There are many unusual things to do in Marrakech, but many tourists tend to skip them.
Don’t let that be you.
Marrakech isn’t a city you simply “see.” It’s a city you discover and experience.
Surprisingly, many tourists who arrive come with a checklist: Jemaa el-Fnaa, Majorelle Garden, Bahia Palace, camel ride, done. They leave thinking they’ve “done Marrakech.”
Quite the contrary, travelers who fall in love with Marrakech do some more. They slow down, wander, and get a little lost. They move from just visiting attractions to acquainting with the people. They wake up before sunrise and stay out after midnight.
The city surprises them in return.
If you are planning an unforgettable first or return visit from the US, Europe, or anywhere around the world to Marrakech, here are the most rewarding things to do in this great city to have a truly memorable experience.
Unusual Things to Do in Marrakech for an Unforgettable Experience
1. Wake Up Before the City Does
Most tourists don’t see Marrakech at sunrise. Wake around 5:30–6:00 a.m. (depending on the season) and head to a rooftop overlooking the Medina. If you’re staying in a riad that has a rooftop terrace, lucky you.
Up there, you’ll experience the first call to prayer echoing across the city, birds circling the Koutoubia Minaret, shopkeepers opening centuries-old wooden doors, fresh bread being delivered, and almost empty streets. Take stunning pictures of sunrise as you watch the city wake up.
2. Get Lost on Purpose
Put your phone away for an hour. The Medina has thousands of alleyways, and half the charm is in not knowing where you’re going.
Turn left when you feel like it. Follow the sound of a hammer on copper or the smell of fresh bread from a local oven. You might likely stumble onto a tiny mosque tucked between two houses, a hidden cafe, a courtyard door left open, or a dead-end painted a shade of blue you just didn’t expect.
Getting lost in Marrakech isn’t dangerous. Locals are used to pointing tourists back towards the main square, and most alleys link back eventually. If you’re lost, just enter a shop and ask for directions from the shop owner if you don’t trust the locals you encounter on the road.
Give yourself permission to wander without a destination. This is one of those unusual activities to do in Marrakech that costs nothing but pays off every time.
3. Watch a Craftsman Create Something by Hand
Marrakech is a city with many artisans. Leather tanners, metal engravers, wood carvers, and weavers still practice trades passed down for generations.
Step into a workshop in the Kasbah or near the tanneries and just watch. A skilled worker making hammered brass lanterns or intricate carpets. A leatherworker stitching a bag by lamplight. Most craftsmen don’t mind an audience, especially if you ask first and buy something small at the end.
4. Eat Where the Locals Eat
Fine dining in an upscale restaurant is cool, but sometimes you have to blend in and explore. That’s where the real fun lies. Head to the smaller stalls near Bab Doukkala or the working-class corners of the Medina, where Marrakchis actually eat lunch. Try the food stalls at the Jemaa el Fnaa square at night to have authentic Moroccan street food.
Look for the stalls with a line of locals. Order tanjia, a slow-cooked meat dish sealed in a clay pot and baked in the embers of a hammam furnace. Try tagine, couscous, and harira soup from a corner cart. Point at what looks good if the menu’s only in Arabic or French.
The food costs a fraction of what you’d pay in flashy restaurants, and sometimes it tastes better.
5. Spend At Least One Night in a Traditional Riad
A riad is a traditional Moroccan house built around an interior courtyard, often with a small fountain or citrus trees at the center. Staying in one, even for a single night, changes how you experience the city.
Riads are somewhat hidden in the chaotic alleys of Marrakech, behind unmarked wooden doors. Step into one and you’re suddenly in total peace and quiet. Zellige tilework covers the walls. A rooftop terrace looks out over a sea of satellite dishes and minarets. Breakfast is usually served in the courtyard, with fresh bread, olive oil, and mint tea.
Hotels and resorts near the New Town are convenient, but a riad gives you the layout Marrakech was actually built around.
6. Take a Food Tour and a Moroccan Cooking Class
A guided food tour through the Medina is one of the most unusual things to do in Marrakech. You will be taken into stalls you naturally would have skipped on your own. There you witness an array of Moroccan dishes, snail soup, grilled sardines, fresh orange juice pressed to order. A good guide knows which vendor has been there for thirty years and which one just opened last month.
Pair it with a hands-on cooking class. Most classes start with a trip to the souk to buy spices and produce, then move to a kitchen to learn a tagine or couscous recipe from a local cook. You leave with a full stomach and a skill you can use back home.
Read: 10 Things to Do in Marrakech for Food Lovers
7. Drink Mint Tea, Slowly
Mint tea in Morocco isn’t a quick coffee-shop order. It’s a ritual, poured from a height to create a light foam, sipped slowly over conversation.
Find a rooftop with a view, somewhere like Café des Épices’ hidden upper terrace, or one of the smaller, unmarked cafes tucked into side streets that locals favor. Your riad’s own rooftop works too. Order a pot, not a cup, and let it sit for a while before you drink.
Rushing through mint tea in Marrakech is like rushing through a nap. You’re missing the point entirely.
