Alles Over Marrakech

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The Red City yanks you from the 21st century immediately. So much so, it seems impossible that my day began in gloomy London. I stand paralysed, ink from the map clutched in my hand imprinted on my fingers and the bedlam of Marrakech ringing in my ears.

Burning bright: Marrakech has inspired visitors from Winston Churchill to the Rolling Stones I am not the first to discover the delight of swapping a grey city for the bewitching sounds, smells and colours of Marrakech, which is only a four-hour flight from the UK. Its arresting exoticism has captured many in the past - the Rolling Stones in the 1960s were among its most notorious visitors (tales of their infamous stays at La Mamounia make up a large part of the hotel's guided tours).

Sir Winston Churchill was another regular - he came to regard the imperial city as his winter home. Churchill is in my mind on the first evening when I see the expansive Jemaa el Fna square. Arabic music, bartering and snake charmers' flutes drum up an orchestra that reverberates around one of the world's biggest open-air restaurants. What would the great statesman have made of this urban clearing? I feel part of a Mexican wave. Waiters from the 50-odd food stalls run rings serving hundreds of customers a steaming selection of meat, fish and vegetables from their roaring barbecues.

Spiritual centre: The beautiful Koutoubia Mosque calls locals to prayer

In the background, herbalists, storytelling halakis and belly-dancers do their best to compete with the deafening sound of excited children and motor engines, while plying their trade nearby. In a city that seems effervescent at all hours, visitors can at least be thankful for the tranquillity of its Riad guesthouses.

There are now said to be more than 1,000 of these serene city sanctuaries built into the cool walls of the Old City, each with courtyards, exotic greenery and heart-shaped fountains. I seek refuge at the superb Dar Les Cigognes, which sits quietly behind a gold-studded door along an otherwise anonymous street.

Breakfast on the roof in view of les cigognes - the storks that live in gargantuan nests atop the 16th century former Sultan's residence, Palais el-Badi - is a daily treat. El Fna, by day, is quiet.

To the north of this now empty space are the labyrinthine alleys that make up Morocco's most celebrated experience - the souks. 'Souk Safari' is now on offer at all of the district's entry points. I turn down a guide's help, deciding instead to wander solo down the maze of shops and stalls.

Chaotic crush: Djeema el Fna Square comes alive in the evening with entertainment and market and music

It's hard not to be taken in by the hand-welded musical instruments, fabrics and spices I am sure to have no use for back home. But the sellers never fail to entice with their smiles and mocking repartee. 'Come and have a butcher's,' one hollers in perfect Cockney.

Shopping, though, is not restricted to the souks. On another ramble through the Medina, I spot a man ushering people down an almost obscured corridor. Inside is a vast seven-room, two-storey emporium of handmade lanterns, pots, belts, candles, leather-bound mirrors and hulky armchairs. I don't escape empty handed.

The French colonial new town Le Gueliz is a sparkling contrast. It is full of high-rise malls, cafe culture and coach tours. This Westernised area - overrun with international brands and modern apartment complexes - lacks the thrill of the Medina.

It might be awash with luxury hotels and golf resorts, but the result is sterile. For me the scruffy, ancient streets of Marrakech hold greater appeal. And there can be no better tonic in the chill of winter than this feverish Moroccan jasmine-scented city - even with its hullabaloo.

Travel Facts

Dar les Cigognes has rooms from £153 (00 212 524 38 27 40, www.sanssoucicollection.com) BA flies from London Gatwick to Marrakech from £139 return (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com)

Its voluptuous exoticism and easy accessibility have always drawn a certain traveler to this Arab oasis. Now, thanks to an influx of new money and smart new places to stay, the rest of the world is checking in as well.

Frederick Vreeland, the former U.S. ambassador to Morocco and son of Diana, the legendaryVogue editor, has just flown in from Rome to host a lunch party at his Marrakech home, Orchard of the Shooting Star.

Like Vreeland himself, who is tall, slim, and devastatingly good-looking, with intense dark eyes and his mother's high cheekbones, the house oozes Bohemian chic. The villa is located in the Palmeraie, the smart enclave of Marrakech, home to the crème of the city's society, including the transient population renting private houses (the insider alternative to Marrakech's five-star hotels). Vreeland's is the best of them, hidden behind sunburnt walls and a heavy, studded wooden door. There is no traffic, only the sound of a Berber shepherd exhorting his ragtag flock, and birds—thousands of birds. Their song comes from within the orchard of apricot, lemon, and olive trees surrounding the pretty eight-bedroom house, built around a shady courtyard and cluttered with 18th-century European antiques, Moroccan textiles, worn sofas, and Venetian oils. The centerpiece is an arch-shaped pool on a raised terrace overlooking the garden. Swallows dart at the water; bees hover in the flowers; the scent of orange blossoms fills the air.

We eat in the shade—the group includes a fashion photographer, New York banker, and Moroccan palm tree specialist. The talk is of Marrakech's current popularity; the city was empty of even the Gettys (among the early high-style immigrants to Marrakech in the late 1960s) when Vreeland first arrived on an official tour with Jackie Kennedy in '63. At that time the Palmeraie was uninhabited. Now his neighbors include various scions of the Moroccan royal family, Xavier Hermès, and Farid Belkahia (North Africa's most well known contemporary artist) as well as seasonal guests like Linda Evangelista, Nicole Kidman, and Giorgio Armani. "Marrakech has become the destination," says Vreeland. "Everyone is talking about it. It has heritage and exoticism, but it's also a place where as an American you feel most at home in both the Arab and African worlds."

