Location
Marrakech
Marrakech is an ancient, exotic, colourful and exciting city. Founded around an oasis a thousand years ago to control the camel trains carrying gold, slaves and salt to and from Africa it soon became a trading post which tradition continues today in the souks.
The Medina is the old walled town and the ancient walls are virtually complete today, all eleven kilometres of them. The souks are at the heart of the medina and are an absolute maze of narrow streets lined with small shops and stalls often segregated into areas of different skills and crafts; woodwork, dyeing, metalwork etc. Naturally the shopkeepers will invite you in and try to sell but unlike some other cities in Morocco a polite refusal is usually accepted without hassle. The Marrakechi are a friendly good natured people. The souks are not to be missed, el Zohar is right at the start of the souks, 200metre only from the Square where the souks start.
'The Square', La Place Jemma el-Fna springs into vibrant life in the afternoon and becomes more frantic as the day wears on to a crescendo in the evening. Jugglers, story tellers, healers, magicians, water sellers, snake charmers, herbalists, musical groups and dentists with piles of teeth on display abound lodged alongside the orange juice and dried fruit sellers plus the 50 odd alfresco barbecue food stalls that spring up in the evening. The Medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as indeed are the Agdal Gardens nearby.
There are several ancient buildings, museums and interesting sites to visit although on site information is scant by European standards - try Time Out's Marrakech, Essaouira and the High Atlas which is one of the best guides published (personal view).
The weather is from clement to extremely hot in the Summer with little rain. The rain can be extremely heavy on occaision but then doesn't last too long; at least it is warm rain!
Close to Marrakech are the High Atlas and the Mid Atlas mountains, stunning scenery still inhabited by the Berber peoples, and less than 90 minutes away from the medina. Well worth a day trip or two or even a few days staying over. Over the mountains heading South sees the start of the dessert. To reach the best dunes in the Moroccan Sahara, seen in many films, is a days drive away and worth a couple of days stop over with perhaps a camel trip and a night in a Berber tent. The dunes and stars are exceptional.