Things to do in Morocco
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TOP SELLER
Best Of Morocco
15 days (Casablanca)
by Intrepid
Soak up panoramic views of the High Atlas Mountains, Explore the fortified city of Ait Benhaddou, Indulge your senses in the souqs of Marrakech, Kick back in…Not LP reviewed
- All things to do
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Neq Broderie
Walk right to the end of this grubby lane, off Talaa Kebira near the Bou Inania Medersa, and into a modern-looking house (signposted from Talaa Kebira). It's worth the effort: here is handcrafted traditional Fassi embroidery (watch the women at work) on excellent quality cotton-linen mix. Placemats cost around DH100 to around DH200; a tablecloth and six napkins from Dh450; napkins are Dh70 each.
reviewed
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Le Bowling
When the sun is too blazingly hot to move but the little ones are too restless for the riad, try this air-conditioned, quaint six-lane bowling alley for family fun out in the Palmeraie. The kitschy retro décor offers an interesting take on American geography - the Hollywood sign overlooks the Manhattan skyline, Twin Towers and all. For grownups, billiard tables and a full bar are available.
reviewed
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Lolo Quoi
Step into a deep-red inner sanctum with gilded poetry shimmering on the walls and mood lighting in tin buckets. Of all the restaurants where you're paying for the ambience in Marrakesh, Lolo Quoi delivers - but the food holds up its end of the bargain too. Now under the same ownership as Le Grand Café de la Poste, this place is jumping with a new alcohol license and a more daring seasonal menu.
reviewed
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Achebine Souk
This street formerly housed traditional medicine shops; there's one left, with jars of snakeskins, birds in cages, live chameleons, gazelle horns and skins on the walls. Nowadays it's a bird market - locals buy chickens and turkeys, doves and pigeons. There are lots of food stands here and the air is thick with smoke from kefta (spiced meatballs of lamb or beef) kebabs being grilled.
reviewed
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High Atlas Trek
13 days (Marrakesh)
Trek the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco plus explore Marrakesh and Essaouira.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$2,020 -
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Hotel Batha
There are a couple of options for drinks in this handily located medina hotel. Inside the hotel proper, the bar by the pool catches the overspill from the Churchill Bar, and in winter even features a log fire to warm yourself by. At the back of the hotel (side entrance), the outside Consul Bar is a more relaxed place for late-night drinks, and has its own disco until midnight (closed Monday).
reviewed
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African Lodge
Before you hanker after camel-saddle coffee tables and henna-painted orb table lamps at this ultramod African design showcase, look into shipping at the DHL office around the corner. The ingenious chandelier made out of vintage crystals and twisted industrial wire looks like something an itsy glitzy spider might have made, and is certain to make design aficionados curse carry-on restrictions.
reviewed
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Intensité Nomade
Mostly couture kaftans and tunics, with prices to match - but while you won't find bargains, you will find cleverly tailored men's linen shirts by major Italian and Moroccan designers. Hassan Hajjaj's silk-screened Pop Art T-shirt features colourful tea glasses for a Moroccan twist on Warhol, and a minutely pin-tucked ivory silk shirt duly humbles those of us who struggle with mending socks.
reviewed
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Chez Nada
West of Bab al-Kasbah, this is a quiet modern family-run place, famous for its excellent and good-value tajines, including one with pigeon. There’s a male-dominated café downstairs, and main dining room on the 1st-floor terrace with great views over the gardens. Food is home cooking and excellent. Pastilla (pie) and couscous (Dh60 to Dh95) should be ordered a couple of hours ahead.
reviewed
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Populaire Saveur de Poisson
This charming little seafood restaurant offers excellent, filling set menus in rustic surroundings. The owner, a self-described Popeye lookalike, serves inventive plates of fresh catch with sticky seffa (sweet couscous) for dessert, all of it washed down with a homemade juice cocktail made from 15 kinds of fruit (have a look at the vat in back). Not just a meal, a whole experience.
reviewed
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Pâtisserie Adamo
Chocolate éclairs with élan and light custard pastries studded with berries: is that rumbling your stomach, or the sound of Parisian patisseries' thunder being stolen by this Marrakshi success? Thank the seven saints of Marrakesh that chef Bruno Maulion saw fit to leave his Paris patisserie business, relocate to Marrakesh and raise the Marrakshi bar for croissants to the heavens.
reviewed
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St Paul’s Catacombs
St Paul’s Catacombs, dated from the 3rd century AD, were rediscovered in 1894. There’s not a lot to see in the labyrinth of rock-cut tombs, narrow stairs and passages, but it’s fun to explore (note that there are a number of uneven surfaces, so mind your step). Admission includes a self-guided, 45-minute audio tour available in a handful of languages.