The signs are everywhere. In the Palmeraie, four-wheel-drives cruise past with darkened windows, disappearing behind bolted doors into secret gardens. I stay at Dar Tamsna, a favorite of the visiting fashion pack, where I'm waited on by a staff of nine and have a pool to myself; there are antique-filled salons and a garden that flickers with candles when night falls. I hear about other villas, about land prices going from $75,000 for 2.5 acres in 1995 to double that now, about the people defecting from London, Paris, and Rome. "I used to flatter myself that I knew every foreigner in this town," says Memphis-born Bill Willis, an interiors architect who came here in '66 to work on the homes of Yves Saint Laurent and French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy. "Now," says Willis, who is Marrakech's most famous socialite, "I feel I don't know anybody anymore."

Marrakech's old town, or walled medina, has witnessed the greatest influx. The attraction is the riads, traditional houses built around internal courtyards hidden behind the featureless walls that make up the alleys. Many are being converted into maisons d'hôte, or upmarket B&Bs. There is Riad Enija, with its glorious courtyard (colorful mosaic tiling, a fountain at its center) and Riyad El Cadi, nestled at the end of three narrow lanes. Occupying five interconnected courtyards, El Cadi dates back to the 13th century. Its walls are hung with the owner's exquisite collection of early Islamic and Byzantine art and 19th-century Berber textiles, and some of what is displayed has traveled on loan to major exhibitions.

Aside from the B&Bs, there are more obvious signs of a destination much changed. In the medina, women in Prada wander the souk for handwoven silks (I even see a pair of Manolos negotiate their way through the dust), meeting for a light lunch at Ryad Tamsna, a stylish restaurant-boutique converted by Parisian-Senegalese ex-pat Meryanne Loum-Martin. Late in the afternoon the well-heeled retreat to the cream linen banquettes and sip mint tea. My address book bulges with recommendations: Beldi, where Paloma Picasso comes for her handstitched caftans; Valérie Barkowski, a designer of colorful knitwear and hand-finished bed linens; Place Vendôme, where a friend wants her Fendi baguette copied in pale-cream kid.

There are also galleries. I visit Ministero del Gusto, an appointment-only house exhibiting contemporary, African-inspired furniture (more Soho than Maghreb), owned by Alessandra Lippini, a former fashion editor from Italy. It's surprising that a shop this sophisticated (a Moroccan combination of Gaudì and Warhol's Factory) can pull it off in a North African oasis. But the clients come, including David Bowie. We talk—Lippini, her partner Fabrizio Bizzarri, and Frans Ankone, Marrakech habitué and art director of Romeo Gigli—concurring that the appeal of Marrakech is that it is the safest far-off city you can find. You don't even get hustled. Quite the opposite is true: A Moroccan friend helping me find a shop in the souk is the one who gets stopped—by the Tourist Brigade, introduced a few years ago to stamp out the pseudo guides who used to give Marrakech its insalubrious reputation.

Moroccan food is heavy (rich tagines, pastillas dunked in oil) which is surprising, considering most of the country was a French protectorate for so long: The kitchen is usually the first thing to be colonized by the Gallic motherland. But a more delicate cuisine is developing, driven by the demand of discerning visitors, with up-and-coming chefs like Swiss-trained Moha Fedal giving French twists to Dar Moha Almadina's Moroccan staples. At Le Comptoir Darna, young, rich Marrakechis sip Champagne over Oualidia oysters.

These portents of sophistication are not confined to the city proper. In the High Atlas Mountains, an hour's drive from Marrakech, Kasbahs, or old fortified castles, are being turned into luxury hotels. British entrepreneur Richard Branson is renovating Kasbah Tamadot, the former home of California-based antiques dealer Luciano Tempo. It's a breathtaking place, overlooking the Asni Valley, thick with wildflowers, orchards, and swimming pools in hidden courtyards. Farther into the hinterland, Bill Willis is converting Kasbah Agadir N'Gouf. And there's Kasbah Agafay, a new all-suite hotel converted from a 150-year-old hilltop fort 20 minutes outside the city. It is a trend inspired by Amanresorts' Amanjena (opened last February), where the suites are like fiefdoms, the pools like lakes, the hotel the ultimate $800-a-night symbol of the new chic of Marrakech. "Marrakech gives quality of life," says Farid Belkahia. We are sitting in the artist's villa, stuffed with books, paintings, and antiques. "But it's also a place people visit for a reason—spiritual, intellectual, cultural. It makes writers and artists inquisitive. The trouble is that the Occident doesn't necessarily understand it. They don't have this kind of spirituality in their own countries. They come here to try to listen, but this indicates to me that there are some problems in the Occident, that there is something missing." His wife, author Rajae Benchemsi, cuts in: "They just want a hit of Orientalism."

When Western travelers of the 19th century spoke of the Orient, they largely meant the hot, desert Islamic countries of North Africa and the Middle East. Their champion was painter Eugène Delacroix, whose overland journey through Morocco in 1832 became the archetype of the Orientalist experience. It was exotic, with men in djellabahs smoking hookahs, and erotic, with kohl-eyed women hidden behind veils. This cliché is what visitors still expect of Marrakech.

