Three days in Marrakech, packed in one bag
Seven pieces of clothing, a riad with a roof terrace and a rug to bring home.
Marrakech is three and a half hours from most European cities, and it feels like another century. You can spend three days there with one small bag, if you pack with a plan. We went in October with seven pieces of clothing and came home with a rug.
Where to stay
Stay in a riad, a traditional house built around a courtyard, inside the old city. There are hundreds, from simple to palatial. Choose one with a roof terrace and a small pool. After a day in the streets, the silence behind the heavy door is the greatest luxury in the city.
We stayed in a riad with six rooms near the Bahia Palace. The owner, a former textile designer from Lyon, has filled it with old Berber rugs and lamps made by a metalworker two streets away.
What to pack
The days are warm, the evenings are cool and the streets are dusty. You will walk a great deal. Cover your shoulders and knees: it is polite, and it protects you from the sun.
- Wide linen trousers
- A long cotton skirt
- Two loose shirts, one white and one blue
- A light knit for the evening
- A long shirt dress
- A large cotton scarf
- A light jacket for the flight
Add flat leather sandals, closed shoes you can walk in all day and a hat that can be folded. Everything should be in natural cloth, in colours that go together.
Pack for the city you are going to, not the one you are leaving. In Marrakech, that means linen, a scarf and nothing precious.
Hana Sato
Day one: the old city
Start early. By eight, the light is golden and the streets are quiet. Walk to the Ben Youssef school, a masterpiece of carved cedar and tile from the sixteenth century, and be there when it opens.
Then lose yourself in the souks. Each trade has its own streets: leather, brass, wool, spices. Do not try to follow a map. Walk, look and drink mint tea when someone offers it. If you want to buy, ask the price, offer half and settle somewhere in between, with a smile.
Day two: gardens and craft
Spend the morning in the Majorelle garden, famous for its deep blue walls and for the designer who saved it. Go when it opens to avoid the crowd. The museum next door has a fine collection of Berber jewellery and dress.
In the afternoon, visit a weaving workshop. We watched two women make a rug on an upright loom, from memory, with no drawing. A rug of two metres takes them a month. When you know this, the prices in the souk look different.
Day three: out of the city
Hire a driver for the day and go to the Agafay desert, forty minutes away. It is a desert of stone, not sand, with the Atlas mountains behind it. Have lunch under a tent, ride a camel if you must and stay for the sunset, when the hills turn pink and then violet.
Wear the long dress, the scarf and the closed shoes. The wind comes up in the afternoon, and the temperature falls quickly after dark.
Where to eat
- Breakfast: at the riad, on the roof. Flat bread, honey, oranges and coffee.
- Lunch: a small café in the spice square, for a vegetable tagine and a view of the storks.
- Dinner: a restaurant in a garden near the Mouassine mosque. Book a table under the banana trees.
Drink bottled water, and eat the street food that is cooked in front of you.
What to bring home
Leave space in your bag. The best things to buy are leather slippers, brass lamps, handwoven blankets and argan oil from a women's cooperative. Rugs can be sent by post, and they usually arrive.
When is the best time to go?
Is it suitable for a woman travelling alone?
The thing we remember
On the last evening, we sat on the roof as the call to prayer rose from a hundred towers at once. The sky was orange, the mountains were blue and the city below was the colour of a peach. We had worn the same seven pieces for three days, and we had not thought about clothes once. That is what a good small bag gives you.