When travel time is precious, Four Seasons Hotel Marrakech shows you Marrakech at its best, helping you avoid the crowds and enjoy a more personal view of this exotic destination.
Day One: The Medina
Ben Youssef Medersa
Although mosques in Marrakech are closed to non-Muslims, one religious building – amongst Morocco’s finest examples of golden-age architecture – is open to all. Ben Youssef Medersa’s zellij mosaics, floral arabesques and calligraphic plasterwork will amaze you. Rely on your Four Seasons guide for insights into its sacred geometry.
The Souks – view video
Tiny stalls are piled to the rafters (and above) along narrow streets and alleys. There’s a souk for slippers, traditional Moroccan babouches. Other souks sell brass or basketware, lanterns, carpets, jewellery, leatherwork, pottery or textiles. Prepare for the sport of bargaining, which Marrakchi vendors raise to Olympic levels. With Four Seasons to guide your steps (and negotiations), you won’t need breadcrumbs to find your way home with your purchases.
The Square
Catch your breath over mint tea at a ringside seat and bask in the circuslike atmosphere of Djemâa el Fna square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Be charmed by snake charmers, and plan your return in the evening as the square transforms into the daily food fair. Four Seasons can point your tastebuds in the tastiest direction.
The Palaces
Badii Palace (el badii means “the incomparable”) is a vast yet imposing ruin that took 25 years to build but considerably less to plunder. For a hint of its past splendour, tour the beautiful Bahia Palace.
Day Two – The Gardens of Marrakech:
You might not be able to enter La Koutoubia Mosque itself, but anyone can admire its fine gardens. In fact, Marrakech a treasure trove of the influential Arabian style of courtyard gardens – including the Menara Gardens, right next door to Four Seasons.
Your own Four Seasons garden tour is cool in every sense. Relish the lush tropical feeling of the Majorelle Gardens before the crowds gather, and understand why Yves St-Laurent once made it his home. You might be inspired to paint something in your own garden that brilliant shade of majorelle blue.
Step into the 12th-century designed Aguedal Gardens to enjoy a view often reserved for royalty. Visit a local oliveraie (olive orchard), perhaps for private extra-virgin olive oil tasting arranged by your Four Seasons Concierge.
Let us fill your days with the unexpected and the under-explored.
