Seven days a week, no matter how early you rise in the morning, there’s already someone in the souqs ready to greet you. Marrakech is the original market town and master craftsmen have been working their wonders in the Medina (old city) for centuries. Pleasantries should always precede price enquiries, and good-natured bargaining is expected. Note, if you handle an item a trader will assume that you’re interested in buying and negotiations will begin in earnest. No matter what price you’re quoted, counter with half of what you’re willing to pay and work up to an acceptable price from there bearing in mind that souk shopping is a dance, not a fight. Also be aware, all traders here are aware of the international rates of exchange and have a good idea of what things cost elsewhere so know the exchange rate, be reasonable in your offers and consider the time it takes to handmake artisanal goods. Ultimately, shopping in this colourful city is an experience as much as it is a transaction.
Below our expert shares her top tips for where to browse and shop in Marrakech, while for further inspiration, here are our guides to the city's best restaurants, bars, attractions and hotels, plus how to spend a weekend in Marrakech.
Find places to shop by area
The Medina
The Souks
When locals refer to the souks, they mean the maze of market streets that stretch north from the Djemaa el-Fna. The main thoroughfares are Souq Semmarine and Souq el-Kebir: originally dedicated to leatherwork, they now sell all manner of things. Bear in mind that prices here are at their highest and many of the products can be found for less in the specialist quissariat (covered markets) further north. Rahba Kehdima, the apothecaries square, is ringed with spice stalls and boutiques. Also good fun is the Creiee Berbere with its mountains of carpets. Souq Haddadine is where you’ll find the blacksmiths at work, and the Leatherworkers Souk is near Place Ben Youssef. The most photogenic is Souq Smata, the slipper souq, where shop fronts hang with hundreds of candy coloured babouche. Spend at least half a day here to discover the real treasure, including couture caftans from Au Fil d’Or in Souk Semmarine and charming naïve artworks from outsider artist Mortaji.
Mustapha Blaoui
If you’ve been looking around your riad with an envious eye, wondering where the proprietor sourced their fabulous furniture and decorative items, wonder no more. Almost everyone in Marrakech has been to Mustapha’s warehouse of wonders in Bab Doukkala where the cavernous rooms are filled with furniture, lamps, glassware, rugs and antiques from all over North Africa. Take your time browsing with a cup of mint tea and let the sales staff know what you’re after and they’ll dig out treasures from hidden corners. And don’t worry about fitting it in your luggage, they can ship anywhere in the world with a reliable agent.
Contact: 00 212 524 385 240; instagram.com/mustaphablaoui
Prices: £££
V. Barkowski
Globe-trotting Belgian designer Valerie Barkowski has her concept store a few doors down from Mustapha Blaoui. Through an unassuming door, you enter into a large slate-grey space furnished like a high-end New York loft. The moody palette beautifully showcases her fine white bed linens and fluffy towels, which are trimmed with delicate embroidery and her signature mini pompoms. More recently, her line has expanded to include locally made leather bags and wallets in the same muted, earthy colours that she favours in her other lines.
Contact: valeriebarkowski.com
Prices: ££
Norya Ayron
French-Algerian designer Norya Nemiche is one of a new breed of Medina designers, revamping traditional crafts with a cool, contemporary eye. Her tiny shop, located in Le Jardin restaurant, sells her stylish range of silk and cotton kaftans and gandouras. These beauties have been bought by a stellar list of celebrities including Sharon Stone, Monica Bellucci, Kate Moss and Juliette Binoche. To dress it up, add one of her beaded belts, a velvety-soft leather bag or a faux-lizard clutch. Most recently she's added on-trend bucket hats to her range in a range of wild fabrics. A bigger store with the atelier downstairs is located in Gueliz.
Contact: norya-ayron.shop
Prices: £££
Al Nour
Non-profit Al Nour offers chic shopping with a feel-good factor. All the clothes and textiles here – including the cutest range of children's clothes and fine tableware – are finely embroidered on top-quality natural fabrics by a team of talented women with disabilities, who work in a large, light-filled workshop behind the shop. Proceeds from each item – a natty silk shirt and linen tunic dress with embroidered trim for instance – go to pay for professional training in accounting, day care facilities and much-needed health insurance for the employees. Prices are fixed here, but there’s no charge for alterations and all home textiles can be made to measure.
