Thinking of visiting Marrakech, Morocco? Things you should know

Thinking of visiting Marrakech? You’ll need to read this post…

Marrakech in Morocco, known as the red city, has lots to love: warm weather year round, amazing Souks for shopping, and delicious food. We visited Marrakech recently and learned so much. I wish I’d done more research before we got on the plane, to really make the most of my trip. So that you don’t have to, this post is your one stop shop for things to know before visiting Marrakech. I hope you find it useful.

Marrakech airport is BUSY, but manageable

I sort of did know this, in all honesty, but I thought it was a bit of scaremongering. The queue for security to get into the country was not that long, but it was slow. It took us around 45 minutes to get through. Not a disaster, but worth knowing. If you need the loo after your flight you’ll want to go before you get in the security queue.

On the way back through to leave, there was a queue to even get into the building. I was a bit worried at that point. But it moved fast and it was just because they were scanning both passengers (in the walk through scanner) and bags (in a security scanner, no need to remove anything from bags here) on the way in. We were maybe in this queue for 15 minutes.

Print your boarding pass when visiting Marrakech

Morocco doesn’t have the infrastructure for online check-in so you need to print boarding passes in advance. Then, you have to take it to the check in desk to be swapped for a ticket. They’ll charge you if you didn’t originally print your boarding pass. Hotels in Morocco are happy to do this for you if you forgot. We were the only ones at the check-in desk, so this part was really fast.

Security was quick too, they just wanted laptops, kindles, liquids and my camera out of the bag. Nothing interesting to report here, the queue was short, moved quickly and we were through fast.

The queue for passport control looked long but we got through it in about 20 minutes. The queue was being watched and organised by staff members. We estimate it took us around an hour from arriving at the airport to being sat at a cafe with our lunch. That is really not bad at all, given the airport’s poor reputation with travellers.

One of the key things to know before visiting Marrakech is that, at the airport, they may do a further bag check at the gate. I was swabbed, my bag was opened and items were swabbed too. I think this was just a random check. It took a few minutes and they even helped me repack the bag, so no big deal, but it’s worth leaving time for this, just in case.

Overall-Marrakech is a busy airport so leave enough time, but don’t stress too much about it.

Morocco is a closed currency country – cash is king

A quirk of the local money is among the crucial things to know before visiting Marrakech. Make sure you draw some dirhams out at the airport, because most places in Morocco don’t accept cards.

Some restaurants take card and so do supermarkets, but if you want to shop on the square or in the souks you’ll definitely need cash. We took out £100 worth initially and drew out a further £400, but £250ish of that went on souvenirs.

Pounds, euros or dollars gets better airport exchange rates

After going through security and collected your bags at the airport, there are two currency exchange desks. We nearly skipped them thinking there’d be an ATM – but there wasn’t, so don’t do this! – and out of the two, one had much better exchange rates.

Unluckily for us, you can only buy currency with cash, not with a card, at the stand with the better rates, so we had to use the other one. One of the big things to know before visiting Marrakech we learned is that it’s worth having some pounds, dollars or euros to be able to get more for your money at the airport.

The medina is busy and a bit of a maze, but you won’t get lost

I was worried the Marrakech medina would be a bit much, so we only booked two nights in the middle of the city. We opted to stay outside the medina for the rest of our week. Actually, whilst it’s a bit windy, you’ll soon find your way around.

J is always our navigator as he’s much better at directions than I am, and he downloaded the Google Maps for Marrakech before we left home, just in case. Other than a few specific shops within the souks, where Maps takes you nearby-ish and you have to figure it out, we found everywhere we wanted.

If you’re struggling, you can ask a shop or cafe owner for directions and they’ll be happy to help you.

People want to be tipped for directions in the medina-be aware

We knew in advance from our research of things to know before visiting Marrakech that people expected to be tipped if they lead you around the medina, which can be a confusing place.

This doesn’t mean shop owners but random passers-by, so say no firmly if you don’t want to pay for directions. A man guided us to our accommodation on arrival in the medina. We gave him 20 dirhams – about £1.50 – and we were fine with that.

The second time we got help with directions was a bit sketchier. We were led by a man, who another man insisted should help us. He took us a really long way and not even to where we were actually going.