8. Ride a Hot Air Balloon at Sunrise
This one isn’t exactly a secret anymore; it’s become one of the most popular activities in Marrakech. But it earns its spot on this list because it’s still worth doing.
You’re picked up before dawn and driven out past the city limits, where the Atlas Mountains sit on the horizon like a painted backdrop. As the balloon lifts, the desert below turns gold, then pink, then a flat, bright morning light. Most trips end with a small Berber breakfast in a tent.
Book this early. Good operators fill up fast during peak season.
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9. Sleep in the Agafay Desert
Most visitors think they need the Sahara for a true desert night. The Sahara is incredible, sure, but it’s a six-hour drive from Marrakech. Agafay Desert is close enough for an overnight stay, and it delivers most of the same magic in under an hour from the city.
Agafay is rocky rather than sandy dunes, but the camps built there rival anything you’d find further south. Ride a camel at sunset, go quad biking, lie back for stargazing once the sky goes fully dark, or just sit by a fire with mint tea and Berber music. Many camps include dinner under the stars and breakfast the next morning.
If your schedule’s tight, this is the smarter call.
10. Visit the Souks Twice
The souks change completely between morning and night. In daylight, you’ll see vendors setting up, dyeing wool in open vats, hammering copper trays, stacking spice cones into perfect pyramids.
At night, the same alleys glow under string lights and lanterns. You’ll find more locals doing their evening shopping and less tour groups. Prices can be slightly better at night, and bargaining feels less chaotic.
Stroll further to the Jemaa el Fnaa square and you’ll be left mesmerized. The square transforms into a circus: performers, snake charmers, storytellers, and an array of street food stalls. Pure energetic carnival atmosphere.
Visit the Souks and square once in the morning to see what’s happening. Go again during dinner time or after dinner to see the nighttime atmosphere.
11. Visit a Traditional Hammam
A hammam is a public steam bath, and it’s nothing like a spa day back home. You’re scrubbed down with black soap and a rough exfoliating glove called a kessa, steamed in a heated stone room, then rinsed with buckets of warm water.
It feels different from a regular spa treatment because it isn’t built around relaxation alone. It’s a full-body reset, a cleaning ritual Moroccan families have done together for generations. Your skin will feel noticeably different afterward, smoother in a way you never quite expected.
Local hammams are affordable. They are gentler on first-timers and usually include a massage. Your riad or hotel should have hammam services as part of their package.
12. Visit Marrakech’s Museums
Marrakech’s museums don’t get the attention its gardens and souks do, but they’re truly worth the tour. The Dar Si Said Museum houses Moroccan woodwork and jewelry inside a 19th-century palace with carved cedar ceilings. The Museum of Marrakech, set inside the restored Dar Menebhi Palace, pairs rotating art exhibits with some of the most detailed zellige and stucco work in the city.
Even if the exhibits themselves don’t grab you, best believe the buildings will. You’re walking through the same architecture that made Marrakech famous.
Read: Top 10 Museums in Marrakech You Have to Visit
13. Visit Breathtaking Cultural Landmarks
What’s Marrakech without its landmarks? The Bahia Palace stretches across nearly two acres of courtyards, carved cedar, and painted ceilings built for a 19th-century vizier and his household. The Saadian Tombs, hidden behind the Kasbah Mosque and sealed off for centuries, hold some of the finest zellige tilework in the country.
Ben Youssef Madrasa, once a Quranic school, wraps an entire courtyard in geometric tile and carved plaster, floor to ceiling.
Spend real time in these places. Rushing through means missing the detail that makes them worth seeing at all.
Read: 12 Breathtaking Landmarks in Marrakech You Should Never Miss
14. Have Dinner on a Rooftop
Marrakech rooftops turn dinner into a small event. As the sun drops, the call to prayer echoes across the Medina from a dozen directions at once, and the sky over the Koutoubia Mosque turns a deep orange.
Rooftop restaurants range from simple, family-run spots serving tagine and bread, to more polished setups with cocktails and live music. Either way, the view does most of the work. Book ahead if you have a specific rooftop in mind, the good ones fill up fast around sunset.
15. Explore the Atlas Mountains and Ourika Valley
These destinations are about an hour outside Marrakech. Here the desert heat gives way to green valleys and snow-capped peaks. The Ourika Valley is the easiest Atlas Mountains trip from the city, with hiking trails, waterfalls, and small Berber villages built into the hillside.
Spend a day hiking to a village, sharing tea with a local family, and walking through terraced farmland. Some tours offer overnight camping higher in the mountains, with a chance to see stars far clearer than anything visible from the city.
It’s a full change of scenery and a good reminder that Marrakech is more than just the Medina.
16. Explore the Waterfalls
The Ourika Valley’s Setti Fatma waterfalls are a short hike from the last village on the road, past cafes built right into the rock. Seven waterfalls climb the hillside in stages, and most visitors stop at the third or fourth before turning back.
Further south, the Ouzoud Falls make for a longer day trip, but they’re some of the tallest waterfalls in North Africa, with wild Barbary macaques living in the trees nearby. Bring proper shoes. The rocks get slippery close to the water.