From the air, the medina must look just like an earthworm's nest—a knot of narrow pink lanes circumscribed by eight kilometers of 12th-century ramparts. On the ground, it is no less dense. The epicenter is the Jemaa el Fnaa—the Times Square of Marrakech. Except the people seem more peculiar. A man with a face like a dried date circles an egg around a girl's head. Behind him sits another fortune teller melting lead. Children try to catch soda bottles with a hook and bamboo rod. A family sits with a scribe. There are snake charmers and monkeys on chains. Smoke rises from steaming escargots; lambs' brains are laid out in neat little rows. There are castanets, tambourines, mobile phones; and there is shrieking laughter. There are storytellers, acrobats, and male belly dancers in drag performing wherever a pool of space forms in the evening crowd.

Flanking the Jemaa el Fnaa are the most heavily trafficked souks. There are no cars (it's too tight), only mules and carts. Sun slices through the oleander awnings, through skeins of fuchsia, saffron, and indigo cottons hung out by dyers in the early morning. Artisans work in hovels, chipping at tiles. Each trade—tanners, leatherworkers, metalworkers, slipper-makers—keeps to its own quarter, infused with a defining scent: rotting carcasses, burning metal. Except for the absent veils (this is a progressive Islamic state), it is still a Delacroix canvas. There is nothing familiar—I saw only a single pair ofbabouches (Moroccan slippers) with the fake Vuitton monogram—and there are no advertising billboards.

Globalization runs out of momentum in Marrakech. "Moroccans are proud and have a very ancient culture. They're open-minded to what comes in from outside, as long as it fits in with the local philosophy," says Mohamed Bouskri, a VIP guide for the last 32 years. "There is neither systematic rejection nor acceptance of new ideas. This is because we're African-Mediterranean and Muslim by religion. We are a mosaic of different cultures with a history of filtering influences. The Jewish Mellah and Royal Palace are back to back, despite our king being the highest representative of the Islamic faith. And Club Med is next to the Koutoubia Mosque."

"There seems to be some real cultural elasticity here," says Gary Martin, an American ethnobotanist living in the city. "There's an ability to deal with the introduction of new cultural pressures. They're able to absorb it. This is why Marrakech retains its own identity."

Visitors seeking their hit of Orientalism will be satiated; it is the familiar that eludes you, not the mystique. Yet most of the tourists coming through Marrakech touch only the surface—certain sights, certain places: the ruins of the 16th-century royal palace, Yves Saint Laurent's spectacularly renovated Majorelle Gardens, the metalworkers' souk. This, however, is no longer enough for the increasing number of more discerning visitors who want to go beyond the picturesque. And beyond the obvious, from Berber Picassos (the carpet weavers) to that inevitable story about a grand vizier and his 25 concubines that trips off the tongue of every guide at the Bahia Palace. This triviality has become Martin's bugbear. Identifying the demand for a more sophisticated cultural experience, he recently launched Diversity Excursions, an organization specializing in custom tours accompanied by Moroccan academics, from garden historians to archaeologists. Says Martin, "Its purpose is to plunge deeper into the things that everyone else sees, and things that they don't even get near."

I'm floating above Marrakech in a hot-air balloon. I can see the Atlas Mountains rising dramatically out of the plain, and the Palmeraie, with its patches of green, stretching out from the pink warren of the bustling city. Camels are strung out along the northern walls; the gates into the medina are jammed. I try to peer into the gardens of the private villas. They're too far below, a flock of goats becoming a string of ants on a sere hill. I am reminded of Willis: "To be in the world's largest oasis with those mountains in the distance, it's so theatrical. Throw in the silhouette of the palm trees and it looks like a corny stage set." Better. Better by far. Because Marrakech is a city that understands the value of privacy, epitomized in the medina's architecture with its courtyard gardens and high, windowless walls. I wonder then if it's this subtlety, the sense of understatement, that makes Marrakech the sophisticate of Africa.

Big things are happening in Marrakech. Or rather, small things, as aging Moorish mansions and palaces are being transformed into guesthouses, and chic hotels are springing up like oases in the desert

Although it's just steps from Marrakech's teeming souks, Riad Maji—one of the many new guesthouses deep within the ancient walled medina—is the epitome of tranquillity. Breakfast is served on the tented roof, an enchanting aerie with a view of the Atlas Mountains.

As I slather homemade fig preserves on a freshly baked croissant, Abdourrazak, the majordomo who makes Maji feel like a home away from home, stops by to see whether I'll need help arranging sightseeing, shopping, or lunch—and even offers to take me around the city himself. Such is the advantage of staying at a riad and experiencing the marrakech medina firsthand. (Adding to the allure: local authorities have made it illegal for the famously bothersome street hawkers to hassle foreign visitors.) Meanwhile, there's more happening in the palmy outskirts, where a handful of stylish hotels have recently opened, promising the peace and privacy of a rural setting. With options like these, marrakech has never been more welcoming, more seductive.

