The Marrakech medina is the densest commercial space I have ever walked through. Two thousand stalls. Eighteen guilds. A thousand years of trade compressed into thirty thousand square meters. Walking into it for the first time is overwhelming. Walking back into it on the third morning is one of the great pleasures of travel.
This is a guide for that third morning, written for the first.
What the souks actually are
A “souk” is a market, but the Marrakech medina is not one market — it is many, organized by trade. You walk three minutes from the brassmakers (Souk Haddadine) to the leatherworkers (Souk Smata) to the dyers (Souk Sebbaghine) to the spice merchants (Souk Attarine). Each section has its own smell, its own sound, its own customers.
This organization is medieval and it is exactly the same as it was in the 12th century. The merchants are descendants of the original guilds. Some of the techniques are unchanged.
Where to start
Enter the medina through the Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square, and head north on Rue Souk Smarine. The first hundred meters are touristy — t-shirts, magnets, ceramics aimed at people who will be here only one day. Keep walking. After about ten minutes you reach the real market.
Three principles for the first morning:
Walk first, buy later. Do not buy from the first stall you see. Walk through the section for the thing you want — leather, spice, lamps, rugs — and look at five different vendors before you ask a price. You will see the range of quality and the range of prices.
Bring small bills. Many vendors will claim they have no change. They usually do, but a 200-dirham note for a 30-dirham item creates friction. Carry a stack of 20s and 50s.
Lose your map. I mean this literally. The souks are unmappable. Google Maps will get you within a hundred meters and then give up. The streets twist, double back, and dead-end at courtyards. Just walk. Look up periodically — the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque is visible from many places and orients you south.
What is worth buying
After three trips, here is what I think is worth your money in the medina:
Spices. The Souk Attarine sells saffron, ras el hanout, cumin, paprika, dried rose petals, sumac. Buy in small quantities — 30 to 50 grams each — from a vendor who lets you smell first. Saffron should be deep red, not orange. Real saffron is expensive everywhere; cheap saffron is dyed safflower. If the price is too good it is fake.
Argan oil. Cosmetic argan oil for skin and hair. Look for stamped wooden bottles or glass; avoid plastic. The cooperatives outside the city produce better and fairer-traded oil than the medina vendors, but a small bottle from a reputable stall in the medina is fine for personal use.
Leather. Marrakech leather is tanned in pits in the Souk Smata using methods that are 800 years old. The quality is excellent if you choose well — supple, hand-stitched, with the characteristic Moroccan dye colors. Buy a wallet, a small bag, or a pair of pointed-toe slippers (babouches). Avoid the dyed-red large items, which can bleed onto clothing.
Lanterns. Pierced brass or copper lanterns. The good ones are made one block over from where they are sold. You can hear the hammering all day. A medium-sized lantern is 200–400 dirham (20–40 euros). Wrap it carefully for the flight.
Tea glasses. The small Moroccan tea glasses — gold-rimmed, painted in geometric patterns — pack flat and weigh almost nothing. Buy six. Use them at home for years.
What is not worth buying
Carpets, unless you have done your research, have a lot of time, and are prepared for serious negotiation. The carpet shops are designed to keep you for two hours, ply you with mint tea, and walk you slowly toward a 1,500-euro purchase. There are excellent carpets in Marrakech. There are also a lot of mediocre ones at expert-level prices.
Lamps with electrical wiring. Buyer beware. Moroccan electrical work is often not to international standards. Buy candle lanterns instead.
Anything “antique” unless the vendor can prove it. Most “antiques” in the medina are made in the workshop next door, aged with tea, and sold at antique prices.
How to haggle
Haggling in Marrakech is not optional. Vendors expect it. The opening price is two to three times what they will accept. Your job is to find the real price somewhere in between.
The rough process:
1. Show interest, but not too much. Pick up the item, examine it, set it down again. Look at other things. 2. Ask the price. They will give you a number. Smile, look surprised, set the item down. 3. Counter at one-third of their opening. They will laugh or look offended. This is normal. 4. Negotiate up by small amounts. They will negotiate down by small amounts. The dance takes three to five rounds. 5. Walk away if needed. This is the strongest move. They will often call you back with their real price. 6. Pay in cash and leave with grace. No matter what the final price is, smile and say thank you. The transaction is now done.
Two things to remember while you are doing this. First, the difference between what you would pay and what a local would pay is often only a few euros. Do not destroy yourself over it. Second, the vendor is running a business and their family eats from these sales. A fair price is fair to both of you.
A small rule of thumb: if the final price feels like a steal to you, it is probably fair. If it feels expensive, you have probably been outmaneuvered.
The afternoon ritual
By 1 PM, the medina starts to slow. The sun is high, the alleys are hot, the vendors retreat into the shade with mint tea. This is the time to leave.
Walk back to the Jemaa el-Fnaa, find a rooftop café, and order a tagine and a pot of tea. Watch the square fill with snake charmers, juice vendors, henna artists. Recover your bearings.
Then, when the light begins to soften around four, return to the medina to buy the three or four things you decided you actually wanted this morning. The vendors will recognize you. The negotiation will be quicker. The prices will be fairer.
This is the third morning. It is when Marrakech starts making sense.