Travel Log: Marrakech Medina Tour + Jardin Majorelle, Morocco

You may have seen via Instagram that I recently spent two weeks in northern Africa including about a week in Morocco, with that time split between Marrakech and Casablanca. Morocco has been on my bucket list for a while, and while late August is not considered the best time to visit due to high (sometimes extreme) temperatures that timing ended up working out the best for my husband and my work schedules. For that reason, we decided to brave the heat, not delay a visit any longer, and just go experience our first taste of the amazing blend of Arab, Berber, and French culture, food, history, and architecture. The heat ended up not being as bad as I expected--mornings and evenings were comfortable and mid day hovered just under 100 degrees F (37-38 degrees C) compared to the week prior to our visit which was 120 degrees F (~38 degrees C) mid day! Amanjena was our home away from home in Marrakech (more on that in another post), where we absolutely enjoyed air conditioned rooms and our private pool during the hottest hours each day. I wish we could have had more time to explore this incredible and vibrant city, but we will absolutely be back. Please continue on to see more photos and details of the places and sights we toured during our time in Marrakech.

The activity I was most excited about for our time in Marrakech was a morning tour of the medina with a guide arranged by our hotel. We spent several hours walking through the medina with our guide and our first stop was Medersa Ben Youssef, a UNESCO world heritage site that was built in the 14th century and was once the largest Islamic school in Africa. We learned that children would spend many years memorizing the Quran in order to be granted entry to this school where they would continue their studies toward careers as scholars or judges. The school was closed in 1960, restored, and reopened as a historical site in 1982. We were able to walk around and into the students' rooms upstairs and learned that there was some friendly competition among the students to earn the "best" rooms overlooking the courtyard and pool that you see in the above photo and also the first photo below. Other rooms perhaps had a view of the street or none at all. We really enjoyed walking through the Medersa Ben Youssef and I think it was well worth the 50 moroccan dirham (~$5 USD) entry fee.

Our next stop was the Dar el Bacha Museum, a beautiful palace built in 1910 and home of Thami el Glaoui, a pasha (governor or high official) and the most powerful Moroccan official south of France for a period of time. Dar el Bacha means "house of the pasha" and was elaborately built in Moroccan riad style with a central garden, fountains, a hammam (Turkish bath), multiple salons, residence areas, and of course gorgeous woodwork and mosaic tilework. The salons around the courtyard currently house beautiful pieces of Moroccan art, and there is a cafe that specializes in premium Bacha coffee. I had such a hard time choosing which coffee to purchase from the floor to ceiling canisters, but settled on a lighter medium roast called "black moon" that had floral aromas and was quite delicious. Bacha coffee is not cheap, the pricing is similar to other small lot premium coffee at $25-$45 for one half pound. Entry fee into Dar el Bacha Museum is 70 moroccan dirhams (~$7 USD).

In addition to these two museums, we toured the maze-like streets and took in the architecture, vibrant colors, and assortment of shops. The shops included stunning pieces of handmade furniture (we definitely want to come back at some point to purchase pieces for our next home), high quality handmade Berber rugs (we purchased two at what our guide advised was a government regulated shop to ensure quality of craftsmanship and tracing back to the artists and tribes who created each rug. The shop was very nondescript from the outside and did not have rugs hanging outside like you see in one of the photos below), essential oils and spices (we bought some prickly pear oil that is supposed to be the next best thing for youthful skin and much better than retinol--we shall see!), and more. We ended at the Jamaa el-Fna square with a vibrant scene of vendors and snake charmers. We had a wonderful morning with our guide and I highly recommend touring with a professional guide if you are like me and want to learn as much as possible during your time here.

The following afternoon we did a self tour of Jardin Majorelle, located a bit northwest of the medina, and the Berber Museum on the same grounds. Jardin Majorelle is a gorgeous botanical garden that was originally created in the 1920's by a French artist named Jacques Majorelle and later purchased in the 1980's by the famous fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent and his partner/business manager Pierre Berge who restored it and Yves Saint-Laurent's ashes were spread in the garden in 2008 after he died. Today the public can tour the garden and the Berber Museum on the grounds with a combined ticket cost of 220 moroccan dirhams (~$23 USD), and this year is the garden's 100th anniversary! There is also an Yves Saint Laurent Museum next to the garden that opened in 2017 and has an additional cost to enter, but we chose not to tour that one due to mediocre reviews online.

Have you visited Marrakech or is this city or is it on your list? I hope that after reading through this travel log you may be intrigued to learn more about this vibrant city and the country of Morocco. If you have visited Marrakech, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment below to share your favorite moments. Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope you have a great rest of your week!