow google maps, you will try to follow apple maps, you will even try to follow maps.me maps. But even then, especially in Fes, they are not completely accurate. You will think one alley connects to another (because the map says it does!!!) but you will be wrong. There are also no easily displayed street names, so don’t bother trying to figure that out either. Just be prepared for this and maybe don’t go out late at night trying to walk somewhere you have never been. We learned pretty quickly the route from our apartment to the main streets and necessities.

Tip: Allow yourself extra time to get anywhere if you have a reservation. Second tip: use the Maps.me app where you can download offline maps for Marrakech or Fes and those are the most detailed if you are in a pinch. I read this on many blogs before leaving, and after being there, I must agree.

Female Clothing

As a predominately Muslim country, I read many blogs post tips about what you should wear as a woman traveler, that you should always have your knees and shoulders covered, etc. I prepared for this, bought new hot weather clothes that covered these areas and ended up not really needing them.

The young woman who was our host at our vacation rental in Marrakech, and who spent a lot of time with our family, explained how things have changed a lot over the past couple of decades. With tourism as prominent as it is, the locals are very much used to seeing shoulders and knees of those passing through, and our host said that no one really bats an eye at it anymore. She also explained that there is a difference between a woman traveling with her husband and/or kids vs a woman traveling alone or with a friend. She said that if you are with your husband and/or kids you are automatically respected, regardless of what you are wearing. However, if you are a solo female showing your shoulders and knees, it implies you are looking for something and it could get you unwanted attention. I would say to use your best judgement and wear what you are comfortable wearing. I wore tank tops and shorts or shorter dresses, and never felt people looking at me uncomfortably, but I also never had my cleavage or ass cheeks hanging out.  Use your best judgement and be respectful.

Money, money, money! Most important tip: ALWAYS have cash in Morocco. Most people will tell you they don’t take credit cards, even if they do, they don’t want to pay the credit card fee and might not accept it. I would say in Marrakech, most restaurants accepted a credit card, but that changed once you headed to rural areas. Things are cheap by western standards so having small bills is key. I can’t tell you how many times I had trouble buying something because they couldn’t (or refused to) break by 200drm (about the equivalent of $20USD). Tip: hoard the dirham coins and 50 and 20 dirham bills!

Note: Morocco is a closed currency market, meaning you cannot get Dirhams outside of the country before your travels. So, bring a decent amount of cash to exchange at the airport. ATM’s also have a limit of the equivalent of $200USD so if you want to do a lot of shopping in the souks, plan accordingly. Tip: Dawson and I each took our own ATM card linked to the same checking account, so we were able to draw a total of $400USD per day in case something came up. Our Riad in the dessert only took cash so we needed to have a large chunk of cash for that, and oddly enough, there are not a lot of ATMs in the Sahara!

Markets and daily needs

In the more populated cities in Morocco, you can find large box stores that have EVERYTHING you might need. Like if you forget something or want to find your kids a cereal that they will eat before heading into the Sahara where they will have who knows what options. These stores are somewhere between a Walmart and a grocery store, mostly groceries but also a lot of home goods, clothing, TVs, etc. The most popular of these box stores around the country is Carrefour Market.

Corner markets are everywhere. These are very small stalls or shops that you often don’t even walk into, just up to a counter or display case and ask the owner (or point to) what you would like. These usually have your basics like milk, yogurt, bread, eggs, cookies, toilet paper, etc. Expect that they only take cash and might not be able to break a large bill.  Again, they are found on almost every street.

Do you need an electric converter?

Morocco uses plug types C and E.

Safety

Is Morocco a safe place to travel? In our experience, absolutely! There is not one time, even walking the souks at night in a big city, did I feel we were truly in any danger. In Fes, there was one evening, after dark, I was walking alone through some alleyways that were less traveled. I looked to my right and saw a very narrow, creepy, dark alleyway, and felt a bit of uneasiness realizing I was alone in this remote pathway…that’s when a cute little five-year-old girl came skipping down the alley by herself! I was like, ok, I’m good.

But seriously, besides pesky hagglers trying to make a buck, we never felt uncomfortable or in any danger. The people of Morocco, in both the large cities and rural areas, were incredibly warm, welcoming and kind. We were invited into private homes with sincere hospitality, and treated basically like family, everywhere we went. I can’t speak highly enough about the people of Morocco.

The hagglers of Morocco

They are everywhere, cites big and small, rural farms and even the nomad kids in the Atlas Mountains will stand on the side of the road hoping to get something. But back to the people desperate to sell you something on the street or give you directions…be warned, they are relentless! There was literally one 6ish year old boy in Jamaa el-Fna square that followed us for 5 minutes trying to sell us some Kleenex. I felt bad because we were there during COVID and there was no tourism, so they seemed extra desperate.

However, COVID aside, I read the same thing on everyone’s blogs, they can be a bit aggressive. You really need to be stern about your “La Shukran” (no thank you), I eventually dropped the thank you and finally went with la…la…la…LA….LA….LA LA LA LA!!!!

People will also try to help you with directions, a lot. “The square is that way, Bahdi palace is this way, let me show you”. They seem as if they are just being nice, but they will demand money in return for you allowing them to take you somewhere, even if it’s not where you wanted to go. Tip: if you really do get lost (which can certainly happen in the souks) you can always accept their help and thank them with some change.

Hopefully these Marrakech travel tips help you to prepare for your travels to this vibrant city!

Planning the Rest of Your Marrakech Trip

Once you have these tips down, the fun part is planning the days themselves. See our full Marrakech with kids guide, map out your days with our things to do in Marrakech with kids page, and find your base with our where to stay in Marrakech picks.