The Medina

RIAD EL CADI Carved out of five interconnected mansions, El Cadi is a labyrinth of patios and pools, secret alcoves and terraces. Many of the 12 rooms have fireplaces, for cool desert nights. Boosting the charm of the place is its collection of Islamic and Berber art, amassed by owner Herwig Bartels, a former German ambassador to Morocco. 87 Derb Moulay Abdelkadel, Dabache; 212-44/378-655, fax 212-44/378-478; www.riadelcadi.com; doubles from $120, including breakfast.

RIAD ENIJA The eight guest rooms in this 280-year-old former caid's palace retain their tiled floors and sculpted ceilings but are appointed with all sorts of bizarre Art Nouveau—style furnishings: iron beds, outsized pedestal tables, pink and purple Berber carpets in Modernist patterns. It's not everyone's cup of mint tea, but if you're looking for fantasy, this place delivers. 9 Derb Mesfioui, Rahba Lakdima; 212-44/440-926, fax 212-44/442-700; www.riadenija.com; doubles from $280, including breakfast.

RIAD KAISS Two mansions have been joined to create a hip eight-room retreat where cool North African house music fills the enormous tiled courtyard, thick with tropical trees. The grand salon—with 20-foot carved niches at either end, a baronial fireplace, and enough North African antiques to fill a small museum—is one of the city's most spectacular interiors. At night, candles and lanterns light every beguiling passageway. 65 Derb Jdid, Riad Zitoun Kedim; phone and fax 212-44/440-141; www.riadkaiss.com; doubles from $120, including breakfast.

RIAD MABROUKA Owners Catherine and Pierre-Jean Néri have pushed typically opulent Moroccan décor in a bold minimalist direction. The roof terrace (a tailored banquette here, a wicker chaise there, white umbrellas and cacti in earthenware pots everywhere) has a Delano—meets—Santa Fe feel. Instead of colorful tile and mosaics, floors and walls are tadelakt (polished plaster); in place of doors, thick canvas curtains shut off closets and entryways. 56 Derb el Bahia, Riad Zitoun Jdid; phone and fax 212-44/377-579; www.riad-mabrouka.com; doubles from $125, including breakfast.

RIAD MAJI Set around a tranquil orange tree—shaded courtyard, this tiny guesthouse is the best deal in town. British writer-photographer couple Maggie and Clay Perry have restored a former Moorish mansion. The six unpretentious guest rooms have carved plaster ceilings, billowy white window treatments, and some of the most comfortable beds in marrakech. 79 Derb Moulay Abdul Kader, Derb Dabachi; phone and fax 212-44/426-688; doubles from $70, including breakfast.

RIAD NOGA A turquoise-tiled swimming pool surrounded by a two-story colonnade of deep red arches forms the centerpiece of this handsome riad deep in the medina (you didn't read it here, but rumor has it the place was once a brothel). Run by a garrulous former economist from Germany, Noga has a staff of nine to attend to seven guest rooms. Although the rooms are relatively small, this is one of the few riads with satellite television; nooks and terraces offer private space for reading and relaxing. 78 Derb Jdid at Douar Graoua; 212-44/377-670, fax 212-44/389-046; www.riadnoga.com; doubles from $139.

Getaways

CARAVAN SERAI In the village of Ouled Ben Rahman, five miles north of marrakech, Caravan Serai was designed by the acclaimed Morocco-based architects Charles and Mathieu Boccara. Austere mud walls conceal 17 rustic-chic rooms; the swimming pool is set in a dramatic arcaded courtyard that has the look of a postmodern Elizabethan theater. A shuttle takes guests into town, but many prefer to luxuriate in the traditional hammam or go horseback riding. Ouled Ben Rahman; 212-44/300-302, fax 212-44/300-262; www.caravanseraimarrakech.com; doubles from $136, including breakfast.

JNANE TAMSNA Meryanne Loum-Martin helped make marrakech a must for fashionable travelers back in 1990 when she started renting out Dar Tamsna, two fabulous villas in exclusive La Palmeraie, a neighborhood just north of the city. Now, for wanderers in search of a villa experience (but who don't want to take over an entire house), Loum-Martin has unveiled this nearby riad, built around two Zen-like courtyards. The 10 spacious bedrooms have fireplaces, custom-designed iron beds, and antiques galore (bone-inlaid chaises, studded chests, North African photos). Douar Abiad, La Palmeraie; 212-61/242-717, fax 212-44/329-133; doubles from $347, including breakfast.

KASBAH AGAFAY Ten miles beyond the marrakech airport, overlooking green fields and golden desert foothills, British-based Moroccan entrepreneur Abel Damoussi has restored a 150-year-old Berber casbah, or fortress. The main building encompasses six courtyards, 14 guest rooms, and salons and dining areas of all shapes and sizes. Outside the casbah walls, there's a pool, clay tennis court, open-air spa, and four over-the-top private guest tents, with air-conditioning, tiled baths, and canopy beds draped in antique textiles. Rte. de Guemassa, km 20; 212-44/420-960, fax 212-44/420-970; www.kasbahagafay.com; doubles from $400, including breakfast.

TIGMI Blending seamlessly into the village of Tagadert, 15 miles south of marrakech, this eco-resort lets travelers experience an unspoiled Berber community. Created by Max Lawrence, an Englishman who has lived and worked in Morocco for almost a decade, the mud-walled Tigmi was built with the enthusiastic help of 250 villagers. Everything is wonderfully simple, from the L-shaped pool in the front garden to the eight suites with their unfinished country furniture. Numerous terraces offer dreamy views of the Atlas Mountains. Tagadert; 44-1380/828-533, fax 44-1380/828-630; doubles from $267, including all meals.

