Marrakech Medina, Palaces & Secret Gardens Self-Guided Audio Tour

Marrakech, Morocco
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Duration2h - 3h
Free cancellationFull refund up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmationYour booking is confirmed right away
TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted
LanguagesEnglish, French, Spanish
Private tourOnly your group will participate

Overview

Marrakech shows the street almost nothing. Its walls are packed red earth, and almost everything worth seeing is behind them: carved plaster, hand-cut glazed tile, painted cedar ceilings and courtyard gardens.

This walk teaches you to read them. Start under the Koutoubia's tower, pass the carved gate of the old royal quarter, the Saadian Tombs, the Badi and the Bahia palaces, cross Jemaa el-Fnaa, lose yourself in the souks, and finish in a prince's old orchard by the city walls.

Along the way: how cut-tile mosaic is made, why there are no faces in the decoration, how to bargain in the souks, and the four-part garden that Marrakech built everywhere.

Self-guided, so the walk is yours: 16 stops, about 6 km, about 3 hours at an easy pace, with English audio and a live GPS map. No group, no guide, no set start time.

What's included

  • Start anytime, pause and resume as often as you like, and replay it later
  • Live GPS map showing you and the route; each stop plays as you arrive
  • Runs in your phone's web browser: no app to download
  • Transportation
  • Entry tickets to the palaces, tombs, madrasa and museums (optional; every stop works from outside)
  • Smartphone, headphones and mobile data to unlock the tour

What to expect

  1. Koutoubia Mosque
    Pass by
    The landmark tower you learn to read first. Carved arches that differ on every face, a net of diamonds in stone, a band of green-and-white tile, and no figures anywhere
  2. Parc Lalla Hasna
    Pass by
    A modern public garden facing the Koutoubia: rose-lined paths, palms, fountains and flowering shrubs, and a place to see the whole tower at once.
  3. Koutoubia Mosque
    Pass by
    Orange trees, palms and roses beside the mosque, a few steps from where Morocco's earliest known four-part garden was laid out.
  4. Bab Agnaou
    Pass by
    The carved stone gate of the old royal quarter: frames of pattern, a shell in each corner, script whose letters end in leaves, and the red earth walls beside it.
  5. Kasbah Mosque
    Pass by
    A minaret built in brick on a stone base, carved into a net of diamonds and filled with green glazed tile, including the oldest surviving tile of its kind on any building here.
  6. Saadian Tombs
    Pass by
    A royal burial ground behind a blank wall. Ticketed: a hall of twelve marble columns, a carved cedar ceiling, and gardens of tiled graves.
  7. El Badi Palace
    Pass by
    Bare earth walls of the Incomparable palace. Ticketed: a vast court of sunken gardens and pools, stripped of its marble around 1700, now home to storks.
  8. Place des Ferblantiers
    Pass by
    Where the old city meets the royal quarter: a paved square with a few metal workshops, pierced lanterns that throw star patterns, and the Jewish quarter beginning just beyond.
  9. Bahia Palace
    Pass by
    A palace that teaches Moroccan decoration. Ticketed: marble and tile underfoot, carved plaster on the walls, painted cedar overhead, brought from across Morocco.
  10. Moroccan Culinary Art Museum
    Pass by
    A courtyard house turned museum of Moroccan cooking. Ticketed, and the place to learn how a Marrakech house works: blank front, hidden courtyard, fountain and olive trees.
  11. Jemaa el-Fnaa
    Pass by
    The old city's great open square, which rebuilds itself every day: juice stalls, storytellers and musicians, then food stalls at nightfall. Then into the souks.
  12. Rahba Kedima Square
    Pass by
    The old spice square in the heart of the souks: baskets, hats and remedies, how the market lanes are organised, how bargaining works, and how to stay out of trouble.
  13. Ben Youssef Mosque
    Pass by
    The great college of the medina, ticketed: a honeycomb vault, bronze-plated doors and a carved cedar lintel, and inside, tile, plaster and cedar at their finest.
  14. Le Jardin Secret
    Pass by
    A restored garden palace behind high blank walls. Ticketed: the four-part garden, restored and walkable, beside an exotic garden, with the old water channels and a tower.
  15. Rue Dar el Bacha
    Pass by
    A pasha's palace that broke the rule, built in 1910. Ticketed: decoration on show to the street, and a four-part courtyard garden with fountains and orange trees inside.
  16. Cyber Parc Arsat Moulay Abdeslam
    Pass by
    An old prince's orchard along the city walls, and the finish. Read its paths, tell a date palm from a fan palm, find the bitter orange, and see what became of the water.

Meeting and pickup

Meeting point

No guide will meet you. Before you go, open roamer.travel/redeem on your phone and enter your Viator booking reference (it starts with BR-). The tour opens in your browser, no app needed. Then walk to the Koutoubia's tower whenever you like and press play.

End point

Additional information

  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • Service animals allowed
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Cancellation policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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$5.00 per group
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  • Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts
  • Instant confirmation
  • You'll choose your date and travelers and pay on viator.com. Prices vary by date, group size and option.
Operated by Roamer · Booked through Viator
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