What to do in Marrakech: 12 must-sees, from the medina to the Atlas

At the heart of the medina, Jemaa el-Fna square is busy from morning to night: orange-juice sellers, snake charmers and storytellers by day, open-air food stalls at nightfall. UNESCO proclaimed the square's cultural space a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001, then inscribed it on the Representative List in 2008, for its halqa tradition of storytellers' and musicians' circles.

The café terraces around the edge look over the whole square, especially at sunset.

Founded by the Almoravids around 1070 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985, the Marrakech medina spreads inside ochre earthen ramparts. North of Jemaa el-Fna square, the souks are laid out by trade: spices, leather, slippers, ironwork, carpets, dyers. The Mouassine fountain and mosque mark the way towards the Ben Youssef Madrasa.

To the south, Rue Riad Zitoun el-Jedid leads to the Bahia Palace and the kasbah district. You get around on foot and accept getting lost: the Koutoubia minaret is the landmark.

Created from 1923 by the painter Jacques Majorelle, this botanical garden in Guéliz is famous for its intense blue, "Majorelle blue", which covers the villa and the pots. Bought and restored in 1980 by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, it brings together cacti, bamboo and pools, and the former studio houses the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts.

The Yves Saint Laurent Museum, opened in 2017, is in the next street. The garden is open daily from 8 am to 6:30 pm, the Berber museum from 8:30 am to 6 pm.

A masterpiece of late-19th-century Moroccan art, the Bahia Palace was founded in the 1860s by grand vizier Si Moussa, then greatly enlarged between 1894 and 1900 by his son Ba Ahmed ben Moussa. The palace proper covers about 2 hectares and has nearly 150 rooms arranged around courtyards and gardens (the wider estate extends further). Painted cedar ceilings, zellij tilework, carved stucco and orange-tree patios show the refinement of Marrakech's palatial architecture.

Built in the 12th century by the Almohads, the Koutoubia is the largest mosque in Marrakech; its stone minaret, about 77 metres high including the spire, rises over the medina and serves as a landmark across the city. It inspired the Giralda in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat.

The interior is reserved for Muslims. You admire the building from outside and from its gardens, which link the medina to Avenue Mohammed V; the minaret is lit up at nightfall.

The largest Quranic school in Morocco, the Ben Youssef Madrasa was founded in the 14th century then rebuilt in the 16th under the Saadians. Restored and reopened in 2022, it unfolds around a central courtyard, with its marble basin, a profusion of zellij, carved stucco and sculpted cedar wood. Upstairs, the tiny cells that housed up to 900 students can be visited. It is one of the city's finest examples of Islamic architecture, more peaceful than the souks.

Tucked in the kasbah district, this 16th-century necropolis holds the graves of the Saadian dynasty, notably those of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (died 1603) and his family. Walled up in the late 17th century, it was only rediscovered in 1917. The centrepiece is the Hall of the Twelve Columns, where Carrara marble, gilded stucco and zellij reach a peak of refinement.

About 1 hr 30 by road south of Marrakech, the village of Imlil is the starting point for hikes in the High Atlas. Trails link the Berber villages of the valley, between terraced fields and walnut orchards, and lead towards Jbel Toubkal (4,167 m), the highest peak in North Africa.

One day is enough for a loop between villages with lunch in a family home; climbing Toubkal takes two days, with a night at the refuge.

About 40 minutes south-west of Marrakech, Agafay is a stone desert: bare, rocky hills with no dunes, facing the High Atlas peaks. Tented camps offer camel, quad or horse rides and sunset dinners.

It is the nearest escape from the city into a desert landscape; for large sand dunes you have to go as far as Merzouga or M'Hamid, several hours' drive away.

On the Atlantic coast, about 190 km from Marrakech, Essaouira (formerly Mogador) is an 18th-century fortified town whose medina has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2001. Its ramparts, the Skala de la Ville and its cannons face the ocean; at the harbour, blue boats land the day's catch.

The medina is explored on foot, between thuya-wood marquetry workshops and art galleries. Its long, windswept beach draws kitesurfers.

About an hour's drive south-east of Marrakech, the Ourika Valley runs up along a river at the foot of the High Atlas, between rammed-earth Berber villages, terraced gardens and restaurants set by the water. The road ends at Setti Fatma, where a trail climbs to a series of waterfalls.

The valley is an easy day out, with stops at argan-oil cooperatives and in the villages.

Marrakech's two great historic gardens date back to the Almohads in the 12th century and are part of the UNESCO-listed site. West of the city, the Menara lines olive groves around a vast irrigation pool; its green-roofed 19th-century pavilion is reflected in the water in front of the Atlas peaks.

South of the kasbah and the royal palace, the Agdal is a huge walled orchard of olive, orange and pomegranate trees, watered by pools fed from the Atlas.