Things to do · Marrakech · Morocco

18 best things to do in Marrakech

18 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.

Updated 23 October 2026By the AMZBooking editorial team

Quick answer

The essential sights in Marrakech are Jemaa el-Fnaa, Koutoubia Mosque and Bahia Palace. Of the 18 picks below, 5 are free, 4 work on a rainy day and 4 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.

Top sight: Jemaa el-Fnaa
Free sights: 5
Good on a rainy day: Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech
Time to see the highlights: 4 days

At a glance

Things to do in Marrakech: area, time needed and cost
Sight	Area	Time needed	Cost
Jemaa el-Fnaa	Medina	2–3 hours, best at dusk	Free
Koutoubia Mosque	Medina	30 minutes	Free
Bahia Palace	Medina	1 hour	Low cost
Jardin Majorelle	Gueliz	1–1.5 hours	Mid-priced
Ben Youssef Madrasa	Medina	45 minutes	Low cost
The souks	Medina	Half a day	Free
Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech	Gueliz	1 hour	Mid-priced
Saadian Tombs	Kasbah	30–45 minutes	Low cost
El Badi Palace	Kasbah	1 hour	Low cost
Le Jardin Secret	Mouassine	1 hour	Low cost
The Mellah	Mellah	1–1.5 hours	Low cost
Dar Si Said	Medina	1 hour	Low cost
Menara Gardens	Hivernage	1 hour	Free
Hammam experience	Medina	1–2 hours	Low cost
Maison de la Photographie	Medina	1 hour	Low cost
Marrakech Museum	Medina	45 minutes	Low cost
Cyber Park	Avenue Mohammed V	30–45 minutes	Free
Sunrise hot-air balloon flight	Plains outside Marrakech	Half a day including transfers	Expensive

The 18 best things to do

Landmark · Medina

1.Jemaa el-Fnaa

Marrakech's main square changes through the day: orange-juice carts and snake charmers in the morning, then storytellers, Gnaoua musicians, acrobats and henna artists, and from late afternoon dozens of open-air food stalls with grills and benches. UNESCO recognised its living traditions in 2001 as a masterpiece of intangible heritage.

Watch the evening transformation from a rooftop café, then eat at a busy numbered stall; expect to pay performers if you photograph them.

Time needed: 2–3 hours, best at dusk
Cost: Free

Iconic
Free
After dark
Food
Kids
Photo spot

Religious site · Medina

2.Koutoubia Mosque

The 77-metre minaret of the Koutoubia, completed under the Almohads in the 12th century, is the city's landmark and a model for the Giralda in Seville. Non-Muslims cannot enter the mosque, but the gardens beside it are free and the minaret is lit at night.

Walk through the rose gardens behind the mosque at sunset, when the call to prayer carries across the square.

Time needed: 30 minutes
Cost: Free

Iconic
Free
Architecture
History
After dark

Palace · Medina

3.Bahia Palace

Built in the late 19th century for the grand viziers Si Moussa and his son Ba Ahmed, the Bahia Palace spreads across courtyards and gardens decorated with zellige tilework, carved stucco and painted cedar ceilings. The vast marble courtyard and the harem quarters are the highlights.

Arrive at opening; tour groups fill the courtyards by late morning.

Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: Low cost

Architecture
History
Photo spot
Iconic

Garden · Gueliz

4.Jardin Majorelle

The French painter Jacques Majorelle created this garden from the 1920s around a studio painted in his signature cobalt blue; Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought and restored it in 1980. Cacti, bamboo and bougainvillea surround pools and fountains, and the former studio houses a museum of Amazigh (Berber) arts.

Book the first slot of the day and pair it with the YSL Museum a few steps away.

Time needed: 1–1.5 hours
Cost: Mid-priced
Book ahead: Entry is by timed ticket bought online, and slots sell out in high season; book a few days ahead.

