| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | ![]() |
Buying alcohol (to take away) in MarrakeshCountry forums / Africa / Morocco | ||
I'd like to stock up in Marrakesh, and as my time there is limited it would be useful to have an idea of where to go. I'll be staying in the Hivernage area (Avenue Echouhada). Are wine-boxes available, BTW? Thanks. | ||
...... on Bd. Al Yarmouck there's a supermarket, in business with foreign residents and European tourist in mind, pricey.! ... one of the few supermarkets still selling alcohol, Label l'Vie.? I think, carry your purchases discreetly on the streets. Carefour has a branch in Marrakech also on Yarmouck, the branch in Agadir stopped sell alcohol..... then they did and stopped again, there's a national conversation going on around the subject and its very divided, on one side its about religious values, on the other about money. Personally I wouldn't take alcohol in Morocco, it can give a wrong impression, there is some well-founded paranoia around alcohol, as evident with drunken vagrants and socially detached groups Moroccan men, these guys are despised and ostracised. | 1 | |
Thanks for a helpful reply. I was last in Morocco about 8 years ago, and it was difficult to find, but not impossible. It seems as if things have gone further anti-alcohol since then. It's simply to have a quiet drink in the hotel room at the end of the day. Good advice to keep things well hidden. | 2 | |
In Taroudant the only way to buy any seemed to be to go the the airport in Agadir. In Fes a restaurant owner asked us whether we would like some wine. We said yes, and he brought us wine in Coke bottles. | 3 | |
...... the historically disreputable Hotel Taroudannt survives on serving alcohol, pious and respectable local residents cross the street to pass-by averting their gaze and pinching their noses. The Hotel Palais Salam in the Casbah also serve alcohol, being the former home of the Pasha, a minor Royal of sorts, such decadence behind the high wall here is unsurprising.! Both premises at different ends of the accommodation market are historic establishments, for different reasons worth visiting and the Salam a chance of a life-time to stay in a splendid luxurious palace turned hotel steeped in history, truly charming with or without alcohol. | 4 | |
There's room for a niche Lonely Planet "Boozer's Guide to Morocco" it seems! Of course it would probably be out of date before even published. | 5 | |
..... came across these on the subject of Alcohol..... and unsurprisingly for Morocco this slight of heart.... not withstanding the huge opposition to alcohol sales in Casablanca in particular. | 6 | |
This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you. | 7 | |