Accompanying persons’ and optional tours

Available:
Wednesday, October 13
Thursday, October 14
Friday, October 15
(Choose one day only)

Guests on the Marrakech city tour will visit the Koutoubia Mosque, El Bahia Palace, the Menara gardens, souks, and Djemaa El Fna square. The first stop is the Koutoubia Mosque. One of the best examples of Hispano-Moorish art, and certainly one of the most impressive sights in Marrakech. Next is El Bahia Palace, which stands in a 2-acre garden and is a haphazard arrangement of secret luxury apartments opening onto inner courtyards. From there you’ll visit the Menara gardens, whose large central lake dates back to the 12th century. The next stop is the souks. The souks are a riot of colour, noise and activity, full of silver and gold merchants, and rows of stalls selling leatherwork, copper goods and jewellery. The last stop on the tour: Djemaa El Fna square, which features entertainment from storytellers, snake charmers, acrobats, and Gnawa musicians. The tour ends at the terrace of a local café overlooking the square.

The Dar Si Said Museum of Moroccan Arts is housed in an opulent palace that is a delight to explore. It boasts a grand collection of Berber jewellery and weapons, Hispano-Moorish pieces and much more. Next stop is the Maison Tiskiwin, where you may admire the private art collection of Dutch anthropologist Bert Flint. Each room represents a region of Morocco with indigenous crafts, from welltravelled Tuareg leather camel saddles to fine Middle Atlas carpets. Last stop is the Maison Majorelle, a lovely botanical garden created in the 1920s by French painter Jacques Majorelle, and later maintained by designer Yves Saint-Laurent.

When in Marrakech, visitors should not miss out on the experience of wandering through the maze of markets called “souks”, located on the streets north of the Djemaa El Fna and southwest of the Musée de Marrakech. Guides will facilitate the visit through the hundreds of market stalls sellling everything from leather goods, carpets, olive products, musical instruments, slippers, and much more.

This desert adventure takes guests from Marrakech to Ouirgane, 80km to the south, gateway to the foot of the Atlas range and a picturesque area of gorges. Then it’s on to La Roseraie via challenging dirt tracks. La Roseraie is a small resort at the foot of the Toubkal, set in 22 hectares of grounds and surrounded by rosebeds in perpetual bloom. The 1,000-metre altitude has traditionally made La Roseraie a choice destination for climatic cures. After a leisurely lunch, guests head back to Marrakech.

A two-hour drive from Marrakech, the picturesque coastal town of Essaouira is one of Morocco’s most enchanting spots. Both laid-back port town and chic seaside resort, Esssaouira is currently on the tourist A-lists. In the 15th century, under Portuguese occupation, this fortified town was called Mogador. Its medina was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2001. For visitors, Essaouira is the place to explore on foot.