Where to Shop | Where to Eat

Where to Shop

Beldi 9—11 Souikat Laksour; 212-44/441-076. Jean-Paul Gaultier is a regular at Taoufiq Baroudi's boutique, for glamorous caftans, babouches (slippers), silk quilts, and pillows.
Ministero del Gusto 22 Derb Azzouz el-Mouassine; 212-44/426-455. This Italian-run gallery with a pool in the middle specializes in contemporary art and furniture.
Ryad Tamsna 23 Derb Zanka Deika, off Rue Riad Zitoun Jdid; 212-44/385-272. Meryanne Loum-Martin's restored medina town house has an excellent bookstore, an art gallery, and a boutique offering one-of-a-kind fabrics, scarves, bags, and jewelry.
La Porte d'Orient 9 Blvd. Mansour Eddahbi; 212-44/438-967. This vast emporium of North African antiques specializes in wood, including ornate doors, chests, and entire carved ceilings (they can be shipped anywhere).
Cooperatim Ave. Mohamed V, just beyond Place Djemaa el-Fna; 212-44/440-503. A well-edited collection of the usual souk stuff—carpets, pottery, jewelry—at fair, fixed prices.

Where to Eat
In addition to the city's riad revolution, marrakech is stirring up interest on the food front. Here, some of the town's top tables:
Alizia Rue Chouhada-chawki, Hivernage; 212-44/438-360; dinner for two $30. Excellent Italian, French, and fish dishes; on mild evenings, Alizia's bougainvillea-shaded front garden is the place to be.
Amanjena Rte. de Ouarzazate, km 12; 212-44/403-353; dinner for two $94. For a change of scene and cuisine, the Thai dining room of the stunning Aman resort is worth a trek to the outskirts of marrakech.
Dar Moha Almadina 81 Rue Dar el Bacha; 212-44/386-400; dinner for two $72. The former mansion of designer Pierre Balmain provides the sumptuous setting for chef Moha Fedal's nouvelle cuisine marocaine.
La Maison Arabe 1 Derb Assehbé, Bab Doukkala; 212-44/387-010; dinner for two $50. One of the city's best small hotels now has a romantic new dining room, its blue ceiling inspired by a Persian mosque.
Le Tobsil 22 Derb Abdellah Ben Hessaien, R'mila Bab Ksour; 212-44/444-052; dinner for two $94. Innovative Moroccan cooking—lamb tagine with quince, moist pastilla (pigeon pie)—served in the courtyard of a lovely riad.

1. Circle the Koutoubia Mosque

The minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, Marrakech’s most famous symbol – built in a traditional Almohad style and topped with four copper globes – is visible from near and far. It is not really that high (77 metres), but thanks to local topography and a local ordinance that forbids any other building in the Medina to be higher than a palm tree, it towers majestically over its surroundings. Still an active place of worship, non-Muslims may not enter. But it’s possible to get a good view of the exterior by walking around either side.

2. Spend your dihrams at the souks

There are few more pleasurable ways to waste time in Marrakech than wandering around the seemingly endless maze of markets.

The area of the Medina north of the Jemaa El Fna is commercial – at least in its more central areas – with a fibrous network of souks. Beginning on the north edge, the souks comprise alleyway upon alleyway of tiny retail cubicles. The further in you venture the more interesting they become.

The two main routes into their heart are rue Semarine (aka Souk Semarine) and rue Mouassine; the former offers the more full-on blast of bazaar, the latter is a more sedate path leading to choice boutiques.

Every section has its own speciality: carpets and textiles; woollen hats and cooked snails; spices and magic supplies; cotton, clothing, kaftans and blankets – and most importantly raffia bags and baskets, which you'll need to carry all your purchases in.

3. Learn about Islamic scripture and law

The Ben Youssef Medersa, a Quranic school, dedicated to the teaching of Islamic scripture and law, was founded in the 14th century, then enlarged in the 16th. It was given a further polishing up in the 1990s courtesy of the Ministry of Culture.

Entrance is via a long, cool passageway leading to the great courtyard, a serene place centred on a water-filled basin. The surrounding façades are decorated with zelije tiling, stucco and carved cedar, all executed with restraint. At the far side is the domed prayer hall with the richest of decoration, notably around the mihrab, the arched niche that indicates the direction of Mecca.

Back in the entrance vestibule, passageways and two flights of stairs lead to more than 100 tiny windowless students’ chambers, clustered about small internal lightwells. Medieval as it seems, the medersa was still in use until as recently as 1962.

Ben Youssef Medersa, Place Ben Youssef (no phone). Open 9am-6.30pm daily.

4. Don some new threads

Akbar Delights (Souks 45 place Bab Fteuh) is an upmarket French-owned boutique specialising in luxury clothing and textiles from Kashmir, with some items made to their own designs. The tiny space is crammed with embroidered tops and dresses, cotton robes, silk shawls and scarves, plus shimmery, golden shoulder bags. The only made-in-Morocco items are some extraordinary brocaded babouches.

