Marrakech (Morocco)

...only sight worth seeing, though; Marrakech is full of them. It needs to be. These days, tourism is Marrakech’s main industry. For a city set in flat countryside a hundred miles from the sea, this means that it lives on its past – the architecture, art and ambience accumulated over a thousand years of history. '''Location and history''' Rather fortuitously, Morocco as a whole derives its name from Marrakech, which in turn derives its name from a ...
...To be strictly geographical, Marrakech is located in the middle of Morocco, but not much happens inland further south or east. Fifty miles away in either direction one reaches the daunting High Atlas mountains, beyond which lies the desert. So in effect it is the main city of the south. Marrakech had its heyday in the 11th-13th centuries as the intermittent capital of a domain that stretched from northern Spain to Senegal in the south and as far ...

torr 06.03.2009 (20.03.2009) · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

...the roads and streets. Marrakech is a city in Morocco, North Africa. The two main languages spoken in Marrakech are French and Arabic. 98% of the population are Muslim with the other 2% being mainly Christian. Many Europeans do live in Marrakech and many having holiday homes there. The currency conversion rate is: 1 United Kingdom Pounds (GBP) = 15.84 Morocco Durham's (MAD) The most expenses spent are usually in the UK to and from the airport. ...
...with four friends, travelled to Marrakech - three of us only staying for 2 nights (literally 48 hours!) and the other two for 3 nights. Believe it or not, there is an abundance of things to do and places to see in such little time! From the famous Souks, Djemaa el-Fna, The Kutubiyya Mosque, and of course the delightful Atlas Mountains! And so much more! We left the cold and rainy London on December 7th 2007 and just 3 and a half hours later landed ...

Tink27 19.12.2007 (21.12.2007) · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

Marrakech is an interesting city, so close to Europe and yet so different in many ways. The contrast is particularly evident in the Medina, the old walled city, where motorbikes, donkeys and carts and cars jostle for right of way on the narrow dirty streets. I have just returned from a few days staying in the Medina. Getting There We flew with Atlas Blue, from London Gatwick for a mid-afternoon arrival, although Easy jet also has a flight early ...
...different types of accommodation in Marrakech from simple bed and breakfast places to grand hotels, but the most traditional type is the Riyad or Riad, which is a word now generally assumed to mean guesthouse, but in fact refers to the traditional architecture, arranged around a central courtyard with four flowerbeds. We stayed at the Riad Altair, a four star guesthouse costing £363.00 for one Double room for 4 nights Bed and breakfast. Hotel Riad ...

AndrewPo 24.09.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

...to spend four days in Marrakech in October. It was to me an amazing experience. We had a very early morning flight with Easy Jet, which meant we had most of the rest of the day to spend in Marrakech. From emails that I had been exchanging with the mamagers of The Riad Zolah in whch we were staying I knew we were being met at the airport, and taken as close to the Riad as a taxi can get. We were the last people out of the airport as I had left some ...
...Very nice little touch. Marrakech is amazing. We ventured out that sunny afternoon, and found our way to Djemma EL Fna Square, walking through the souks and alley ways again. It was an easy 10 minute walk, but extremely interesting. It is a mix of the poor and wealthy, but you mostly see the poor. Women sitting on the pavements with several young babies and children begging, little brown eyed boys begging you to buy their tissues from them. Cats ...

Alison3 01.11.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

...a figure of eight from Marrakech to Tarradonnt in the south, then to the north where we visited tangier and the other cities, returning to Marrakech via the desert. We travelled by Thomson air which cost £80 return into Marrakech. We arrived early, as we had not pre-booked a hotel, hoping we would be able to find a nice one once we arrived. We took the trusted Lonely Planet with us as I had used this on a previous trip to New Zealand and found it ...
...passport control, we finally entered Marrakech and collected our bags. As the Moroccan currency is closed, you can only get Moroccan dirham once you have arrived. We went to the exchange office and managed to get our cash exchanged, but they were not able to exchange our traveller’s cheques. Speaking a good level of French would have been useful here, but we decided his hand signals meant we had to change them in town. We caught the bus into town, ...

Shelby83 27.07.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

Marrakech has always been high up on my list of places to visit, so earlier this year I packed my bags and set off with a friend to explore the city. We flew with easyjet from London Gatwick to Marrakech Menara airport, convinently located around 15 minutes taxi ride from central Marrakech. Morrocco has a closed currency system meaning that Morrocan Dirhams cannot be brought into the country or taken out. There are Bureau de Changes located throughout ...
...A word of warning - Marrakech is a city where you have to haggle and haggle hard. Never accept the first price and be prepared to walk away! Prices quoted are usually 2-3 times as much as the actual price! This haggling starts at the airport - a typical taxi journey should cost around 80 dirhams although the drivers will try to convince you otherwise! Coming from the UK I found this a little awkward at first but soon got the hang of it. It is best ...

tecnomars 20.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

Jaded with trips abroad? Fed up with touristy jaunts? Try out Marrakesh for a real taste of what travelling must have once been like. We went on a 2 week package to Agadir, and, growing tired of the beach culture yet not wanting to buy into a packaged bus trip, we booked ourselves on the (real) bus to Marrakesh for a few days - really cheap, 70 dirhams, about £4.50 each way. The trip was easy - about 4 and a half hours on an air-conditioned bus, ...
...the Old City. We were mobbed by petit taxi drivers offering to take us to our destination, and took one of them up on it - a 'riad' (meaning old merchant's house which has been done up) just off the famous square of Djema el Fnaa. The taxi was bargained for and cost just over a pound to take us to the hotel. We had to go down a little medieval lane, past people selling all manner of wares, loud noises and unexpected odours to get to the hotel, and ...