Iconic
Couples
Photo spot
Art
Nature

Historic site · Medina

5.Ben Youssef Madrasa

Rebuilt by the Saadians in the 16th century, this Quranic school was once among the largest in North Africa. Its courtyard of carved cedar, stucco and zellige around a marble pool is one of the finest in Morocco, and the tiny student rooms upstairs overlook it. It reopened in 2022 after restoration.

Combine it with the Marrakech Museum and the Maison de la Photographie, both a few minutes' walk away.

Time needed: 45 minutes
Cost: Low cost

Architecture
History
Iconic
Photo spot

Market · Medina

6.The souks

North of Jemaa el-Fnaa, a maze of covered lanes is divided by trade: Souk Semmarine for textiles and slippers, the dyers' souk with skeins of coloured wool drying overhead, the metalworkers of Souk Haddadine, and stalls of leather, lanterns, spices and carpets.

Haggle with a smile, start well below the first price and walk away politely if you can't agree; ignore anyone who says a lane is closed.

Time needed: Half a day
Cost: Free

Iconic
Shopping
Free
Photo spot

Museum · Gueliz

7.Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech

Opened in 2017 in a terracotta-brick building close to Jardin Majorelle, the museum displays rotating selections of Yves Saint Laurent's haute couture, sketches and photographs, alongside temporary exhibitions on fashion and Moroccan culture.

Buy a combined ticket with Jardin Majorelle and see the museum first while the garden is at its busiest.

Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: Mid-priced

Art
Rainy day
Architecture

Historic site · Kasbah

8.Saadian Tombs

Sealed off for centuries and rediscovered in 1917, the tombs of the Saadian dynasty lie beside the Kasbah Mosque. The Chamber of the Twelve Columns, with marble pillars and gilded cedar, holds the tomb of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur.

Come early or late in the day; the queue to look into the main chamber is longest at midday.

Time needed: 30–45 minutes
Cost: Low cost

History
Architecture

Palace · Kasbah

1.El Badi Palace

Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur's 16th-century palace was stripped of its marble and gold a century later, leaving vast ruined walls, sunken gardens and pools where storks nest on the ramparts. The 12th-century carved minbar from the Koutoubia mosque is displayed inside.

Climb to the corner terraces for views over the medina and, on clear winter days, the snowy Atlas.

Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: Low cost

History
Views
Photo spot
Kids

Garden · Mouassine

2.Le Jardin Secret

Behind a doorway on Rue Mouassine, this restored 19th-century palace has two gardens — an Islamic garden laid out in four quarters around a fountain and an exotic garden of plants from around the world — watered by a restored traditional channel system. Its tower looks over the medina's rooftops.

Pay the small extra fee to climb the tower, and come in the late afternoon when the gardens are quieter.

Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: Low cost

Couples
Nature
Views
Off the beaten path

Neighbourhood · Mellah

3.The Mellah

Founded in the 16th century beside the royal palace, the Mellah was Marrakech's Jewish quarter. The restored Lazama Synagogue and the large Jewish cemetery recall its history, and nearby Place des Ferblantiers rings with the hammering of lantern makers and metalworkers.

Visit the synagogue and the cemetery, and be firm with unofficial guides waiting at the entrances.

Time needed: 1–1.5 hours
Cost: Low cost

History
Shopping
Off the beaten path

Museum · Medina

4.Dar Si Said

A 19th-century palace built for the brother of the grand vizier Ba Ahmed, Dar Si Said now houses the national museum of weaving and carpets, with rugs and textiles from Morocco's regions displayed around painted courtyards.

Visit before shopping for carpets to learn regional styles and what good quality looks like.

Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: Low cost

Art
History
Rainy day
Off the beaten path

Garden · Hivernage

5.Menara Gardens

West of the medina, the Menara Gardens are Almohad-era olive groves around a large 12th-century reservoir, with a green-roofed 19th-century pavilion reflected in the water and the High Atlas behind it on clear winter days.

Come in the late afternoon in winter or spring for the classic photo of the pavilion against the mountains.

Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: Free

Free
Photo spot
Outdoors
Kids

Experience · Medina

6.Hammam experience

A hammam — a hot steam room, black olive soap (savon beldi) and a vigorous scrub with a kessa glove — is a weekly ritual for many Moroccans. Neighbourhood public hammams are inexpensive and separated by sex, while riad and spa hammams add massages and privacy.

For a first visit choose a spa or riad hammam with the scrub included; for a public one, bring flip-flops, a towel and a change of underwear.

Time needed: 1–2 hours
Cost: Low cost

Couples
Rainy day

Gallery · Medina

7.Maison de la Photographie

In a restored house near the Ben Youssef Madrasa, this gallery shows photographs of Moroccan life from the 1870s to the 1950s, including early images of the Atlas and the south, and has a rooftop café looking over the medina.

Finish with mint tea on the roof terrace, one of the calmest views in the northern medina.

Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: Low cost

Art
History
Views
Off the beaten path

Museum · Medina

8.Marrakech Museum

Housed in the 19th-century Dar Menebhi palace beside the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the Marrakech Museum shows Moroccan art and crafts around a vast tiled central courtyard hung with an enormous brass chandelier.

Step in when the madrasa queue is long; the courtyard is a cool, quiet place to sit.

Time needed: 45 minutes
Cost: Low cost

Architecture
Art
Rainy day

Garden · Avenue Mohammed V

9.Cyber Park

Arsat Moulay Abdeslam, an 18th-century royal garden on Avenue Mohammed V, is now a public park of orange and olive trees, fountains and shaded benches; its nickname comes from the internet kiosks added in the 2000s.

Use it as a shady rest stop on the walk between the Koutoubia and Gueliz.

Time needed: 30–45 minutes
Cost: Free

Free
Kids
Outdoors

Experience · Plains outside Marrakech

10.Sunrise hot-air balloon flight

Sunrise balloon flights lift off from the plains outside the city and drift over villages, palm groves and fields, with the High Atlas on the horizon. Flights usually last about an hour, and most operators include a pre-dawn hotel pickup and breakfast.

Choose an operator that publishes its licence and safety record, and keep the next morning free in case wind cancels the flight.

Time needed: Half a day including transfers
Cost: Expensive
Book ahead: Book a few days ahead in high season; flights depend on the weather and are sometimes rescheduled.

Views
Couples
Photo spot

Pick by interest

Marrakech sights grouped by interest
Interest	Best picks
Art and museums	Jardin Majorelle, Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech, Dar Si Said and Maison de la Photographie
History	Koutoubia Mosque, Bahia Palace, Ben Youssef Madrasa and Saadian Tombs
Views	El Badi Palace, Le Jardin Secret, Maison de la Photographie and Sunrise hot-air balloon flight
Outdoors and nature	Jardin Majorelle, Le Jardin Secret, Menara Gardens and Cyber Park
Food and markets	Jemaa el-Fnaa and The souks
After dark	Jemaa el-Fnaa and Koutoubia Mosque
With children	Jemaa el-Fnaa, El Badi Palace, Menara Gardens and Cyber Park
On a rainy day	Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech, Dar Si Said, Hammam experience and Marrakech Museum

What to book ahead

Jardin Majorelle: Entry is by timed ticket bought online, and slots sell out in high season; book a few days ahead.
Sunrise hot-air balloon flight: Book a few days ahead in high season; flights depend on the weather and are sometimes rescheduled.

Plan the rest of your trip

Questions travellers ask

+What is the number one thing to do in Marrakech?

Jemaa el-Fnaa. Marrakech's main square changes through the day: orange-juice carts and snake charmers in the morning, then storytellers, Gnaoua musicians, acrobats and henna artists, and from late afternoon dozens of open-air food stalls with grills and benches.

+What can you do for free in Marrakech?

Jemaa el-Fnaa, Koutoubia Mosque, The souks, Menara Gardens and Cyber Park. More free things to do.

+What is there to do in Marrakech when it rains?

Head indoors to Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech, Dar Si Said, Hammam experience and Marrakech Museum.

+What is there to do in Marrakech at night?

Jemaa el-Fnaa and Koutoubia Mosque are best after dark.