Marrakesh with young children?

[RamblinBoy]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of Marrakesh, especially with a young family? Kids would be 6, nearly 4 and 6 months. We'd be looking for a luxury family focused resort.

Googling seems to indicate this would be wonderful but a lot of the results have the feel of the Morrocan tourist board writing them... Any real life experience?

Thank you!

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MNHQ update: If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of the best hotels Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

😎Fawakay Villas, Marrakech

😎Riad Yasmine, Marrakech

😎Mazagan Beach Resort, El Jadida

For more inspo, check out our guide to the best family hotels in Marrakech, featuring more recommendations from Mumsnetters.

I love marrakesh but took my children when they were about 13/15 - they were horrified to begin with but we were staying in an old riad in the old city which is full on if youve never been. By the end of 4 days they were used to it and eating the food.

As you are going to a family resort i imagine you will spend a lot of time there which will be fine.

It could be quite stressful going into the souks with 3 young children as they are very busy, donkey carts and mopeds racing through.

I would be very, very careful. 6 and 4 is young for a visit to a place that definately needs cooperation.

It is the only place I ever went to where the harassment was so horrendous I ended up staying in the hotel, and I have been to some hair raising places.

I also wouldn't. Admittedly I haven't been in 10 years but having been to Turkey and Egypt before I hated Marrakesh - felt very harassed and sometimes dangerous. It was beautiful but I wouldn't return

Definitely not Marrakesh, but Essouira is lovely and much more relaxed.

Thanks everyone. We might hold off until they are all older and can get a bit more out of the experience! Love the look of Essaouira as well.

Morocco is beautiful and there’s loads to see, I’d personally recommend the Sahara desert
However, tourist harassment and scamming in Marrakech is huge and I’d be very cautious.
I’m not a fan of Marrakech in the summer because it can get unbearably hot and no beaches there

Also, if most of your time will be spent within the resort I highly recommend Mazagan Beach Resort in El Jadida

We went with young dc and we had a great time. We did stay at one of the big all inclusive hotels just outside the centre of Marrakesh which was good as it gave some respite from the madness of the city. We dipped in and out of the centre and took a trip to the mountains. It is busy and you do need to have your wits about you but the dc loved it and it was a great experience. Now they are older I would like to stay in a riad

Surprised at these answers, has anyone actually tried it?? We have and had a great time.

We took our DC in December 2018 - so DC were 6 and 3.5. We stayed in a family friendly small hotel (Fawakay) just outside the city.

So where we were staying was peaceful and had a pool, but we could do day trips by taxi to the medina and the new city, gardens, camel rides etc. No hassle that I recall. The DC loved it and still talk about it, especially the snakes and monkeys and camels!

We had DC2 mostly in a buggy when going around the medina and it worked well (if a little bumpy in places!) as she wasn’t running off. So guess you could have your little one in a buggy, maybe even bring a buggy board for the 4 yo?

It was December so not hot, in fact lovely sunny days and chilly mornings/evenings. I wouldn’t want to do it in the full heat.

The only downside was that I got a tummy bug, I suspect from touching something in the medina. Thankfully the DC didn’t but it would have been miserable if they had.

Ah cross posted with mumonthehill!

We stayed in beautiful riad a few years ago owned by a young French couple - Le Riad Yasmine. It's about as instagramable as you can get. Also there's a gorgeous restaurant just down the road called Limoni. I was actually amazed at the almost complete lack of hassle in Marrakesh, I think there must have been some sort of crackdown in recent years, my teenage DS with ASD enjoyed it. Having been to Egypt and Tangier before it was nothing like that.
We went out to Merzouga - with several fantastic stop offs on the way including Ait Benhaddou - and that was awesome, just be sure to stay in a camp well into the desert and not right on the edge if you do something like that. I have so many amazing pictures from that trip!

We took our kids to Morocco (lower Atlas Mountains, then Marrakesh, proper old riad in the centre of the Medina ) when they were 9 and 10. I absolutely loved it. It probably wasn't our kids' favourite holiday - they found it a little overwhelming at times - but they had a good time. If it's a place that interests you, and you like a slightly more adventurous holiday, then I wouldn't let young children stand in your way (though 6 months might be pushing it...). But I think they'd get more out of it when they are older.

And obviously avoid the heat of summer. We went at Easter and it was lovely.

There were literally cobras just in the market place.