Travel Destinations: Marrakech

Today's destination is Marrakech, one of the largest cities in Morocco.
It's a relatively cheap place to go and lovely and hot! When I went in October (last year) it was still a sweltering 31 C! Lots of UK airports fly there and the flights can be quite reasonable. The currency is Moroccan Dirham and last time I went, it was about £1 = 11 Dirham.

It is really pretty there, the best place to stay (my opinion) is the Medina (the walled 'old' town), in a traditional Riad,they are beautifully decorated. There are different areas, called by their nearest 'gate' or opening into the Medina. I've stayed near both 'Bab Doukkalla' and the Royal Kasbah 'gates'. The picture above is a view from my Riad's rooftop over the Royal Kasbah. And below is inside it's central courtyard.

One of the must visit places if you're staying in Marrakesh is Jemaa el Fna square. In the daytime it's open and there's a few market stalls before you get to the edge where the souks like. The souks are amazing, you can buy so many wonderful things-but don't forget to haggle :)

But at night, Jemaa el Fna comes alive, long stalls and food markets pop up out of nowhere, street performers, snake charmers..monkeys! The picture below was taken just as everything was being set up and the huge crowds of people were gathering. and in the background I think you can just about see the Atlas mountains.

And finally, many hotels and hostels etc. offer excursions to places such as Essaouria, Casa Blanca or Agadir- oh and the Atlas mountains where you can buy real Berber wares or Argan oil or even to the Sahara desert for camel rides etc. There's still quite a lot to do in Marrakesh- there's the Yves St Laurent gardens (pictured below) which are so beautiful, there's a ridiculous amount of Golf courses, and spas or Hamman baths and then there's shopping in the new area of the city.

Hope you all had a lovely New years Eve!
Thanks for reading, have any of you been to Morocco/ Marrakech? Or are you planning on going?


I'll be having a little holiday away from this blog for the next week as it's my Birthday today (YAY)- This is a scheduled post, aren't I organized! :)
And then New years Eve party times and then I have a crazy amount of work that I've left till the last minute to complete for uni :(
See y'all in a week, Happy New year for Monday/Tuesday!!