Travel With Me: Marrakech

As a side trip during our two weeks in London (read my London blog post one and two here), my boyfriend Brian and I went to Marrakech, Morocco for three nights! I've never been to Africa before, and with only being a 3.5 hour flight, Marrakech seemed like the perfect excursion for some beauty, adventure and fun!

Read through my travel diary for our three busy days in Marrakech and leave me a comment if you have any questions I can answer or other favorite spots if you've been there!

Tuesday May 1

After arriving late on Monday night, we headed to our gorgeous hotel Barrière Le Naoura. In the morning, on Tuesday, we were excited to begin exploring the city as it was our first full day in Marrakech.

We did the short walk from our hotel to the Medina and started wandering the streets, stopping at Max & Jan, a cute shop, and Café Des Épices for a smoothie and coffee with rooftop views of the Medina. We realized we had left probably a bit too early (around 10 am) as the streets were pretty quiet without the normal bustle. Without a ton to see, I would recommend waiting until later in the day to begin exploring.

We had a Noon lunch reservation at Le Jardin, a quaint green-tiled restaurant with turtles wandering about. We both ordered an assortment of salads and a Moroccan favorite, Tajine, which I had never had before but thoroughly enjoyed! We meandered back to our hotel to sit by the pool then went to the spa for a couples massage.

After a few relaxing hours, we then headed back to the main square, Jemaa el-Fnaa, around sunset where the square was filled with food, snake charmers and tons of booths. A block off of the square, we had dinner at Le Salama, another gorgeous rooftop spot.

Pool view at our hotel, Barrière Le Naoura — *Pool view at our hotel,* *Barrière Le Naoura*

*Brian with snakecharmers at Jemaa el-Fnaa*

Wednesday May 2nd

After breakfast at our hotel, Brian and I took a car to one of the highlights of my trip - a camel ride! I've always wanted to ride a camel, so was so so excited! The ride was at La Palmeraie, only around 20 minutes from our hotel. It was definitely a tourist destination with tons of other groups riding along various trails. We had a full 30 minutes on the camels and my thighs were sore even days later! It was like the hardest Pilates inner thigh workout!

We then had a guide take us around the Medina which had been recommended to us. Our guide had some great insights into Bahia Palace and El Badi Palace, but when we headed back to the souks, we only went to some specific spots where you could tell he was their friend. We never felt pressured to buy anything, but it wasn't our favorite way to enjoy the souks, and would recommend wandering them yourself, unless you felt super uncomfortable with the bartering.

After a long day of walking, we spent some more time by the pool then went back to Jemaa el-Fnaa to visit the night markets again.

Thursday May 3rd

Before flying out that night, we went to the Yves Saint Laurent Museum followed by Jardin Majorelle. We timed it perfectly - arriving around 9:45 am to a long line. The YSL Museum then opened at 10, so the line moved quickly and we bought joint tickets to also get into the gardens. After the quick museum, we then went to the gardens and were able to skip a massive line of people waiting to get tickets. We spent an hour or so wandering around the beautiful grounds then grabbed a bite to eat at Cafe Majorelle for lunch.

There was a cute shop, 33 rue Yves saint Laurent, a block away, so stopped to pick up some local souvenirs. We walked back to the Medina to spend the rest of our cash and visited Café Des Épices for another coffee before packing up for the airport.