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Shopping Guides
Marrakech shopping can be a fantasy or nightmare, depending on your appetite for discovery and negotiation. If scouring markets and bargaining over prices brings out the treasure hunter in you, then you can spend hours in the souk making discoveries and finding special storerooms and boutiques.
There are four distinct regions for shopping: the souk or medina, with its stalls of local makers as well as some more traditional boutiques; Gueliz, the new town with independent boutiques; Majorelle area, near the famous gardens; and Sidi Ghanem, the industrial area, where you shop directly in showrooms. However, for those who prefer to find a well-edited selection of refined designs, there are excellent hotel shops and newer expat-run boutiques where professional fashion hunters have scouted beautiful wares. Read on for Indagare's shopping guide to Marrakech.
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The center of the city, both physically and in spirit, is the medina. Along its meandering narrow streets, visitors will find riads (courtyard houses), souks (markets) and hammams (baths). In the souk, a true maze of a marketplace, you will find tiny, open-fronted stores that sell spices and lanterns, pottery and leather bags, sequined slippers and rose water. It's worth visiting simply for the atmosphere. If you see something you like, haggle ruthlessly (with a smile), always starting at a quarter of the suggested price. If you are going to shop the souk, we recommend bringing your list of shops and getting a reliable guide to navigate the maze of lanes. Outside of the souk, there are stylish boutiques throughout the medina.
While in the Medina... stop at Nomad, La Famille, Le Jardin and Le Salama for an excellent lunch during a day of shopping.
Related: Top Tables Marrakech
The so-called nouvelle ville (new city), lies just northwest of the medina. Many of Marrakech’s best shops are found along its main thoroughfare, Avenue Mohammed V, as well as around such piazzas as Place de la Liberté, Place 16 Novembre and Place Abdelmoumen Ben Ali. In recent years, a number of stylish French and Italian expats have opened boutiques where they sell Moroccan fashions and housewares with a more Western sensibility.
About an hour’s drive north of Marrakech is the industrial zone (Sidi Ghanem), home to design studios that make and sell carpets, ceramics and textiles. Marrakech taxis can easily take shoppers from the medina to this area, but it is best to go with a guide.
Just outside the medina, the Jardin Majorelle is a gorgeous botanic garden designed by French expat artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s. The estate was bought in the 1980s by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, and today is open to the public. A museum exhibits the private art collection of the late French fashion designer and is home to an excellent boutique.
Related: Reminiscing about Marrakech
In a city filled with vibrant markets, visitors should take time to sift through the treasures, both in the bazaar stalls and boutiques. Local treasures include embellished kaftans, glassware, ceramics, slippers and one-of-a-kind furniture.
We only feature hotels that we can vouch for first-hand. At many of them, Indagare members receive special amenities.
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