The 3 palaces you need to visit in Marrakesh

Planning to visit Marrakesh ? Here are the 3 palaces you need to visit in Marrakesh ! T

here are tons of places to see in this vibrant city, but those 3 palaces simply cannot be missed during you stay :

• Dar El Bachar Palace
• Bahia Palace
• El Badi Palace

Let me detail you what to expect there and each is worth visiting !

Dar El Bacha is a palace built in 1910 and renovated in 2017. It’s a perfect example of Moroccan architecture, with its fountains and orange trees in the central courtyard, its traditional lounges all around and its hammam. The building is a great depiction of a riad, consisting of a garden surrounded by 6 rooms on each of its 4 sides, with cedar wood ceilings.

There’s also a beautiful Art nouveau café to check out in one of the corner of the courtyard (3rd picture below), make sure to take a peak inside !

Entrance fee : 6€ (60dhs) for foreigners, and 1,5€ if you are under 18. More info here.

Opening hours : Open everyday except Mondays, from 10am to 6pm.

One of the reason to see this beautiful palace is the courtyard, it’s a peace haven in the middle of the vibrant medina.

The second reason is to admire all the different mosaics and the work involved, it is absolutely stunning !

The Bahia Palace is one of Marrakesh’s most important architectural realisation. It was built around 1880 with the goal of being the most impressive palace of its time. The palace extends over 8 hectares and houses 150 rooms overlooking different courtyards and gardens.

Entrance fee : Tickets are 7€. More info here.

Opening hours : Open everyday from 9am to 5pm.

One of the reasons to visit this palace is for the particularly huge main courtyard which is impressive to see !

From the tiled fountain to the colourful ceilings, including the window grille with elaborate detailing, you will admire here the detailed work everywhere :

There’s a smaller courtyard, which is more like a garden, that is absolutely wonderful.

You will find many trees, small fountains, stained glass windows as wells as unique tiles patterns :

El Badi Palace is one of the most beautiful site to visit. It was built at the request of a Sultan at the end of the 16th century to commemorate their victory against the Portuguese. El Badi was a palace with over 300 rooms decorated with the finest materials of the time: gold, turquoise and crystal.

However, in 1696, another sultan ordered its demolition in order to build the imperial city of Meknes. This city was designated as the capital of his empire in 1672, and most of the materials were reused there.

Today, all that remains of the palace is a huge esplanade surrounded by high walls and with gardens of orange trees. Many storks made their nests there, if you are lucky you can see one in the pond (as we did, see picture 9).

Entrance fee : Tickets are 7€. More info here.

Opening hours : Open everyday from 9am to 5pm.

One of best part of the palace is this huge space with lots of turquoise tiles and red brick :

Also the size of this place is monumental. This palace lives up to its name : El Badi means “the incomparable”. The ruins still illustrate the grandeur and importance of the building at the time of its construction.

Another part of the palace to see is the immense courtyard where you can see storks :

That’s it for my recommendations regarding the best 3 palaces to see in Marrakesh, I think each one of them deserves at least 1-1:30 hours for the visit. As they are not too far from each other, you can plan to see them in a day easily !

You can read my other posts about the vibrant city of Marrakesh such as the best food specialties to try out in Marrakesh or this one about how to sprend A morning in Jardin Majorelle.

For more information about your upcoming Marrakesh travel, check out my detailed 4 days itinerary in Marrakesh and this article listing everything to Know before you go : Marrakesh Edition.