More than a thousand years ago, even before the Almoravid dynasty transformed this desert outpost into an urban oasis with an underground irrigation system surrounded by rose-hued mud-brick walls, Marrakech was already a major hub, on a dusty crossroads of adventurers and treasure hunters, slave traders, saints, and scholars. While it’s safe to say that Marrakech has evolved into the most glamorous city in North Africa, with no lack of five-star hotels and boldface-name visitors, the spirit of exchange and storytelling still pervades its labyrinthine alleyways and its heart — the legendary square Jamaa el-Fna.

Since my first visit to Marrakech in the early 2000s, the city has never ceased to delight. I have returned at least once or twice a year, and every time, without fail, I have encountered something or met someone that sparks wonder or a provocative line of thought. I think its mystery is in its design: The walls and facades of its fortlike architecture are towering and seemingly impenetrable (tellingly, the relatively small amount of damage done by the 2023 earthquake was repaired within months), and every door is like a unique work of art, each a different color and size. There is a distinct feeling that you’ll find something extraordinary behind every arched entrance — and it’s often true, whether what lies beyond is an ancient courtyard with orange trees surrounding a mosaic-covered fountain, or a remarkable personality.

The last time I was in Marrakech, I visited Sanctuary Slimane, a vast 25-acre permaculture farm outside the city owned by the Moroccan businessman Aziz Nahas. I understood almost immediately that this place — dotted with over 5,000 trees and dozens of vegetable beds planted as beautifully as art installations — was more than just a farm. With charming little studios and ceramic ateliers built among the orchards, as if they too were the fruit of this fertile patch of land, Sanctuary Slimane is a passion project, a laboratory of ideas, and an event venue. It also supplies a trio of the city’s more interesting new culinary projects, all located in the same building in Gueliz, a bustling and elegant French Colonial–era neighborhood outside the medina walls: Blue Ribbon, an excellent breakfast and lunch café; Farmers, an intimate and convivial bistro captained by the young Moroccan talent Driss Aloui; and the farm’s own shop, which sells vegetables and products like honey and dried herbs. The Sanctuary and its team of idealistic entrepreneurs continue to plant other projects within the city: Up next are a bookstore and a wine bar. They are proving that when you collaborate in creative ways with nature, many unexpected and extraordinary things can grow.

Not far from Gueliz, and next door to the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, whose stunning three-dimensional brick facade was designed by the widely acclaimed Studio KO, is Moro, an enchanting universe designed by two Moroccan entrepreneurs, Mohcyn Bousfiha and Mouad Mohsine. A courtyard garden of wild grass and a retro pool is lined on one side by a mid-century-inspired boutique hotel with 10 suites and on another by the coolest shop in the city, proffering items beautifully handcrafted by Bousfiha and his team of artisans — lambskin babouche slippers embellished with bronze scarabs; its own cultish perfume collection; suits in Jardin Majorelle blue — all with a tree growing right in the middle. If Saint Laurent were still alive, he would be its biggest client.

That’s the thing: This city never stops evolving. Currently Marrakech is experiencing yet another heady moment, with a boom of next-gen Moroccan makers, artists, and entrepreneurs who are, in various unique ways, reinterpreting and reclaiming their own rich culture and creating dynamic platforms and spaces within — and outside — the city. It’s a development that accelerated during the pandemic, when the city was closed to the outside world and locals did and made things for themselves rather than for visitors. The Marrakech-based artist Hassan Hajjaj noted to me recently that, thanks to the foundations laid by dozens of inspired entrepreneurs, artists, and designers in the last decade or so — many of them spotlighted in this guide — the city is now a flourishing destination on par with Paris or Istanbul. “Marrakech is like a beautiful puzzle to which so many people over time have added their piece.”
—Gisela Williams

To eat your way through Marrakech is to peel back the layers of Moroccan cuisine and travel from the past through the present and into the future. A crossroads on the spice route, Marrakech soaked up the influences of Amazigh (the preferred term for “Berber”), Arabic, Jewish, and French culinary heritages; lately it’s been embracing European and Asian influences, too. Today, Marrakech honors its traditions in the smoky food stalls of Jamaa el-Fna, where cumin-dusted lamb brochettes sizzle over open flames and sardines emerge crisp from vats of bubbling oil. Elsewhere, hole-in-the-wall canteens offer fragrant beans, tagines, and tangias, meat slow-cooked for hours in terra-cotta urns while nestled in the embers of the hammam and then served, spoon-tender, to hungry locals.

For years, elevated restaurants were serving anything but Moroccan food. Now, young chefs and restaurateurs are using traditional ingredients — preserved lemons, argan oil, the spice blend ras el hanout — in clever new ways, and celebrating seasonal produce, sourced (increasingly organically) from local farms. Housemade and unrefined dishes are taking center stage, and chefs are creating new dishes to call their own. It’s all coming together in a fledgling movement that will surely come to be known as the New Moroccan Cuisine. Here are six places to sample the city’s infinite variety.

