Marrakesh travel essentials: your first hours sorted

Marrakesh Menara airport (RAK) is close to the city, but the medina (old town) is a warren of lanes that cars can’t enter — so your riad will usually arrange a driver to the nearest gate plus a porter to walk you the last few minutes with your bags. This is the single best thing to pre-arrange: finding a tucked-away riad on foot after dark, dodging “helpful” strangers, is the classic stressful arrival.

If you take an airport petit taxi instead, agree the fare before you get in (meters are often “not working”), and have your riad’s exact location and phone number ready. There’s no Uber or Careem in Marrakesh.

A Morocco eSIM set up before you fly gets you online on arrival — useful for calling your riad and using maps in the medina (though GPS struggles among the tall, narrow lanes). Coverage in the city is good. An eSIM saves queueing for a local SIM at the airport.

Marrakesh runs on cash. The Moroccan dirham is a “closed” currency you generally can’t buy before you travel, so withdraw from an ATM on arrival (machines at the airport and across the city are fine; choose dirhams, not your home currency). Riads, bigger restaurants and shops increasingly take cards, but the souks, petit taxis, tips and street food are all cash — carry small notes and coins for haggling and tipping.

Inside the medina you walk — it’s a wonderful, disorienting maze. For longer trips (the new town Gueliz, the gardens), beige petit taxis are cheap; agree the fare first or ask them to use the meter. One Marrakesh particular: “faux guides” — men (and kids) who offer to lead you somewhere or insist your route/riad is “closed” or “this way”, then demand money. A polite, firm “no thank you” (“la, shukran”) and walking on confidently is all it takes.

Morocco is a Muslim country and, while Marrakesh is used to tourists, dressing modestly — shoulders and knees covered, looser clothing — draws noticeably less attention and is respectful, especially away from pools and riad roof terraces. Many solo women find that modest dress plus calm, confident body language makes the souks far more relaxed. Carry a light scarf.

The big days out from Marrakesh — the Atlas Mountains and Berber villages, the Agafay desert, a multi-day Sahara trip, or coastal Essaouira — are long drives best done with a reputable operator with proper vehicles and reviews, not a cheap kerbside offer. For overnight desert trips especially, the operator’s safety and comfort matter.