5 things to know before heading to Marrakech, Morocco

Marrakech is always a good idea (see what I did there, lol) When I made plans to attend Paris Fashion Week this year, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to head to Morocco which is only a 3hour 20minute flight from Paris. After watching Sex And The City Movie 2, years ago (It was actually shot in Morocco not Abu Dhabi) I knew it would be the right place for a girls trip!  Today I will be highlighting more of what to do in Marrakech, stay tuned for part two where I dive into how I put this trip together.

Morocco is the second African country I have visited (I am working on changing that in the coming year) and that is kinda sad with all my travels! It is my second time (Dubai was the first) visiting a predominantly Muslim country and my experience was positive! I wasn’t too concerned about my dressing because, for the most part, I dress modestly.

FROM LEFT @AWEDBYMONI @TORONTOSHAY @CHERRYPICKEDSTYLE

SHOP THEIR LOOKS BELOW

What to wear

You don’t need to change your entire wardrobe just because you’re visiting Marrakech (same goes for UAE) As you can see from our outfits, we wore what we would regularly wear. With the exception being booty shorts and outfits that exposed our bosom area (except with our pool shots) We shot our pool photos in our private pool villa. I would have still worn the same pool look in our resort. Wear sleeveless outfits and rock your one-arm look with ease. And NO, you don’t have to cover your hair. I am highlighting this because I got a lot of questions about this.

SHOP ALL MY LOOKS BELOW

The People

The people of Marrakech were some of the nicest people I have ever encountered period! and I have done quite a bit of travel in my time. We got offered Moroccan tea in one shop we visited and we took photos at the Old Medina Market with no issues (we were respectful of stales that had signs “no photos”) Yes, we got heckled “sister” “brown girl” “I like you”  etc some a bit offensive but nothing racist and nothing new to me TBH. I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and when I went into the thick of the market, this was the norm. We went to the market with a guide so we felt safe. I highly recommend one so you don’t get lost! (They cost about 500 Dihrams which is $50 for 5hours) It gets pretty crazy with motorcycles, riding through the market and lots of people.

Where to stay

I would advice staying a resort of some kind if you can. Hotels here generally are not as expensive as say the US and with the exchange rate of 10Moroccan Dihrams to a Dollar, your dollar will go a long way. We stayed in a 5-star resort called The Selman, Marrakech and made the most of it by creating a ton of content on property. We had our own private villa which came with a pool and a butler. We also had an amazing spa experience.

The Food

I am obsessed with Moroccan tea (mint & black is my fav) Tagine (lamb, beef), CousCous, traditional Moroccan breakfast just to name a few. I had the best salmon meal of my life in Marrakech. It was a Salmon fillet with spinach but wrapped in the yummiest crust! Head to my Instagram page (click on Marrakech Highlights) to see the images. Keep in mind most of what we ate were at our resort. Alcohol is not offered everywhere (since it’s a Muslim country) but you definitely can order while you’re in your resort. Not sure where you can buy since we just ordered in our resort.

We took the photo above at Old Medina Market and the one below at Le Jardin Secret.

Security

We never felt unsafe at any point during our stay but we never wandered in public places. We did that in our resort. We also went through Fast track at the airport (highly recommended) cos the faces of the immigration officers weren’t exactly the friendliest. Fast track basically means someone meets you as you get off the plane and expedites/walks you thought the entire process till you are out of the airport. Our hotel picked us up from the airport.

Things to do

There is so much to do in Marrakech and we explored a bit of that. We were there for 3 nights so we definitely didn’t do it all. I plan to visit again with my family. We went on a desert excursion (a must in Marrakech) rode camels, we watched a horse show ( I recommend doing that too) Visit the Old Medina Market a few times, lol. Get Henna, Visit the YSL Museum and Majorelle Garden Foundation (it’s so beautiful) Do not leave Marrakech without getting a traditional Hammam treatment. We had ours at the Chenot spa at the Selman.

FYI Americans and Canadians don’t need a visa to visit Morocco. There is so much to Morocco than Marrakech and I plan to explore beyond this beautiful city soon.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for Part II of my Marrakech girls trip recap!