amuir1019 07.08.2001 (13.05.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

...flight from Gatwick landing at Marrakech airport, and apprehensively wondering which of the strangers collecting their luggage from the carousel were to be our six travelling companions on our ‘Riad Adventure’ Bit of a risk really, booking a seven day holiday knowing we’d be travelling in a small people carrier with just them, a driver and a guide. Especially as I’m a certified coward and we were about to journey together ...
...a beautiful restaurant garden in Marrakech surrounded by orange trees and sprinkling fountains eating salads, charcoal grilled seafood kebabs and quaffing cold local beers. This soon broke down any reserves and although we were from all quarters of the UK and of various age groups, it became apparent that we all had one thing in common, we were all looking forward to our Riad Adventure immensely. My first impression of Marrakech was the soft, warm ...

mornev 29.01.2003 (30.01.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

I flew out to Marrakech on a Wednesday and returned on the Sunday, both flights were quite early and with no time difference, meant I landed at reasonable times due to the flight time being only around three hours from Gatwick. I spent the holiday relaxing by the pool and sunbathing so I can't comment on Marrakech "The Place", what I do want to review is the airport. When we landed, we walked a short distance from the plane to the terminal - fair ...
...in after being informed that Marrakech does not follow the same check in rules as Gatwick (ie. 3 hour check in). However, half an hour prior to our flight taking off there was still no information about which gate to check in through. Eventually, fearing that the plane would leave without announcing itself or calling for us (or having it all done in French only despite it going to Britain) we approached a random gate who checked us in with no problem. ...

elisemarie9 07.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

...the place to be - lots to do and you can never go wrong with the great weather just make sure you have your sunscreen. you can easily enjoy the sites and sounds of marrakech with £250 being plentifyul for a week including costs of presents to take back home. ...

icancount123 19.08.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

...a ten hour trip from Marrakech back to Tangier and really wouldn't recommend it in any way. The coaches were better however mostly we seemed to be unable to book in advance and due to the huge volume of locals using the coaches (even the ones leaving at 2/3am!) there was no way of guaranteeing getting a seat. The journey itself however was nice enough, reasonably modern coach with music etc and enough space, and frequent stops for toilet/food. one ...

leucosia 06.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

Marrakesh was a real surprise! My experience from travelling (especially in Tunisia) told me to circumvent big cities, but Marrakesh is an exception! Its really worth to stay there some days, even if you have a tough time schedule. The huge medina and the special & cool atmosphere at Djemaa el-Fna could even convince me (through hating big towns). Choosing the ingredients at the mobile restaurants at the Djemaa lets forget every idea of cooking on ...
...people running around you, playing music, dancing or singing and a souq with a great collection of items and good prices! The Hotel Afriquia was the best one during the whole trip, reasonable price (100Dh) for a great and clean place. Sitting on the roof terrace during all hours is sweeten through a nice background music from the Djemaa. No big houses as far as you can look, only small 3 story buildings, that was really great! The only drawback ...

kuehner 29.04.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

Myself and my boyfriend went to Marrakesh in February for my 30th Birthday and Valentine's day. We stayed at dar Silsila after reading the excellent reviews on Tripadvisor. I'd wanted to go to Marrakesh for ages as I thought it would be a totally different and more exotic experience than the usual weekends away in Barcelona, Prague, etc. I wasn't disappointed....Marrakesh is a fantastic place. My boyfriend was concerned we would get a lot of hassle ...
...in Thailand and Sri Lanka and there is a lot more hassle there. The people were really friendly and if you said "no thanks" (or "non merci"!) they accepted it and wouldn't insist on dragging you into their shop etc. Oh actually the only time that did happen was when one of the ladies painting henna on people's hands in the Jemaa El Fna just grabbed my hand and started painting it then demanded money for it and wan't happy when we said no. Our hotel ...

joolsb77 19.04.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

I've been to Marrakech a few times now and it seems to be changing all the time. For instance, I went in March 08 and there was an open air tour bus which would never have been there in 2007! I think they've finally realised that they can tap into the tourist trade more than they currently do, so if you're thinking of going, go now rather than later and before it loses some of it's charm. I've only ever stayed in hostels which I've booked directly ...
...the Lonely Planet guide. I normally pay about £7 per night for a room with a view and private bathroom and the standards are very high. The shopping is brilliant but again the prices are going up so you have to hunt extra hard to find a bargain! The traders are also keen to play the barttering game so go for it :D ...

Snuggy99 16.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)

We went here for a few days in February and I can't say how much I was disappointed with this place. We stayed in a beatiful Riad, Amsaffah, which was lovely, right in the medina. the staff were fab and the rooms huge and colourful. And it was good being able to use my rusty French, be warned most Morrocans speak Arabic and French, restuaraunts, menus etc are all signed in both languages but English is not so common, and can be a problem. But this ...
...Marakesh, and I've been to alot of places. This is the only one that I would advise not to go, never, ever, ever, even if I did'nt like you. The "big" attraction, the square is just full of beggars and con men. the cafes haven't been decorated since the 70's and are dirty and smelly. There's nothing t see here, just tourists wondering what the big deal is. There's no olde worlde charm here, just cheap plastic cups of coffee, and tatty plastic seats. ...

eileen40 02.04.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)