Mystical Marrakech

Kids in Marrakech?

It’s possible with good planning. #PartyofSix We visited Marrakech, Morocco, in January 2018. While it was a little bit chaotic, with good planning, kids can have a great time exploring Marrakech. There are several attractions where you can leave the busy streets and let your kids run out their energy. I was five months pregnant with our youngest when we visited Marrakech. While that complicated a couple aspects of our trip, we were excited to introduce our kids to Africa and it was a lot more manageable than our Christmas visit to Romania just a month prior.

Morocco is an ideal place to take kids – As I’ve noted before, one of my absolute favorite things about Morocco is how wonderfully everyone treats your children. If you’ve never been to Morocco or another similar culture, you should probably be aware that people will often touch your children (ruffle their hair or pat their cheek) and offer them small treats. This is all well-meant and friendly, but it is worth preparing your kids for, especially if they are not accustomed to such attention from strangers.

Ride Camels

The highlight of our trip was riding camels on the outskirts of Marrakech. It is a little terrifying to ride a camel while five months pregnant. They are very tall and I rode with one of the kids. (Children under 12 had to be accompanied by an adult; so our guide ended up riding with our oldest.) Camels move with a rocking motion, so I spent a considerable amount of time trying to ensure my kiddo didn’t rock back into my stomach too hard. The kids were given the option to dress in Sahara desert-style clothing, including a cheche – which wraps around the head like a turban. Only our oldest boy dressed up for the ride.

Where to Stay

We choose to stay in the Medina walls. Many people who visit Marrakech with kids choose to stay in the modern portion of Marrakech located outside the Medina walls. There, you can find hotels that offer Western-style rooms, waterparks, and spas. We were after a more local flavor, so we choose to stay at the Riad Terrasse des Oliviers.

We scored a single room big enough to sleep all of us together. Although we had to contend with the scooter-loving city traffic as soon as we stepped out of the riad, we really felt like we were in Marrakech the whole time. Our riad arranged a guide for our trip. He was fantastic. He made the trip a lot more manageable and ended up carrying our middle son quite often.

What We Did

Aside from the aforementioned camel riding extravaganza (which was our final adventure), there are quite a few places kids can enjoy. We spent our first day enjoying the souqs and Marrakech’s famous Jemaa el-Fna Square. If you’re with kids, I would not undertake this without a guide.

Souqs and the Square

Also, I do not recommend taking your kids to the square at night unless you have extraordinarily cautious children, which we do not. We went fairly early in the day and our youngest boy still nearly managed to run straight into a cobra! It’s a fun place to wander, get accustomed to the city, and buy lots of cool stuff. Make sure everyone uses the bathroom before you leave the hotel. There are facilities in the Medina, but they’re mostly holes in the ground. Our boys got particularly excited about tiles corresponding to their ages.

El Badi Palace

We visited El Badi Palace the second day. Once you step into the courtyard, the kids have room to run around and enjoy the unique architecture. It is an especially nice place to help kids begin to draw comparisons between places like the El Badi Palace and the Alhambra in Spain. Unlike in most of Europe where castles are for looking at only, kids can climb and sit almost anywhere in the El Badi Palace… as long as they’re being respectful, of course.

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Le Jardin Majorelle

Le Jardin Majorelle is another very kid-friendly attraction. You can walk to Le Jardin Majorelle from the Medina, but the kids were tired after our walk. It is inside the grounds of the former home of designer Yves Saint Laurent, and has beautiful paths to wander. Our kids loved the koi pond and the blue walls all around, but they were most excited to run around without worrying about traffic. We took a carriage ride back into the Medina, letting our guide do the haggling over the price of the ride. It was a lovely way to get back into the Medina.

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Koutoubia Mosque

Our carriage dropped us off at the Koutoubia Mosque. We couldn’t enter the Mosque, but you can look around the burial grounds on the side. It features beautifully decorated graves and many lovely flowers. It’s yet another place where you don’t have to hold the kids close to your side. There’s enough room for them to wander independently as they take in the tile work. Across the street, there is a bookselling souq and there’s a nearby park if you still need to get some wiggles out after walking through the mosque.

Marrakech?

All in – although we had a manageably good time in Marrakech and I think it is worth a couple days – I would recommend Rabat as a more family-friendly destination. Definitely get a camel ride in though! It’s an experience.