Read: Top 8 Recreational Parks and Water Attractions in Marrakech
17. Watch Sunset from the Desert
Golden hour in Agafay is one of those moments you need to capture. The rocky desert catches the light differently than sand dunes do, and it turns a deep rust color as the sun drops behind the Atlas Mountains.
Most desert camps build sunset into the schedule, with mint tea and a quiet moment before dinner starts.
If you’re only out for the afternoon, arrive with enough time to just sit and watch it happen. Don’t spend the whole thing behind a camera.
18. Learn About Moroccan Spices
Morocco’s spice trade shaped its cuisine long before Marrakech became a tourist destination. Ras el hanout alone can include over twenty spices, and every vendor blends it quite differently.
The Rahba Kedima square has one of the most beautiful spice markets in Marrakech. A spice tour through the Kedima square and the souks teaches you to tell cumin from caraway by smell, saffron from safflower by color, and shows you where Morocco’s spices actually come from, some grown locally, others carried in from further trade routes.
Many vendors will let you smell and taste before you buy, and they’re worth taking back home if you can.
19. Buy Handmade Souvenirs That Tell Stories
Beyond the souks, a few spots specialize in authentic, handmade goods with real stories behind them. Ensemble Artisanal is a government-run complex where local artisans sell directly, work leather, weave rugs, or carve wood on-site, so you can watch the process before you buy.
Bab El Khemis Flea Market, held on the edge of the Medina, mixes antiques with everyday junk, old doors, brass lanterns, vintage textiles. It takes patience to dig through, but the finds are one of a kind.
Skip the mass-produced tourist trinkets near the main square and look for pieces with a maker’s name attached.
20. Explore Jardin Majorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum
Jardin Majorelle is a well-known stop you just can’t (or shouldn’t) skip. Cobalt blue walls, towering cactus flowers, and koi ponds make it one of the most photographed gardens in Morocco.
The attached Yves Saint Laurent Museum covers the French designer’s decades-long relationship with the city.
Skipping this garden while in Marrakech is a bit like visiting China and never picking up chopsticks. It’s that central to the city’s identity. If the crowds put you off, pair it with a quieter alternative like Le Jardin Secret in the Medina, or the Menara Gardens near the Atlas foothills.
Read: Top 7 Beautiful Gardens in Marrakech Like Jardin Majorelle
21. Take a Vintage Sidecar Tour
A handful of tour operators run vintage motorcycle sidecars through the city and out into the palm groves beyond. You sit low in an open-air sidecar while a driver navigates the Medina’s narrow streets, then opens up on the road towards the countryside.
It’s louder and bumpier than a car tour. You feel every turn, smell the street food as you pass, and get photos that look nothing like the usual tourist shots.
Most tours run a few hours and include stops at gardens, palm groves, or a scenic viewpoint.
22. Enjoy an Evening of Traditional Moroccan Entertainment
Some restaurants and dinner venues build an entire evening around traditional performance, Gnawa musicians with metal castanets, belly dancers, acrobats, and sometimes a fantasia horse show outside the city.
Fantasia dinners can feel touristy, and some are better run than others, so check reviews before booking.
A smaller, riad-based dinner with live Gnawa music offers a more intimate version of the same tradition, without the crowds.
23. Take a Moroccan Calligraphy or Pottery Workshop
A few artisans and cultural centers in Marrakech offer short workshops for visitors. Arabic calligraphy classes teach the basic strokes and letterforms behind the script you’ll see on mosque walls and shop signs across the city.
Pottery workshops let you shape and glaze a small piece to take home. Some run out of working ceramic studios near the Medina
These sessions can last an hour or two, and most don’t require any prior skill. You leave with a souvenir you actually made yourself, which feels more personal than anything you could have bought from the souk.
24. Experience the Palmeraie on Horseback or by E-Bike
The Palmeraie is a palm grove on the edge of Marrakech, planted centuries ago and still standing today, quieter and greener than the Medina. Riding through on horseback slows down the pace. You gallop past mudbrick walls and small farms tucked between the palms.
An e-bike tour covers more ground in less time. It’s a different fun experience from horse-riding, also useful if you’re short on hours but still want to see the Palmeraie beyond its main road.
Either way, go early morning or late afternoon. Midday heat in the open groves gets intense fast.
25. Visit Dar El Bacha for Coffee and Beauty
Dar El Bacha, once the residence of a powerful local pasha, has been restored into a cultural space with a courtyard cafe at its center. Ba9li Café sits inside the restored palace, surrounded by carved plasterwork, painted cedar ceilings, and a quiet fountain courtyard.
It’s one of the more elegant places to stop for coffee in the Medina, and far less crowded than the cafes around Jemaa el-Fnaa.
Dar El Bacha wows you with its architecture, museum, and coffee.
Marrakech Has Something for You
Trust Marrakech to give you exactly what you look for. Pick activities that match your schedule and pace, whether that’s a slow morning walk through empty alleys or a full day out in the Atlas Mountains.
You will surely relish the experience and come back again.
Plan your adventure around these unusual things to do in Marrakech. It’s an experience you’ll always remember.
Bookmark this article and show it to your local tour guide.
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