For serious design shoppers, the 30-minute drive from the center of Marrakech to Sidi Ghanem (aka the Industrial Zone) is worth the trip. In the last decade, designers looking for more space for both production and a showroom have made this their area of choice. I love Sidi Ghanem’s grittier, more modern contrast to the medina, and its efficiency: Relatively small, it’s built on a grid, allowing you to do all your shopping in a few hours. I often head here on my last day for some very focused gift-buying. Schedule about half a day, including lunch; hiring a driver is a must to get from one place to the other. Plus, you’ll have a place to stash all your shopping bags.
—G.W.

For some time, Marrakech has been actively positioning itself as Africa’s hub for contemporary art, first with the Marrakech Biennale, launched in 2005 by Vanessa Branson (sister of Richard and owner of the El Fenn hotel). After the 2016 edition, Branson stepped aside, paving the way for a new generation of dynamic Moroccan curators, mostly women. Meanwhile, in 2013, the Moroccan entrepreneur Touria El Glaoui founded the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, which she expanded to Marrakech five years later. This year’s edition, which took place at the legendary La Mamounia hotel in February, brought in more than 30 galleries from 14 countries, in addition to studio visits, parties, and other exhibitions throughout the city. We spoke with El Glaoui about how the fair — along with a new generation of Moroccan artists, curators, and cultural instigators — has helped cement Marrakech’s status as one of the world’s most vibrant creative capitals.

My father, Hassam El Glaoui, was an artist — he started his art education in Paris, thanks to his relationship with Winston Churchill. [The prime minister, an amateur painter who spent time in Marrakech, had met the young El Glaoui there and supported his art education in France.] In 2013, when I started 1-54 at Somerset House in London, the excitement about contemporary African art was just beginning, and many collectors wanted to learn and buy more. When we decided in 2018 that we needed to position ourselves in Africa, Marrakech was a top choice. It’s a sexy destination that attracts collectors and it’s in the middle of a melting pot of cultures. It was also thanks to Vanessa Branson, who really helped position the city as a cultural destination and made it easier for me to build 1-54 there.

We want to make the fair accessible, so we don’t charge entrance fees to Moroccans. And although the main fair is located at the beautiful La Mamounia resort, we really embed ourselves throughout the city and beyond. We have multiple partners, including the newly renovated MACAAL. DaDa, a new cultural complex located on Jamaa el-Fna, is our second location; even when the fair is not in town we collaborate on their education programs so we’re participating in the city’s cultural ecosystem year-round. We also organize studio visits; there are a lot of artists based in the city and in Tahnaout, which is about a 30-minute drive away.

Besides MACAAL and DaDa, I send people to the Musée des Confluences in the historic palace Dar el Bacha, where they have strong exhibitions featuring traditional and historical Moroccan arts and craft objects. It’s also my favorite place to go for coffee. The new Jamaa el-Fna Museum of Intangible Heritage is right on the square and tells its history. The Belgian artist Eric Van Hove started this independent crazy atelier called Fenduq which supports local artists. The Comptoir des Mines Galerie is a world-class art space that boosts Moroccan creatives. The Montresso Art Foundation is worth the 40-minute drive outside the city and hosts many artists in residence.

One of my favorite people is the artist Hassan Hajjaj, who has been a mentor to many young creatives and is a real community person. His Riad Yima in the medina has always been a creative hub, and now he has Jajjah in Sidi Ghanem, which is everything from a gallery to a café.
—G.W.

3 ARTISTS TO WATCH

Mohamed Mourabiti
Self-taught artist and remarkably prolific, Mourabiti produces paintings, collages, and sculptures from various materials. One of his greatest works, however, may be Al Maqam (“the place” in Arabic), a studio, café, gallery, and residency studio in Tahnaout, a village en route to the Atlas Mountains.

Amine El Gotaibi
One of Morocco’s rising art stars, El Gotaibi has worked with thick wool to create sculptures, wrangled sheep into his installations, and dug into the earth to mark his name into the soil. His monumental installation of reflective metal “seeds” that emanated light in the courtyard of London’s Somerset House was one of the highlights of the 2023 edition of 1-54.

Yasmina Alaoui
A multidisciplinary French-Moroccan artist who works with unexpected materials like sand, crystals, and even hair to create sculptures or installations, Alaoui opened an expansive new studio this year on a farm outside Marrakech; visits can be made by appointment.

Although they often have the same keyhole-arched shape, no one door in Marrakech’s medina is the same. You’ll find centuries-old carved-wood doors, large and small; narrow doors in bright blue; metal doors with geometric patterns painted three different colors. Then there are the knockers: talismanic Fatima’s hands or carved stars made from brass or large heavy rings. “The architecture of the medina is so protective,” says Maryam Montague, the Marrakech hotelier, design maven, and human rights activist. “Small windows and high walls — you really can’t see into a home. Your front door is the one element where you are allowed to express your creativity or personality to the outside world.”
—G.W.