reviewed
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La Maison du Gourmet
This upmarket gourmet restaurant serves an inventive menu of the finest of French and Moroccan cuisine, run by a couple, he French, she Moroccan, both trained by Paul Bocuse. Specialities include a heavenly pastilla with confit of duck and foie gras. The elegant surroundings, excellent service and exceptional food make this the perfect address for a special occasion. Book ahead.
reviewed
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Antiquité Nejjarine
Samir Bousfiha's shop bulges with antiques - large pieces of furniture, doors and even whole painted ceilings, as well as smaller items like wooden writing boards at around DH1000 for an original, or around DH600 for a copy. For more portable souvenirs, check out the wide range of silver jewellery: thick bangles, old fibulas (brooches) and necklaces. Old silver is Dh15 per gram.
reviewed
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Jnan Sbil (Bou Jeloud Gardens) & Baghdadi Square
These gardens, also known as Jnane Sbil, have been providing welcome green space for well over a century. They’re a good halfway break between the mellah and Bab Bou Jeloud, and were undergoing extensive renovation and replanting when we visited. If you continue from here, you reach Baghdadi Square, an open-air market on the edge of the medina.
reviewed
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Bar du Soleil
Wild raves for the Mamounia's gardens are a credit to its legions of gardeners but also the bartender at Bar du Soleil, who pours drinks extra strong on the patio at sunset to set that idyllic Mamounia mood. This occasion calls for a cognac or a top-shelf Mamounia cocktail of Grand Marnier, rum, juice and champagne, which, at around DH240, gives a double meaning to the term stiff drink.
reviewed
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Dar El Ghalia
Eat on the terrace or in the salon at this lovely guesthouse. Choose from the set menus or à la carte: there are salads, excellent harira, grills, fresh fish, tajines and couscous. Order in advance if you'd like to try pigeon trid (baked dough stuffed with meat) or mechoui (roast lamb). Wines and spirits are available. A 10% tip is added to the bill.
reviewed
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Museo de la Basilica Tardorromana
This superbly executed underground museum is integrated into the architectural remains of an ancient basilica discovered during street work in the ’80s, including a bridge over open tombs, skeletons included. The artefacts become a means of branching out into various elements of local history. In Spanish, but definitely worth a lap through. Enter via c/Queipo de Llano.
reviewed
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High-Tech Souq
Wander in the north of the souqs past the bridle-makers and lute-carvers and through a stone archway, and you'll find the most bizarre bazaar of all. This souq is covered with palm fronds and lined with shops that are literally holes in the mud-brick walls, packed floor to ceiling with flat-screen TVs. Donkey carts lug in computers still in their boxes; it's multimedia gone medieval.
reviewed
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Cabinet Populaire
Stop and taste the rosewater, anoint yourself with healing essential oils and, on hot days, kindly Sidi Aboubida will pour a little cooling orange-flower water on your head. This is a full-service Berber pharmacy and cosmetics counter, with roots, powders and lotions in folk-art packaging for any conceivable complaint, from spots to shyness. Prices are set, and very popular indeed.
reviewed
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La Petite Roche
With stunning views across to the Hassan II Mosque, this is another favourite Casa hangout. Littered with pillows thrown across low-level seating and lit by an army of candles, this place has a laid-back but exotic atmosphere. The clientele is not quite as self-consciously cool, or as unruly, as at La Bodéga and the restaurant downstairs serves good tapas, paella and seafood.
reviewed
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Gran Teatro de Cervantes
Beneath the Terrasse des Paresseux in Ville Nouvelle, in a side street off Rue Salah Eddine el-Ayoubi, the Gran Teatro de Cervantes is a remnant of the days when Spaniards formed the largest non-Moroccan community in Tangier. Opened in 1913, the theatre enjoyed its zenith between the wars. You can't miss the dazzling Art Deco façade, but the building has long been in decline.
reviewed
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Kiotori
Come to Fez and eat sushi? Why not? With a Japanese chef at the helm, and suitably minimalist surroundings, Kiotori carries off the challenge with aplomb. Choose individual sushi or tempura (battered seafood or vegetable) dishes from a wide selection or grab a mix through the set menus. Some Fassis shun it because it doesn’t have a liquor licence, but that doesn’t mean you should.
reviewed
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Kawkab Jeux
When your kid wearily protests at yet another carpet store, it's time for a rejuvenating visit to Kawkab Jeux. For around DH100 to around DH200, you can let Junior loose on arts and crafts projects led by Kawkab's chipper staff, and buy time to haggle at your leisure. Kids may have to be pried away from the mini-train, playground slides, video games, foosball table and snack bar.
reviewed
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Beach
The glory of Agadir is its crescent Beach, which usually remains unruffled when the Atlantic winds are blustering elsewhere. It's very clean and during peak periods (June to September) is patrolled by lifeguards (there is a strong undertow) and police.
Most of the larger hotels and surf clubs on the beach rent out windsurfing equipment, jet skis, bodyboards and surfboards.
reviewed