Marrakech?

[WeekendKitKat]

I’ve always wanted to go to Marrakesh but not sure it’s how it seems in my head. We would book a very nice hotel, but not sure what there is to do there either teens?

Marrakesh - gorgeous cultural experience, or tourist nightmare?

We went when my DC were 13, 15 and 17. The medina is really nice to wander around and there are lots of cheap good places to eat, but I would say there's less to do than in other cities we've been to. We did a couple of trips into the Atlas Mountains which were really fun.

I found it was as I expected with bells on.
A gorgeous cultural experience.

Amazing and glad we went but not sure it’s a destination for teens. The city is quite small. If it’s a long weekend maybe fine but otherwise not sure.

It would be a long weekend of food, culture and maybe a trip to the Atlas Mountains.

Then go for it! I’d stay in a riad rather than an hotel though if you want a good feel for the city - and don’t do what we did last time we went - avoid Ramadan!

It’s definitely an experience. Fantastic food and great vibes, but it’s a very tourist city and I found it a bit wearying being constantly viewed as “the money” (we’d saved up and had very little money to spend when we visited). Prepare to get a lot of stuff marketed to you.

We also went at a time of year that was considered quite cold for local residents, but I found it smoking hot coming from the UK. Obviously bare shoulders/shorts are a bit out of the ordinary, so that was a challenge - either be way too hot or get a lot of negative attention. I also struggled with wearing my hair loose - lots of staring and a few times people came up and touched it without asking!

That said, a good friend of mine did a load of work out there and she had an excellent time, but she was staying with locals so had quite a different experience. She definitely thrives more off a busy city experience surrounded my new people though, so if you and your family enjoy that then absolutely recommend. The tips I had afterward were to spend some of the time at the seaside where things are a little more relaxed and less touristy, but that might have changed as we visited some years back.