48 hours in MARRAKECH
If you’re seeking an escape from the everyday, it’s hard to beat Marrakech as a short-break destination
FOR A thousand years, Marrakech has served as a bustling market town in the heart of Morocco. A thriving centre for traders, the old city – the Medina – offers a feast for the senses with its intense, earthy colours, a cacophony of sounds and a symphony of smells. It’s a heady mix that draws visitors in, tempted into a network of alleyways to discover more about this thrilling destination.
Landing in Marrakech is like being transported to another world, yet it’s only three hours and 20 minutes’ flight from London to Menara airport, making it an attractive proposition for a weekend break. Devoid of homogenised global chain stores and cookie-cutter eateries, Morocco is a gateway to Africa, and reflects an exotic blend of Arabic, Berber and French culture and history at every turn.
Many of the riads –- traditional merchants’ houses, built around a central courtyard – have now been converted into boutique hotels, offering the chance to stay in the heart of the city in authentic style. With their thick walls and internal gardens, riads offer a quiet oasis to rest after a day discovering the surrounding streets. Between shopping, eating street food and exploring, make sure you escape the hurly-burly and treat yourself to the local ritual of a restorative hammam bath. SATURDAY SHOPPING YOU COULD easily spend a full day – or more – meandering around numerous different souks, where stall holders ply their wares with an energetic fervour, and quissariats (covered markets) across the city. Many specialise in ancient artisan crafts, from terracotta tableware to colourful glass lanterns, handwoven rugs, embellished leather bags, basketware, kaftans and butter-soft leather babouche slippers. Contemporary designers and crafters sell their wares in Souq Cherifia, a galleried market where bespoke monogrammed baskets and high-end bohemian clothes are in abundance. Foodies will savour the array of spices in Rahba Kehdima (Apothecaries’ Square) while Creiee Berbere is home to a bewildering assortment of carpet sellers.
And of course, part of the fun of shopping here is bartering: make your first bid about half of what you’re willing to pay, then haggle politely – you may be offered a fresh mint tea to sip while hammering out a price. If you are browsing in the newer boutiques and stores in the Ville Nouvelle (New City), prices are fixed, so don’t bargain there. EXOTIC EVENINGS MARRAKECH offers plenty of scope for epicurean adventures to suit all budgets. For fine dining, head to La Maison Arabe, a romantic candlelit dining room that was a favourite with Jackie Kennedy and Winston Churchill. For a leaf-shaded lunch, La Famille offers Mediterranean-Moroccan fusion, with delicious salads, while Le Jardin provides light meals in a palm-fringed courtyard. Tuck into a fragrant tagine with couscous in a cushion-filled restaurant in the Kasbah during your stay, and experience the kaleidoscope of street food served in the Djemaa el Fna (main square), while surrounded by snake charmers, acrobats, belly dancers, storytellers and medicine men. GARDEN ESCAPE ESCAPE from the hubbub of life in the city for a tranquil wander around Jardin Majorelle, designed by French-born artist Jacques Majorelle, who made his home in Marrakech and whose paintings were inspired by the city and its surrounding landscapes. The enchanting plot, featuring a striking Cubist villa, commissioned from the architect Paul Sinoir in 1931, became a passion project for Majorelle – an amateur botanist who fashioned a ‘cathedral of shapes and colours’ from plants imported from around the world. The signature vibrant royal blue used around the site has become widely known as Marjorelle Blue.
Majorelle opened his garden to the public and attracted many admirers to his plot, but it was left untended after his death in 1962. Fashion designer Yves St Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, bought the site in 1980, and made it their second home. St Laurent declared: ‘This city taught me colour.’ His ashes were scattered here after his death in 2008, with a memorial built in the garden.
Majorelle’s studio is now a museum dedicated to Berber culture – the richly embellished clothes and accessories of the nomadic tribes are worth seeing – and visitors can explore the exotic flora and immerse themselves in the intense colours of this incredible property.
This October, some 50 years after Yves St Laurent first visited Morocco, a state-of-the-art fashion museum is due to open in his former home (and venue of many wild global glitterati parties), Villa Oasis, attached to Jardin Majorelle. The space will house thousands of garments and haute couture accessories, celebrating the designer’s prolific, acclaimed career, curated by Pierre Bergé. It will certainly become a point of pilgrimage for fashionistas, but will provide a fascinating insight into contemporary culture and style for all.