Every time I travel to Marrakech, without fail, I book a hammam, a body scrub treatment in a traditional Moroccan bathhouse. I would book two if I could but then I wouldn’t have any skin left. I am obsessed — not just because it leaves my skin as soft as a baby, but because when it’s done well, it makes you feel like you are a baby. As a mother of three, I have bathed my children about a thousand times; when I get a hammam someone is finally bathing me and washing my hair, the ultimate luxury.

Not all hammam treatments are the same. Traditionally, it is a communal experience, but most spas in Marrakech do it as a private treatment: First, you’re washed with black soap made from olive skins, followed by a serious scrub with an exfoliating glove called a kessa, which removes astonishing amounts of dead skin. Depending on the treatment, you might then receive an application of softening Rhassoul clay from the Atlas Mountains, or a thorough shampooing. More elaborate sessions might end with a massage.

There are dozens of hotels and spas with hammams in and outside the city — from extremely luxurious versions in five-star resorts to more authentic hammams in small riads or public spas — and for the last 20 years I have tried almost all of them, on a quest for the best. My all-time favorite, which is a splurge, is the hammam treatment at the Royal Mansour, located in its spa, whose lobby resembles a gorgeous birdcage. My ultimate Marrakech hack is to book a hammam as well as a pool day at the property, which includes an amazing lunch. My other top choice, which is much more affordable, is a hammam at Les Bains de Marrakech, right next to Porte Bab Er Robb and recently given a stylish renovation; a two-hour hammam with facial and massage is just $100.
—G.W.

Casablanca-born producer and DJ Abdellah M. Hassak was raised on an omnivorous diet of EDM, rock, metal, dub, and reggae — until his work as an audio archivist and field recordist inspired a deeper dive into traditional Moroccan and North African music. That’s when everything changed. Hassak took on the stage name Guedra Guedra (from the Amazigh guedra drum), and began mashing up Moroccan gnawa, Algerian raï, and Egyptian shaabi field recordings with thumping Chicago house and manic jungle beats. Word got out about his exuberant club and festival sets, where the mysterious DJ hid behind ornate face masks in the style of Morocco’s Zayane tribal people. (Shades of Daft Punk?) Today, Hassak / Guedra Guedra is one of the brightest lights in Morocco’s experimental music scene. For Further, he curated a playlist of songs that capture the energy and diversity of his adopted hometown.
—Peter Jon Lindberg

In a sleepy, impoverished village on the outskirts of Marrakech, a dozen girls excitedly swap their worn sandals for new sneakers. Donated kicks laced up, they join me in a warm-up, then we jog off down the dusty roads of Douar Laadam.

Women’s run clubs may be ubiquitous in the West. But in a Muslim-majority country where child marriage is common and girls regularly drop out of school, we were quite the spectacle. Noticing that girls weren’t playing sports or walking to school is what prompted Maryam Montague, an American expat hotelier, to start Project Soar in 2013. “Every girl has potential,” she says. “Our goal is to seed the next generation of changemakers.”

Project Soar provides girls with academic support, health education, empowerment coaching, and arts and sports classes free of charge if they pledge to stay in school. Since launching, its United Nations–backed curriculum has become available in 46 locations around Morocco and Syria. Nearly 14,000 girls have participated.

Proceeds from Peacock Pavilions, Montague’s dreamy boutique hotel in Douar Laadam, help fund the program, but as a nonprofit Project Soar relies on donations from outsiders. Every Sunday, its headquarters in the village opens its doors to visitors (suggested donation: $50). Over the years, I’ve volunteered to host skills workshops. Meriem, a speedy girl I bonded with in 2015, is now a program coordinator who goes to the capital on advocacy missions: an empowered girl, transformed into an empowered woman, working to create a more equal world.
—Jen Murphy

Gisela Williams is a contributing editor at the New York Times T Magazine, Travel + Leisure, and Harper’s Bazaar who writes about the intersection of culture, design, travel, and sustainability. Originally from New England, she has lived in Europe for almost two decades, and is currently based in Berlin with her family.

Tara Stevens writes about food and travel, mainly covering Spain and Morocco. She is also the founder of the Courtyard Kitchen at Dar Namir, a home-style cooking school and private dining venue in the Fez medina. She loves a good cocktail and is never happier than on the trail of something delicious to eat.

Jen Murphy is a freelance journalist who specializes in adventure travel and fitness. She regularly contributes to Condé Nast Traveler, Robb Report, Travel + Leisure, and the New York Times. When she’s not at her laptop, she’s out surfing, snowboarding, cycling, or trail running.