Guided tours are a great way to get familiar with a place while also learning some history. With a search on Tripadvisor, I found one guide named Abdul who seemed to stand out from the rest. You can book a tour at Marrakech Guided Tours. Since he fills up fast, I immediately booked a combined souks + sites tour for a total around $110. The tour lasted around 8 hours total, from 9am until 5:30pm.
He started by giving some brief background of the area our riad is located in, as well as the Old Jewish Quarter. We then visited some main sites including Koutoubia Mosque, Le Jardin Secret, Dar el Bacha, the souks, and ending in Jemaa el-Fnaa square. Marrakech is just so magical, it’s a must-see experience at least once in your life!
Walking in the Jewish Quarter of the medina
Koutoubia Mosque
View of Le Jardin Secret from the cafe terrace
Inside Dar El Bacha Musee des Confluences
We asked the guide to take us to a more local spot for lunch. The place was so local I don’t even have the name, but if you book a tour with him you can ask him to take you. We only saw locals eating there. The tagine was cooked on coals and the restaurant is family-owned. It was a small hole-in-the-wall place, but the food was like none other we had in Morocco. Everything was incredible and cheap! Total lunch cost was around $12.
While visiting the souks Adbul helped take us to the best places for purchasing certain items. This was a big help, especially in avoiding more aggressive shops or getting scammed with less authentic stuff. He also wasn’t pushy into bringing us to certain shops, only to the places depending on what we were looking for. You’ll definitely want this peace of mind when shopping in Marrakech.
Read more on what to do in Marrakech with kids.
After the guided tour you’ll have some free time before dinner. We opted to spend some more time in Jemaa el-Fnaa square. It was definitely the most aggressive part of Marrakech. We had to ignore a lot of pushy food stalls and street performers. However, we did pay to take photos with a monkey since Terra kept asking to.
We highly recommend heading to Le Grand Balcon Cafe Glacier for a better view of the square at sunset. We took the stairs to the balcony, and they only require you to buy one drink each to sit there. It allowed us to get a bird eye view, and nice photos of all the performers and street artists without paying the fee.
Food Stalls
We recommend trying the harira soup at food stall #75. Cheap and delicious meal!
On our walk back to the riad, we stopped at food stall #75 for some harira soup. The stall had mostly locals eating there and they only served the soup. It was definitely worth the stop and a nice street food experience. I’ve also read that stalls #14 and #1 are good as well if you’re looking for a full dinner.
Great view over Jemaa el-Fnaa at sunset
Since we ate at the riad the night before, we asked for a recommendation for dinner. Cyril, the owner, recommended Dar Cherifa, a short 5 minute walk away. He booked us a reservation last minute and walked us over. The inside was splendid and the food tasted like it was crafted with love. We tried a few juice drinks, along with ginger chicken and a tagine sampler with a mix of some popular dishes. Everything was filled with flavor and perfectly spiced. Afterwards we walked up to the terrace for some beautiful views. We highly recommend trying a meal here at least once during your visit.
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This itinerary sounds perfect. I've saved it to use when we eventually go there. So many amazing experiences to look forward to.
Thanks Wendy! It was one of our most memorable trips yet. Such a gorgeous country and perfect for families :)
Hi! Great details - Thanks for sharing! Traveling to Morocco in February 2021. Our son will be a few weeks shy of 4 years old. How old was your daughter on this trip? How did she do on the camel? Did she keep her turban on? What did you do about protecting her during sand storms? Thanks for your help :)
Thanks for stopping by :) Our daughter was only 3 when we went, and she had a blast. She was fine on the camel, she rode in front of one of us, although didn't keep on the turban. We used the turban like a scarf mask to cover her face and mouth during the storm. But she handled it like a champ. It was so much more of a family-friendly country than we expected, you'll love it! Hope you have an awesome time!
Wonderful! And thank you for the response. I have been in contact with Brahim from http://www.Marrakech-Camel-trips.com via email about our trip. Two questions - Did you wire/PayPal a deposit of 100 Euros to book? I have only seen one other review online that required the same deposit, so I'm just checking for my own safety :) Also, which hotel did you stay at/leave your luggage in Merzouga? Brahim offered "Riad nezha or *riad Madou or similar". We are going to stay an extra night before our departure to the desert and an extra night returning from the desert, so I wanted to check which accommodation you preferred.
Hi Stephanie! Yes we did pay a deposit of 100 Euros through Paypal, so that's legit. Then we paid the rest in cash in person. We had a wonderful experience with Brahim and our tour through them. And this post isn't sponsored or anything, just pure honesty :) We didn't stay overnight in Merzouga. We actually did the 3 day tour from Fez to Marrakech with a stop overnight in the desert. So I can't say much about hotels there. But I will say we enjoyed all the hotels we stayed at through this tour, so I think you'd be fine with any of their recommendations. We are dying to go back to Morocco again soon, hope you have a wonderful time. And feel free to ask any additional questions :)
Morocco is a great place for a family trip.
Yes it definitely was! Can't wait to go back :)