Atelier Moro (Souks 114 place de Mouassine, Mouassine, +212 5 24 39 10 78) contains a cool, eclectic selection of homeware, clothes, accessories and carpets chosen by Viviana Gonzalez of Riad El Fenn. Some of the clothes are designed by Viviana herself, but most of the stock is Moroccan, often the work of nameless artisans that would otherwise be lost in the souks.

5. Descend into Moorish history

Set in its own fenced enclosure and sunk several metres below the current street level, is the Koubba El-Badiyin. It looks unprepossessing but it’s the only surviving structure from the era of the Almoravids, the founders of Marrakech, and as such it represents a wormhole back to the origins of Moorish building history. It dates to the reign of Ali ben Youssef (1107-43) and was probably part of the ablutions complex of the original Ben Youssef Mosque. It’s worth paying the slight admission fee to descend the brickwork steps and view the underside of the dome, which is a kaleidoscopic arrangement of a floral motif within an octagon within an eight-pointed star.

Place Ben Youssef (no phone). Open Apr-Sept 9am-7pm daily. Oct-Mar 9am-6pm daily.

6. Get arts & crafty, Moroccan style

On display in Maison Tiskiwin, a private house owned by veteran Dutch anthropologist Bert Flint, is his fascinating collection of crafts and decorative arts from southern Morocco and the Sahara. The exhibition is designed to show Morocco’s connection to sub-Saharan Africa and is geographically laid out to take you on a virtual journey across the Sahara to Timbuktu. Exhibits include masks from as far afield as Mali and an entire Berber tent made of camel hair.

8 derb El-Bahia, off Riad Zitoun El-Jedid (+212 5 24 38 91 92). Open 9am-12.30pm, 3-6pm daily.

7. Be grave at the ancient Saadian Tombs

Flanking the south side of the Kasbah Mosque, the site of what is possibly Marrakech’s most visited monument is an ancient walled garden, the use of which far predates the Saadian era. Dotted around the shrubbery are early mosaic graves; the identity of those interred is long lost. Attention instead focuses on the three pavilions built during the reign of Saadian sultan Ahmed El-Mansour.

First on the left is the Prayer Hall, which holds numerous graves, mainly of Alaouite princes from the 18th century. Next to it is the Hall of Twelve Columns, a more ornate affair with three central tombs surrounded by a dozen marble pillars. The tomb in the middle is that of Ahmed El-Mansour, flanked by those of his son and grandson. A third, stand-alone pavilion has ornate Andalucian-style entrance portals.

Rue de Kasbah, Bab Agnaou (no phone). Open 8.30-11.45am, 2.30-5.45pm daily.

8. Explore Morocco through its museums

The Dar Si Said Museum (Riad Zitoun El-Jedid, +212 5 24 38 95 64), former home of the brother of Ba Ahmed, builder of the Bahia, now houses a large collection of crafts and woodwork. Among all the kitchen implements, weapons and musical instruments are beautiful examples of carved cedar, rescued from the city’s lost dwellings.

Inaugurated in 1997, the Musée de Marrakech (Place Ben Youssef, +212 5 24 44 18 93, http://www.museedemarrakech.ma/) is housed in a converted early 20th-century house. The museum exhibits rotate, but the star attraction is the building itself, particularly the tartishly tiled great central court, roofed over and hung with an enormous chandelier that looks like the mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The former hammam is lovely and makes a fine exhibition space.

9. Breath in Marrakech's pungent tanneries

To experience Marrakech at its most medieval – and most pungent – visit the tannery district. The tanners have been here since the city was founded and their work remains a pre-industrial process, using hundreds of vats full of foul liquids to cure animal hides. The eventual products can be seen and purchased at the leather shops near the gate, but you may prefer to get the hell out of the quarter and purge yourself in the nearest hammam.

10. Step into a Sultan's palace

Constructed by Sultan Ahmed El-Mansour (1578-1607), the Badii Palace is one of the two principal monuments of the Saadian era (the other is the Saadian Tombs). Today it survives only as a denuded ruin, but once it was a model of triumphal ostentation. Walls and ceilings were encrusted with gold from Timbuktu, while the inner court had a massive central pool with an island, flanked by four sunken gardens. At the centre of each of the four massive walls were four pavilions, also flanked by arrangements of pools and fountains. It took some 25 years to complete the palace and barely were the inaugural celebrations over before the ageing ruler passed away. His palace remained intact for less than a century before the Merenid sultan, Moulay Ismail, had it stripped bare and the riches carted north for his new capital at Meknès.

Place des Ferblantiers (no phone). Open 8.30-11.45am, 2.30-5.45pm daily.

11. Shop in a handicrafts department store

Don’t let the humble entrance fool you – Centre Artisanal is the closest thing to a department store in Marrakech, albeit a department store selling nothing but handicrafts. It’s the ultimate souvenir store, with everything from trad clothing (babouches, jellabas, kaftans) to jewellery, and home furnishings to carpets. Prices are fixed at slightly above what you would pay in the souk, but this at least does away with tiresome haggling.

Kasbah 7 Derb Baissi Kasbah (+212 5 24 38 18 53). Open 8.30am-7pm daily.