Then, when he was about to leave us the initial man appeared and said ‘give him 200’ – around £15! – so we handed him 20 and they both started insisting this was too small an amount, the amount you’d give a little boy-and I felt the situation could end badly.

In the end we handed him another 50, so 70 dirhams (£5 or so) in total, and left them. It wasn’t a nice start to the trip, so be cautious when accepting help like that.

You should haggle in the Souks

When you ask how much something is in the souks, they are expecting you to haggle. This is the case at many markets around the world, but it is definitely one of the things to know before visiting Marrakech.

If you’re feeling bold, go in at around a third of what they’ve said, and expect to settle at about half. I find haggling really awkward but did get some good deals. You need to be prepared to walk away if you can’t reach a price you’re happy with. Chances are if a price is displayed, though, you shouldn’t haggle, as this may cause offence.

Pack decent lip balm and moisturiser

Marrakech, perhaps unsurprisingly for a city surrounded by desert, is very, very dry. We’ve both come home with badly chapped lips, my skin is dry and I feel a bit grim. I wish I’d packed a decent lip balm and moisturiser and I’d recommend you do, even if you don’t use it at home.

If you’re visiting Marrakech in the summer, decent SPF is a must, too. We visited in December and didn’t need it, but for most of the year Marrakech is so hot you’ll burn badly if you’re not wearing the correct clothes and cover yourself in SPF.

Jemaa El Fnaa isn’t scary

When reading up on things to know before visiting Marrakech, we read a lot of horror stories about the main square, Jemaa El Fnaa. Yes, it’s busy and yes, there are lots of people trying to sell you things, but a stern ‘no, thank you’ (‘la, shukran in Arabic) as you keep walking means they won’t hassle you.

Definitely steer clear of the men with the monkeys and the snake charmers around the edge though-the animals are not treated well and we’ve heard of monkeys being placed onto people’s shoulders and then a fee demanded. We didn’t see it, but we did give them a wide berth anyway.

If you walk too near the juice stalls they’ll all try to get you to come and try/buy their juice, BUT it’s cheap, and delicious, so I’d recommend doing that anyway. We had a few flavours through the week and paid less than a pound each time.

Dress appropriately for activities when visiting Marrakech

Morocco is, of course, a Muslim country. Whilst you can wander around in short shorts over a swimsuit in Spain, you shouldn’t do that in Morocco. Dressing modestly is definitely one of the things to know before visiting Marrakech.

I wore higher-necked t-shirts and long, thin trousers for the whole trip, so that my shoulders, knees and cleavage were covered. J did wear shorts a few times but longer ones, and only outside of the medina.

When visiting Marrakech, if you’re going into the desert on a quad biking and camel riding excursion – which you should! – I would recommend a light jacket to keep the dust off you.

Don’t do what someone in our group did and wear a tiny, flimsy bikini top. For a quad bike ride. In a Muslim country. Just be respectful!

Don’t drink the water

Drinking water safely is one of the most important things to know before visiting Marrakech.

Morocco is absolutely not a country it’s safe to drink the tap water in, unless you want to risk a bad belly! Bottled water is very cheap and sold everywhere, and say no to ice in drinks for the same reason.

Don’t forget your camera when visiting Marrakech

Marrakech is the most colourful city I’ve ever been to, by far. Stalls full of different coloured spices, beautiful leather sandals and all the ceramics you could ever want. You’ll take so many photos, but be aware some stalls in the souks do not allow photographs.

Make sure you pack a decent camera if you use one, and shooting with a professional photographer would be a great idea in the city too. I had a fantastic experience doing this.

Plan your days before visiting Marrakech

This is not essential but there’s so much to do in Marrakech, you won’t want to miss anything. I made sure to plan everything I wanted to do, and work out what was near what, so that my days were as productive as possible.

We also found we had plenty of down time. Because we’d planned well, we didn’t need to rush from one side of the city to the other all the time.

I hope this information covers all the things to know before visiting Marrakech and helps you plan for your trip to the red city, which really is an amazing place.

Visiting Marrakech is set to be much more popular in 2026 and beyond. I’m jealous of those of you who get to experience Marrakech for the first time.