Contact: alnour-textiles.com
Prices: ££
Topolina
Trained as a couture pattern maker, Isabelle Topolina really found her stride when she moved to Marrakech. Although she does a nice line in easy-to-wear dresses and relaxed peasant blouses, which she conjures from a dizzying array of brightly printed vintage fabrics, it is her elegant tassled loafers that fashion-cognoscenti lust after. These she covers in vibrant wax-printed fabrics from Senegal, giving each of them a unique look. A few doors down, at No. 114, her son, Pierre Henry, turns out an equally eye-catching men’s line of printed coats, pyjamas and Bermuda shorts.
Contact: 00 212 679 726 026; topolina.shop
Prices: ££
Maison Corinne Bensimon
French interior designer Corinne Bensimon is known for her chic Moroccan homewares. In her new shop on Rue Sidi El Yamani, near Bab Laksour, you can find all the favourites: embroidered table and bed linens with the cutest coloured fringes, her deep green cactus inspired crockery and vases, brass palm lamps, as well as a selection of clothes, bags, belts and affordable artworks in her own designs and from other Moroccan brands. Everything here celebrates Moroccan craftsmanship, but will also look completely at home wherever it lands in the world.
Contact: corinnebensimonmaison.com
Prices: ££
Riad Yima
Riad Yima is the brainchild of acclaimed Marrakshi pop-artist Hassan Hajjaj and serves as both a gallery for his work and a thriving café. Everything you see, eat off and sit on here is for sale, from the colourful, recycled Coke-crate benches to the sardine-tin lanterns. Pride of place though goes to Hassan’s photography, which places traditional Middle Eastern iconography within modern consumerist culture, earning him the title the Andy Warhol of Marrakech. A case in point is his series of ‘Kesh Women’ sitting astride mopeds veiled with Gucci scarves, or footballers with their feet clad in Nike-branded babouche. His work is also on display at his new tea shop, Jajjah, in Sidi Ghanem, which is effectively a complete art installation with teas created by partner Amine El Baroudi, a tea maker for Harrods and Fortnum & Mason.
Contact: 00 212 524 391 987; instagram.com/riadyima
Prices: £
Hanout
Having trained at the International School of Fashion in Amsterdam and Central St Martins in London, it’s no surprise that boutique owner Meriem Rawlings's womenswear collection is super cool and translates easily from the medina to the big city. Taking inspiration from her Moroccan heritage, Meriem turns out beautifully embroidered kaftan-style and button-down dresses that can be worn for elegant occasions, or over leggings with boots for a more streetwise look. Other staples include three-quarter length wool boucle and woollen jackets, silk tunic tops, embossed leather biker jackets, fluffy batwing sweaters and the ultimate embroidered ankle boots. There are two boutiques in the medina, one near Le Jardin Secret and the other near the Bahia palace.
Contact: hanoutboutique.com
Prices: £££
Gueliz
Studio Sana Benzaitar
Although carpet-making is a female pastime, you’ll notice that most carpet sellers are men. It’s been that way forever – that is until Amazigh entrepreneur Sana Benzaitar opened her gorgeous loft-style rug studio in Gueliz. The daughter of a rug dealer, she brings a wealth of knowledge and new focus to the business. Her aim is to elevate the profile of the female weavers she collaborates with in the Atlas mountains while encouraging them to push their creative boundaries with unusual natural dyes and playful designs. If you have something particular in mind, Sana is happy to work with you to create a bespoke design.
Contact: instagram.com/sanabenzaitar
Prices: £££
Marie Bastide
Artist and trained architect Marie Bastide is a force of nature with endless creative projects and works on the go. Her cute boutique and gallery in Gueliz harnesses this talent and showcases her gorgeous fine ink drawings of the medina alongside her photography, engravings and prints. More recently the studio has started to branch out into stylish leather accessories, silk scarves printed with original artworks, decorative tableware, organic candles and textiles. It’s an absolute treasure trove of keepsakes. While the main shop is in Gueliz there’s another smaller outlet on Riad Zitoun el Jdid, just north of the Bahia Palace.
