Marrakesh Holidays

The beating heart of Marrakesh, Jemaa el-Fnaa is UNESCO-recognised as an intangible cultural heritage site. By day it hosts orange-juice vendors, henna artists, and storytellers; by night the square fills with food stalls, musicians, acrobats, and snake charmers in a spectacle that has drawn travellers since the Middle Ages. Settle at a rooftop café terrace above the square as the sun drops behind the Koutoubia minaret — the call to prayer echoing across the smoke of a hundred braziers — and you'll understand instantly why Marrakesh endures as one of the world's great cities.

Stretching north from Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakesh's medina souks are organised by trade in a pattern unchanged for five centuries. Dyers haul freshly coloured silks through alleyways; leather workers tool intricately stamped bags beside lantern-makers who cut tin into geometric constellations. The spice souk, piled with cumin, saffron, and dried rose petals, is a photographer's dream. Bargaining is expected and half the pleasure — Travel Orbit's guides brief you on how to navigate the souks with confidence and bring home the pieces you actually want.

A vivid cobalt-blue villa and garden created by French painter Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and later owned by Yves Saint Laurent, the Majorelle Garden is Marrakesh's most beloved retreat from the medina's intensity. Towering cacti, bamboo groves, and the electric blue of the Berber Museum buildings are reflected in koi-filled pools and fountains. The adjacent Yves Saint Laurent Museum explores the designer's obsession with Morocco and is one of the finest fashion museums on the continent. Book in advance — queues can be long in peak season.