The Bahia Palace

Experience the exotic sights, smells, and sounds of Marrakech, a thrumming, vivid city in Western Morocco, famous for its imperial past and Moorish minaret of the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque. 

On your private tour, you will:

Founded around 1062 by the Almoravids, Marrakech has been home to Berbers since the Neolithic era, and is one of Morocco’s four Imperial Cities, along with Méknes, Fes and Rabat. By the 12th century, it had become the capital of the Almohad caliphate sprawling across Africa and encompassing Spain. 

During this period, Marrakech was blessed with its thick, red sandstone walls - an architectural influence carved with great domes and arches that blended styles from the Sahara and West Africa to create a unique, fine-looking settlement dubbed the “Red City”. 

Over the centuries, Marrakech flourished as a cultural, religious and trading centre, the home of wealthy sultans, chic French colonists, vast palatial complexes and opulent mansions. Today, the French language is still spoken by many Moroccans. 

During the 1950s and 1960s, Marrakech became a Shangri-La for curious pleasure-seekers, beat poets, writers and rock legends who sought spiritual enlightenment on a pilgrimage along the so-called hippy trail. Today this Kasbah city evokes a magical mix of an aged past and forward-thinking present, blending European influences and moderate ideologies with a proud Islamic heart that still beats to an ancient rhythm. 

Marrakech may be home to some of the world’s most sumptuous small hotels yet it uses a thousand-year-old irrigation system and it is these seductive contrasts that make it such an alluring city.

Experience the exhilarating riot of sights, sounds and smells of the ancient city of Marrakech. Bubbling with irrepressible energy, Marrakech is one of Morocco’s four imperial cities. Filled with UNESCO World Heritage designated palaces, mosques and markets it is situated on the edge of the Sahara Desert and nestled at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. 

On your private full-day tour, you will:

Marrakech is where Europe, Africa and the Middle East intermingle in an exhilarating riot of noise, smells and colour that defines the character of the great city of the Maghreb. Founded a thousand years ago, on the edge of the Sahara Desert, it is famous for the colourful pinkish hues of its walls and palaces, framed dramatically by the surrounding snow-dusted peaks of the High Atlas Mountains. 

Your full-day private tour of Marrakech begins in the historic Medina, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. Wander through the puzzle of historic streets, and maze of cobbled back alleys; experience the vibrant hustle and bustle and bartering at the souks, and the displays of street charmers, fortune-tellers and poets at the renowned Jemma el-Fna. Step back in time as you witness the mules towing pushcarts piled high with saleable wares, and admire the fine historic palaces juxtaposed to these street scenes. 

You will visit the renowned Koutoubia Mosque, the Bahia Palace ‘the Beautiful’, and the ruins of the Badi Palace and the Saadian Tombs. You’ll also pass by the famous Ben Youssef Medersa, all of them steeped in ancient stories. 

After lunch, take a luxury private transfer to the Majorelle Gardens (tickets included). 
This is a stunning and unique 2.5-acre garden designed and created over a period of 40 years by the French artist Jacques Majorelle. Wander through this tranquil place with its marble pools, banana trees, cubist villa, coconut palms, raised pathways and peaceful groves of bamboo: a tranquil contrast to the sights and sounds of the morning!  Your guide and driver can return you to your hotel or drop you off at a location of your choice.