12. Eat in fabulous surroundings

There are plenty of picturesque places to eat in Marrakech, but two are stand out. The setting for the Pavillion (North Medina Derb Zaouia, Bab Doukkala) – the courtyard of a splendid old house where tables cluster under the spreading boughs of a massive tree – is superlative, while Narwama (Jemaa El Fna & Koutoubia Mosque 30 rue Koutoubia, +212 5 24 44 08 44, http://www.narwama.com/, open 9am-7pm daily), the city’s first proper Thai restaurant, is housed in the central courtyard of a palatial 19th-century residence. It’s an enormous space that, with its potted palms, pastel hues and global lounge music, feels like a Buddha Bar night in some orientalist conservatory.

13. Get leathered

Chez Said specialises in fashionable leather bags, decorated with coins or beads, or just a simple metal disc on the front. Designs come in both modern and vintage styles. The leather is either au natural or dyed; when the latter, colouring is properly fixed and doesn’t come off on your clothes. Said speaks English, and also sells his bags in bulk to certain well-known stores in the UK.

Souks 155 Souk Chkairia (+212 5 24 39 09 31). Open 9.30am-7.30pm daily.

14. Appreciate modern art

Marrakech is bereft of theatres and music venues, and the few cinemas aren’t going to be showing much you’ll understand, but there’s a growing commercial gallery scene.

Housed in a gorgeous townhouse is the Medina’s premier exhibition space, Dar Cherifa (Souks 8 Derb Charfa Lakbir, Mouassine, +212 5 24 42 64 63). Parts of the building date back to the 16th century and it has been lovingly restored by owner Abdelatif ben Abdellah. Regular exhibitions lean towards resident foreign artists, but there have also been shows by Moroccan artists Hassan Hajjaj and Milaudi Nouiga.

When Galerie 127 (Guéliz 127 avenue Mohammed V, 2nd floor, +212 5 24 43 26 67, galerie127mohammedV@hotmail.fr) opened in 2006 it became the first photo gallery in the Maghreb and only the third in Africa. It got off to a good start with an opening show by Tony Catany. The king bought 30 of the photographs.

Galerie Rê (Guéliz Résidence Al-Andalus III, angle rue de la Mosquée and Ibn Touert No.3, +212 5 24 43 22 58) is a serious and lavishly designed contemporary gallery for changing exhibitions by mostly ‘Moroccan and Mediterranean’ artists. Upstairs is a selection from established Moroccan artists such as Abdelkarim Ouazzani, Tibari Kantour and Mohammed Lagzouli.

The Light Gallery (Kasbah 2 derb Chtouka, light.marrakech@gmail.com) kicked off in 2007 with photographs of neon and fluorescent lights by Gilles Coulon, then moved on to drawings by Swiss painter Mathias Schauwecker. It’s a big, bright, modern space where they also sell a few clothes, books, and have some small photos for sale from the likes of Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton and Martin Parr.

The Matisse Art Gallery (Guéliz 61 rue Yougoslavie, No.43 passage Ghandouri, +212 5 24 44 83 26, matisseartgallery@gmail.com) is a decent space devoted to solo shows by young Moroccan artists such as calligraphy painters Nouredine Chater and Nouredine Daifellah, and figurative painter Driss Jebrane. More established names are also exhibited, such as Farid Belkahia and Hassan El-Glaoui (the late son of the former ‘Lord of the Atlas’ was devoted to painting horses).

15. Have a belly (dance) full

Marrakchi socialites will tell you that Comptoir is sooo over, but on the right night it’s still the best party in town. From the outside it’s a well-behaved little villa on a quiet residential street, but inside the place buzzes with dressed-up diners on the ground floor, while upstairs is a sizeable lounge filled each weekend night to within a whisper of health and safety violations. The crowd is a mix of good-looking locals, sharper expats and wide-eyed tourists delighted to have stumbled on the Marrakech they’d always heard about. Drinks are pricey but the nightly belly-dancers are hilarious.

Hivernage Avenue Echouhada (+212 5 24 43 77 02, http://www.comptoirdarna.com/). Open 7pm-1am daily. Admission free.

16. Find your Moroccan groove

Pacha (Zone hôtelière de l’Agdal Boulevard Mohammed VI, +212 5 24 38 84 00, http://www.pachamarrakech.com/) is an enormous complex which, apart from the club itself, also includes two restaurants – Jana and Crystal – as well as a chill-out lounge and swimming pool. The dancefloor and bars can accommodate up to 3,000 smiley souls, and guest DJs are flown in most weekends. The names include many of those you’ll find elsewhere on the international Pacha circuit. The club is some 7km south of town, so getting there and back can be pricey.

Almost too big for its own good, Palais Jad Mahal (Hivernage 10 rue Haroun Errachid, http://www.jad-mahal.com/), just outside Bab Jdid, has a nice restaurant and bar with (usually) a boring live band playing vintage rock covers on the ground floor, and a voluminous club down below (separate entrance along the street, admission 100dh) that today houses a nightly ‘oriental cabaret’ frequented mostly by Moroccans.

Thêatro (Hivernage Hotel Es Saadi, avenue El-Qadissia, +212 5 24 44 88 11, http://www.theatromarrakech.com/Theatro/install2/) is where you’ll find the hippest, best-informed locals. The venue was once a theatre; now, the stalls are filled with sofas, while the balcony is tiered with throw cushions. A series of semi-private, gauze-veiled crash crèches fill the stage, while the former orchestra pit houses a long curved bar, well stocked with chilled champagne and Red Bull. The sound system is thunderous, and psychedelic cinema projections entertain the eye – it’s just a pity no one thought to leave space for a dancefloor. Look out for nights by Sound of Marrakech, as well as occasional international names. Open daily from 11.30pm.

