Marrakech is more than the medina

Beach clubs, trekking or hill retreats. If you thought it was a city just for weekend breaks, it’s time to think again!

Picture the scene: an old house, a riad, full of beckoning arches and curvaceous carvings, with a cool pool and a picture-book palm in the courtyard. Orange juice and pancakes on the roof for breakfast, couscous and salads under the stars at night. And all this in the middle of the medina, the old town of Marrakech, where the call to prayer rings out every morning and the sun shines all year round.

It’s no wonder we love Marrakech, and no wonder that more than 400 riads offer rooms in the medina. Up to now, however, this has been very much a weekender’s city, overflowing with atmosphere, but a little short on diversions. Once you’ve seen the Saadian tombs and the Bahia Palace, excavated the souks and wriggled among the snake-charmers on the Djemaa el Fna, you’re done. What next?

Plenty, actually. There’s a host of activities on offer beyond the medina, more than enough to make a week’s break here a tempting proposition. Here are some of the best.

Take me to the beach: a few days in Marrakech is bound to mean UV overload, and cooling off is compulsory. Until lately, you had to make do with a dunk in the narrow pool at your riad, or endure a 100-mile drive to the Atlantic coast at Essaouira. Now, though, in the city’s hinterland, the Nikki Beachclub complex at the Palmeraie Golf Palace (00 212-24 36 87 27, www.nikkibeach.com/marrakech ) brings a touch of St Tropez to North Africa.

With its outsize pool, nubile young things and surprisingly tasty Mediterranean food (once it comes - the service is slow), it attracts Marrakechis and visitors in search of chilled days and hot parties. All-day admission costs £17.

If that sounds a little slick, try Oasiria (Km 4, Route du Barrage; 24 38 04 38, www.oasiria.com ), Morocco’s first water park. Hurtle down a water chute, catch a wave in the surf pool or just splash about, all for £12.50 a day (£7 for children). Usefully, Oasiria runs a free shuttle from the medina.

Head for the hills: it’s just an hour’s drive from the centre of Marrakech to the cool kasbahs of the Atlas Mountains. Imlil is your obvious target. The approach, along a slinking valley road, is beautiful, and waiting at the end is the Kasbah du Toubkal (00 33-5 49 05 01 35, www.kasbahdutoubkal.com ), where the rooftop restaurant dishes up traditional Moroccan tagines and immense views of Jbel Toubkal - at 13,671ft, the highest mountain in North Africa.

The same kasbah organises what it calls “a day with the Berbers”, mixing a stop at a rural souk with village visits, a walk in the mountains and lunch (£70pp, including your pickup in Marrakech).

For proper treks, head for the city’s Bureau des Guides (00 212-24 48 56 26) or contact the Atlas superguide Mohamed Aztat (68 76 01 65, aztat.rando.free.fr ), who can arrange day trips and longer hikes into the mountains, with your transfers from town laid on.

Ride out: there is no shortage of stables in and around Marrakech, but finding one where the horses are properly kept and the tack is up to scratch can be a headache.

Bensassi Ranch (Zaouiet Bensassi, Route de Fes; 00 212-61 43 74 79) stands out. Swedish-born Jenny Angman and her Moroccan colleagues work to the highest standards and have collected a stable of fine horses. By all means join them for a short ride in the country (from £17 for 90 minutes), but their full-day expeditions are much more fun - they’re proper back-country adventures. Prices start at £50, which includes a picnic lunch.

Go clubbing: we don’t mean the down-and-dirty kind of urban clubbing, though you can find that close to town at the enduringly hip Pacha (Boulevard Mohamed VI; 00 212-24 38 84 00, www.pachamarrakech.com ), where the Michelin-starred Pourcel brothers recently took over the Crystal restaurant.

For something more serene, try the Beldi Country Club (24 38 39 50, www.beldicountryclub.com ), amid rose gardens and olive groves, a 10-minute drive from the medina. The club welcomes all-comers for a set-menu lunch: served on the fringes of its garden, it tends to feature light and fresh salads, grilled fish and a tagine or couscous dish. That costs £17, or £24 if you’d like to use the pool as well.

Ourika: A 45-minute drive from the medina, the Ourika valley is not as close to the High Atlas peaks as Imlil, but it has long been a bolt hole for Marrakechis seeking a day’s escape from the city. Its principal attractions are the village of Setti Fatma, with its line of roadside stalls and simple restaurants, and the Jardin Bio-Aromatique d’Ourika.

The garden (00 212-24 48 24 47, www.nectarome.com ) nurtures some 50 varieties of aromatic plants and herbs - you can stroll and sniff on your own (£1) or take a 45-minute guided tour (£4) and learn about their traditional medicinal uses. Either way, be sure to visit the shop, which sells home-grown Nectarome essential oils and organic beauty products.

- Anthony Sattin travelled as a guest of Boutique Souk

TRAVEL BRIEF
Getting there: fly to Marrakech with Atlas Blue (www.atlas-blue.com ) or EasyJet (www.easyjet.com ), from Gat-wick; Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com), from Bristol and Luton; or Royal Air Maroc (020 7307 5800, www.royalairmaroc.com), from Heathrow via Casablanca. Returns start at about £80.

Where to stay:in the medina, the grand old Riad Edward (00 212-24 38 97 97; www.riyadedward.com ; doubles from £80, B&B) is packed with antiques and oozes casual style, while Noir d’Ivoire (24 38 09 75; www.noir-d-ivoire.com ; doubles from £140, B&B) is about as chic as it gets: black-and-white public areas and a classy restaurant. For a wider selection, try Boutique Souk (00212 61324475, www.boutiquesouk.com ), Best of Morocco (08540 264585, www.morocco-travel.com ) or Fleewinter (020 7112 0019, www.fleewinter.co.uk ).

If you’d sooner stay out of the bustle, try the extraordinary Jnane Tamsna (00 212-24 32 94 23, www.jnanetamsna.com ; doubles from £160, B&B), in the green of the Palmeriae.

The fruit of an inspired collaboration between the style guru Meryanne Loum-Martin and her ethnobotanist husband, Gary Martin, it has 24 bedrooms in five houses, set in a nine-acre garden. Another good option is the vintage Es Saadi (24 44 88 11, www.essaadi.com ), in the Ville Nouvelle, where rooms in the charming original hotel (the new palace wing needs time to establish itself) start at £135, B&B.