Contact: mariebastidemarrakech.com
Prices: ££
Chabi Chic
This hip line of ceramics is the brainchild of Vanessa di Mino and Nadia Noël. Taking their cue from traditional Moroccan tableware the duo have updated ubiquitous tagine dishes, plates, mint tea cups and teapots in a palette of sunny colours and contemporary graphic designs inspired by Morocco’s zellij (mosaic) tiling. To match, you can pick up raffia table mats edged with colourful pompoms and utensils with jaunty striped handles. Everything is lovingly handmade and items are microwave proof and machine washable to boot. There are several branches: on Jemaa el-Fnaa, on the ground floor of Nomad restaurant and in the Sidi Ghanem Industrial District.
Contact: chabi-chic.com
Prices: £
André Le Chapelier
There’s no doubt you’ll need a hat in Marrakech, but don’t despair if you forget yours. You can find a fine replacement at André’s boutique which is stacked with classic panamas and wide-brimmed straw hats. He’s the grandson of a milliner from the South of France who worked for the Panama Montechristo factory and later fell in love with Morocco and decided to set up shop here. Now he has a team of local artisans who hand make crushable raffia triblies and bucket hats as well as multi-coloured felt Fedora’s which are perfect for colder winter months.
Contact: lechapelier.ma
Prices: ££
Atika
Leatherwork has always been one of Marrakech’s signature crafts and Atika takes the art to a whole new level with a mind-boggling array of candy-coloured loafers. Soft as butter and not dissimilar to designer brands like Tod’s and Car Shoe, this is a must-have Marrakech purchase. Some customers have been known to buy their favourite shoe in 10 different colours, and with prices hovering around £75 a pair, they’re an absolute bargain. New ranges include a line in natty sandals and even trainers.
Contact: 00 212 524 439 576
Prices: ££
YSL Bookshop
One of the highlights of the Yves St Laurent Museum is its first-class bookshop, the design of which is inspired by Saint Laurent’s first boutique, which opened in Paris in 1966. It has the same Noguchi lamps and curvaceous till desks, and is finished in glossy amber lacquer reminiscent of the designer’s Opium perfume bottle. Here you’ll find a fabulous array of books on fashion, art and Morocco, as well as films and books that inspired the couturier throughout his career. There are also some funky postcards and posters, which make for rather cool souvenirs.
Contact: museeyslmarrakech.com
Prices: £
Moro Marrakech
Stylish Moro is a new concept store from Mohcyn and Mouad, founders of the natural cosmetics brand, The Moroccans. Appropriately set on Rue Yves St Laurent, this boutique and restaurant stocks not only their excellent natural skincare brand, but a range of contemporary ceramics, jewellery, accessories and fashion from small-scale Moroccan designers and makers. So, come for a healthful lunch of aubergine gratin and lemon and basil pie and then browse the cool collection for babahomme leather washbags and loungewear, playful eyewear from Baars x Gogosha and stunning embroidered lace dresses from Hind Lamtiri.
Contact: moromarrakech.com
Prices: ££
Sidi Ghanem
LRNCE
Laurence Leenaert is an artist with a big heart and an obsession with design. Following a trip to the Moroccan desert, she promptly decided to ship herself and her sewing machine off to launch her own lifestyle brand in Marrakech. It was a bold move, but Leenaert’s inspired designs and now thriving studio have proved the decision was a brilliant one. Her unique modernist designs, which show the influence of Picasso, are now realised in textiles, rugs, leatherwork, ceramics, kimonos, sandals and multi-media artworks, all handmade in and around Marrakech. The ceramics with their joyful colours and sculptural forms are particularly sought after.
Contact: lrnce.com
Prices: ££
How we choose
Every shop, market and venue in this curated list has been expertly chosen by our destination expert, to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles – to best suit every type of traveller. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations.
About our expert
Paula has been shuttling back and forth between London and the Red City for over 25 years. During that time, she’s authored numerous guides to the city and amassed far too many kaftans.