17. Grab a cocktail on a roof terrace

A café by day and restaurant by night, Kechmara also functions well as a lively and convivial bar. There’s a long bar counter to the right as you enter with a tap for bière pression, back shelves lined with spirits and bar stools for perching. The menu lists long drinks and cocktails, which are also served on a spacious roof terrace.

Guéliz 3 rue de la Liberté (+212 5 24 42 25 32). Open 7am-midnight Mon-Sat. Admission free.

18. And relax... at a hammam

House in a big old house near the Royal Palace, Dar Karma (Kasbah 51 derb El-Mennabha, +212 5 24 38 58 78, http://www.dar-karma.com/) was once the home of Mohammed V’s French translator. An elegant maison d’hôte since 2003, it retains something of a homely air, despite such mod cons as a small swimming pool and a water-mist cooling system on the roof terrace. The hammam is very grand indeed.

One of the longer established guesthouses in the Palmeraie, Les Deux Tours (Palmeraie Douar Abiad, +212 5 24 32 95 27, http://www.les-deuxtours.com/) is the sublime work of premier Marrakchi architect Charles Boccara. Guests share the most attractive of outdoor pools, keyhole shaped and fringed by perfectly maintained lawns, as well as a stunning subterranean hammam.

Les Jardins de la Medina (Kasbah 21 derb Chtouka, +212 5 24 38 18 51, http://www.lesjardinsdelamedina.com/), the former royal residence has been a luxurious 36-room hotel since 2001. A big international restaurant, a splendid hammam, a decent gym and a beauty salon round off the services.

19. Join the party

Four key events for the diary: January sees the Marrakech Marathon (http://www.marathon-marrakech.com/); February, the Dakka Marrakchia Festival (www.morocco.com/blog/dakka-marrakchia-festival-a-musical-celebration), an annual festival of traditional Marrakechi music; July the National Festival of Popular Arts (http://www.marrakechfestival.com/), a five-day celebration of Morocco’s arts; and December the Marrakech International Film Festival (http://en.festivalmarrakech.info/).

20. Sleep in Moorish luxury

The creation of designer Meryanne Loum-Martin and her ethnobotanist husband Dr Gary Martin, Jnane Tamsna (Palmeraie Douar Abiad, +212 5 24 32 84 84, http://www.jnane.com/) is a ‘Moorish hacienda’ with seven opulent suites and 17 gorgeous rooms, set in five buildings scattered around some beautiful gardens, each with its own pool. The architecture is vernacular chic, coloured in the palest tones of primrose, peppermint and clay and enhanced by Loum-Martin’s own inspired furniture. Surrounding fruit orchards, herb and vegetable gardens provide organic produce for the kitchen.

Char-Bagh (Palmeraie, +212 5 24 32 92 44, http://www.ksarcharbagh.com/) takes the Moroccan fantasy trip to extremes. A charming French couple have re-created an Alhambran palace court on a kasbah-sized scale. A moated gatehouse with six-metre-high beaten metal doors fronts an arcaded central court with pool. The extensive grounds contain herb and flower gardens, an orchard, an open-air spa and the deepest of swimming pools. Indoor amenities include a cigar salon, a house sommelier, and a chef trained under Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon.

Set in a hectare of lush gardens filled with roses and hibiscus, bougainvillea and palm trees, Dar Zemora (Palmeraie 72 rue El-Aandalib, Ennakhil, +212 5 24 32 82 00, http://www.darzemora.com/) is Marrakech’s answer to the English country-house hotel – perhaps it achieves this status because it’s owned by an English couple, who have remodelled this former private abode beyond all recognition.

Time Out guidebooks

Morocco: perfect places to stay, eat & explore

Time Out Morocco selects 20 of the most idyllic destinations and takes you straight to the loveliest hotels, best restaurants and most compelling sights in each. It includes hip tourist hub Marrakech and other major cities, along with bijou small towns, spectacular beaches, dramatic desert landscapes and breathtaking mountain trails. This inspirational guide is perfect for your next Moroccan break, whether a long weeknd or a fortnight's stay.

Marrakech Shortlist

The Marrakech Shortlist guide selects the very best of Marrakech's sightseeing, restaurants, shopping, nightlife and entertainment, with Time Out's local expertise.

Travel Facts

1. Circle the Koutoubia Mosque

2. Spend your dihrams at the souks

3. Learn about Islamic scripture and law

4. Don some new threads

5. Descend into Moorish history

6. Get arts & crafty, Moroccan style

7. Be grave at the ancient Saadian Tombs

8. Explore Morocco through its museums

9. Breath in Marrakech's pungent tanneries

10. Step into a Sultan's palace

11. Shop in a handicrafts department store

12. Eat in fabulous surroundings

13. Get leathered

14. Appreciate modern art

15. Have a belly (dance) full

16. Find your Moroccan groove

17. Grab a cocktail on a roof terrace

18. And relax... at a hammam

19. Join the party

20. Sleep in Moorish luxury

Time Out guidebooks

Morocco: perfect places to stay, eat & explore

Marrakech Shortlist

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