Marrakech tips for scaredy-cats, please!

[TwoWimminGoingWildish]

We are two women going on a week-long break to Marrakech to escape stressful jobs and demanding kids.

we

can’t

wait

However, my appearance is quite “alt” (I have rainbow coloured hair) and my friend is a pasty-white ginger. I’m quite worried that we’ll stand out a mile as targets for pushy salespeople etc. - would appreciate hints and tips on how to “be” in Marrakech!

Went earlier this year with my DD and we didn’t get hassled at all!
She ended up in hospital (ill) and I couldn’t fault it at all - clean / saw triage and doctor fast / thoroughly dealt / prescribed exactly what she needed and only cost £50!

It’s been about 15 years since I went so things might have changed but I found it very hard to find tampons, and paid through the nose for some in a hotel. So maybe pack some if you think you’ll need them.

(I also didn’t like Marrakesh generally but am not going to spoil this thread!)

Everyone is a target for pushy salesmen, you’ll be no different there!

Stick together, lone women do have a different experience from those in groups or couples. Move, look at things, smile vaguely, acknowledge, keep moving - basically act like a member of the royal family.

I’d recommend booking private guides through the tourist office - your very own English-speaking tour guide (and bodyguard). So relaxing and a great way to see things you mightn’t be confident about finding easily. So a good way to see lots of things in a short time, that you can return to confidently at leisure.

If a guide takes you to a shop, don’t buy then and there - they’re doing it for commission. If you like the stuff, go back another day for more normal rates.

Rugs, pottery, wooden things, argan products.

Have a lovely time!

Also Fes is worth a visit for the even more ancient, winding, busy, easy to lose yourself old town - this time with donkeys. Can’t remember whether it’s close enough by train to do as a day trip.

Or the coast to chill.

Consider the welfare of the donkeys before you do this . Marrakech isn't renowned for it's animal husbandry. There's another recent thread on here that might be worth reading

There’s no interaction with the donkeys - which are probably badly treated, yes. The relevance is the tininess of the winding streets. It’s a maze and a designated heritage site, so no motor vehicles can enter. Very ancient-feeling.

When I went the harassment was awful in the souk. Men touching us randomly. We were a group of beautiful teenage girls and less beautiful overweight middle aged women . Both got touched!

And yet motorbikes and scooters whizz up and down all day. My asthma went crazy with the trapped fumes.

Just to come back to this, my trip went really well. There was zero harassment of women/girls on the trip and I didn’t witness any on the other tourists either. We steered clear of the main square at night because we didn’t want to see the animal abuse but ate in restaurants in the medina outside the square with no issues.

Fab are you the op

The animal abuse would really bother me. I've been to Egypt, India etc and imagine it's similar?

I don't recall seeing any animal abuse when I was there. And I was in the square most of the night for four nights. Maybe I just hit a period where they were absent?
But it certainly wasn't an 'everywhere' thing as seems to be implied here. I certainly wouldn't avoid going to the square at night (which was a highlight of the trip for me) in case there might be an animal there.

I saw snake charmers in the main square at night, but no other obvious animal abuse unless the working horses and donkeys were being ill-treated behind the scenes.
In contrast, lots of people put out food for the stray cats.

I saw poor monkeys dressed in human clothes with a metal collar round their necks. They were on chains and doing somersaults.
I loved Marrakesh but that was the one part that really got to me.

Same. I hated the horses all lined up in the heat too 😢

I’m going with my husband in a weeks time for the first time, presumably you can get bottled water easily ? We are staying in a raid.

Hi! I’m the OP and the trip was fantastic! No issues at all, beyond a couple of leery men (which can happen anywhere). It was an amazing place, I really want to go back as I feel like we just scratched the surface.

One thing I found irritating was the preferential treatment given to the French - perhaps it was just our hotel, but we noticed that we’d be ignored at dinner, whereas French people tended to be brought wine, ice buckets etc. immediately. A couple of the bartenders were openly dismissive of us too. But that could have been just our hotel, or maybe even down to individuals, and it certainly didn’t negatively impact our visit too much.

For anyone that wanted to visit but wasn’t confident - do it, it’s a place really worth experiencing!

Glad you had a good trip, OP… we loved it, too.
I’ve never been anywhere so bonkers.