Marrakech Medina Guide: A Walk Through the Souks

The medina of Marrakech has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, and it's still a working city, not a museum. People live, pray, study and trade here, and the lanes are built for handcarts and mopeds, not tour groups. This walk takes a morning at a relaxed pace. Start by 9am, when shops are opening and the lanes are calm.

1. Jemaa el-Fna. Begin on the north side of the square and look for the arch leading into Souk Semmarine, the main covered spine of the souks.
2. Souk Semmarine. Textiles, slippers and souvenirs under a slatted roof that throws stripes of light on the ground. Keep to the right and let carts pass.
3. Rahba Kedima. Where Semmarine forks, turn right into this small square, the old spice and grain market. Baskets of cumin and paprika, dried chameleons in the herbalists' stalls and woven hats. The rooftop cafés here look down on it all.
4. Souk des Babouches and Souk Cherratine. Walk north through the lane of babouches, the pointed leather slippers, then the leather workers.
5. Ben Youssef Madrasa. The old Koranic school, with a courtyard of cedar, stucco and tilework around a long pool. Buy tickets at the entrance and give it an hour.
6. The Almoravid Koubba. A few steps from the madrasa. This small domed pavilion, the Koubba Ba'adiyn, is the oldest surviving building in the city.
7. Le Jardin Secret. Walk west along Rue Mouassine to this restored garden, a calm courtyard of fountains and orange trees. Climb the tower for a view.
8. Souk des Teinturiers. The dyers' lane near the Mouassine Mosque, where skeins of freshly dyed wool hang overhead to dry.
9. Mouassine Fountain. A 16th-century public fountain, still in use, with separate troughs once used by people and animals. From here, follow the signs or the flow of people south back to the square.

Finding your way

Map apps work, but not perfectly. Lanes change names, some lead into dead ends, and GPS drifts under covered roofs. Look for the small brown arrows with a square symbol pointing back to Jemaa el-Fna. If someone says a lane is closed or offers to lead you, smile, thank them and carry on.

A word on the tanneries in the north-east of the medina: the vats of dye are striking, but the visits are usually a set-up that ends in a leather shop with a sprig of mint for the smell. Go only if you're happy to be sold to. The three-day itinerary fits this walk into your first morning, and our travel guide covers haggling.