Four days itinerary in Marrakesh

If you plan on spending a few days in Marrakesh and want to make the most of it, here’s the best four days itinerary in Marrakesh. 

From the many palaces, to the Jardin Majorelle, passing by the souks in the vibrant Medina, I’ll show you the ultimate circuit around the city. If you need a weekend itinerary, I’ll also indicate which activities and sightseeing can be forgotten when coming for two days only.

I also made an article about spending a morning in Jardin Majorelle as well as one about the best food specialties to try out in Marrakesh.

Moving on to this itinerary !

• Day One : Discover the medina and see Jemaa El Fna
• Day Two : See the tanneries, visit the Medersa Ben Youssef, Jardin Secret, Dar El Bachar Palace, Bahia Palace, El Badi Palace
• Day Three : Jardin Majorelle, Koutoubia, Mamounia, Bab Agnaou, Place des Epices
• Day Four : Wander in the souks, enjoy the food specialties, try a hammam, spend an evening in the Agafay Desert

Day One

We landed somewhere in the afternoon, so if you do the same, I suggest checking in at your riad right away so you don’t have to bring your bags in the narrow streets of the medina.

When you arrive in your riad, they will usually offer you some Moroccan mint tea and some pastries in the courtyard.

After, I suggest spending the rest of the first day to discover the medina (which is the old town) without any precise itinerary. You will get a first sense of the vibrant atmosphere in this city. You will come across lots of vendors of spices, tea, pottery, tableware and leather items (footstools, bags, shoes…).

Plan your walk from the riad to Jemaa El Fna.

More than just a public square, Jemaa El Fna is Marrakesh’s star attraction and has long since established itself as the initiatory crossroads of the city. Here, day and night, it’s alive and buzzing. It is the liveliest place in town, attracting tourists and locals equally !

Like a play, the square offers scenes of life divided into 3 acts :

In the morning, it comes alive as soon as the souk gates open, and becomes a huge open-air market, notably with the trailers selling squeezed orange juice.

Towards the end of the afternoon (5pm), the square becomes a monumental theatre stage where each dancer and acrobat takes their place in the centre of a circle formed by the spectators.

Finally, as the sun goes down, small strolling kiosks set up shop with the smell of grilled meat and fish kebabs: the square is transformed into a huge open-air restaurant.

Day Two

We started off the second day with the visit of tanneries in the medina. They show all the stages involved in working animal skins into leather and accessories. You also learn about dyes and colour pigments.

However, this doesn’t happen year round, so it can be skipped depending on the month you are coming to Morocco.

Here’s what we saw at the tannerie visit :

After this enriching visit, we went to see the Medersa Ben Youssef. A medersa is a building used as a college or Koranic school. These establishments specialise in theological studies.
The Ben Youssef Medersa is not only the most important but also the largest in Morocco. It has 130 rooms, providing accommodation for up to 900 students.

This place is open from 9am to 6pm and the entrance fee is 4€but it is well worth it.

Before a lunch break, we went to see the Jardin Secret. This place is open from 9:30am to 6:30pm and the entrance fee is 8€ but it is well worth it.

Recently restored, this botanical garden opened its doors to the public for the first time in 2016. With fountains, mosaics, an exotic garden and an Islamic garden, it’s a beautiful place to discover.
The exotic garden features many plants from all over the world, while the Islamic garden is home to several species of olive and orange trees, as well as lavender. Originally created to irrigate the various plots of land, the Islamic garden is a veritable metaphor for paradise.

After a break in this haven of peace, head towards Jemaa El Fna for lunch. We tried some specialties in a rooftop terrace café to enjoy the view of the square :

The afternoon will be dedicated to visit the 3 best palaces in Marrakesh. I have made a dedicated post about them here.

To start off, head to the Dar El Bachar Palace.

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.

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

The second palace to visit is Bahia Palace.

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.

It is open everyday from 9am to 5pm and the entrance fee is 7€. More info here.

To finish the day in beauty, head towards El Badi Palace.

This palace is one of the most beautiful sites to visit. It was built at the end of the 16th century but it was demolished in 1696 to build the imperial city of Meknes. El Badi was a palace with over 300 rooms decorated with the finest materials of the time: gold, turquoise and crystal.

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.

The palace is open everyday from 9am to 5pm and the entrance fee is 7€. More info here.

For dinner, you can check out this post to have some recommendations regarding places to eat and specialties to try out in Marrakesh.

Day Three

The better use of this morning is to go early to Jardin Majorelle. I’ve made a detailed post about Jardin Majorelle here.

Le Jardin Majorelle is a one-hectare botanic garden, including an Art Déco villa and a museum about the History of the berbers.

The garden has the name of its founder, Jacques Majorelle, a French painter who created it in 1931. The garden was then bought in 1980 by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé to save it from desctruction. Nowadays it belongs to the Foundation Jardin Majorelle (which includes the YSL museum as well). 

Le Jardin Majorelle is considered the second most beautiful garden in the world, after Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.

My biggest advice : book your tickets in advance on their website : E-Ticket – JARDIN MAJORELLE

The earliest slot is 8 am and there will already be quite a few people.

The price is 15€ for adults and 7,5€ for students and you’ll spend a couple of hours hours there at least.

On you way to lunch break you can check out :

• The Koutoubia : it’s a monument that you don’t visit but it’s nice passing by (1st photo).
• The Mamoumia Hotel : luxury palace, with the possibility of visiting the interior and gardens free of charge after passing through the security gates (see 2nd to 6th pictures).
• Bab Agnaou : One of the 19 gateways (bab) in Marrakesh’s medina, built in the 13th century (Last photo).

Before having dinner you can enjoy some relaxing time at the Place des Epices.

It’s a small square, quieter than the souk, where you can enjoy a drink, buy a basket, tea or, of course, spices.
The ideal place to cool down is the Café des épices or one of the other cafés that line the square.
This square is the entrance to the carpet souk.

Day Four

For this last day, I suggest spending the morning (when it’s cooler in the souks) in the little streets of the Medina.

You can enjoy the atmosphere, buy some spices, souvenirs and home decor.

Don’t hesitate to push the door to some Riad in the streets, the hosts are more than happy to show you around most of the time !

After that you can try a typical hammam (the public ones are cheaper but may be more of a rustic experience, it can be less clean and peaceful than the SPA Hammam, which I recommend instead).

For the evening, you can book a tour in the Agafay Desert. You will get to discover the area, have a camel ride, enjoy a tajine in the desert and soak in the views for a few hours before heading back into the city.

And that wraps up my four days itinerary in Marrakesh !

It was a wonderful trip, in 4 days you get a really good feel of Marrakesh and can do a lot ! It’s well doable in 2 or 3 days if you skip some activities such as the Agafay Desert or the hammam.

If you need a personalized itinerary, you can fill this form and I’ll find you the best accommodations, flights and itinerary !