Morocco featured among top destinations to visit in 2024 – CNN Travel

Morocco is featured among the best world destinations to visit in 2024, according to the “Travel” segment of the renowned media outlet CNN.

CNN has highlighted in a recent feature on its “Travel” segment, Morocco as one of the top 24 must-visit destinations for the year 2024.

Morocco is one of the few African countries, alongside Angola, to secure a spot on this prestigious list, joining the ranks of destinations such as Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Chile, Canada and others.

“A longtime travel favorite thanks to its diverse landscape and spectacular architecture, Morocco has bounced back determinedly after a devastating earthquake this past September,” CNN points out.

The media recommends that tourists explore other lesser-known places in Morocco, such as Tetuan and Meknes, less crowded but undoubtedly as enchanting as the popular cities of
Marrakech, Rabat, and Fez.

17 Attractions & Things to Do in Marrakesh

Marrakesh is a city that effortlessly combines the ancient and the new. The city's name provided the root for the name of the country itself, spelling out this town's importance through the ages.

Within the high red walls of the medina, just soaking up the atmosphere is the main tourist attraction with snake charmers and smooth shop touts both competing for your attention amid a noisy, colorful bustle that encapsulates Morocco's vibrant soul.

For shoppers, Marrakesh's souqs are the best place to visit in Morocco, offering the full scope of the country's artisan work, while the medina's scatter of richly decorated heritage buildings are some of the country's most famous monuments.

Marrakesh is also the gateway into the High Atlas region, Morocco's major activity area, with hiking, mountain biking, climbing, and many other active things to do. Even on a short visit, you can experience a taste of Morocco's mountain life on one of the many Marrakesh day trips offered from the city.

Discover what the city has to offer with our list of the top attractions and things to do in Marrakesh.

1. Shop the Medina Souks

A colorful rug shop in a medina souk

For many visitors, Marrakesh's labyrinthine medina (old city) district is the town's star attraction.

The narrow alleyways are a kaleidoscope of colors, scents, and sounds and are bound to be the sightseeing highlight of your trip.

As well as simply wandering (and getting lost) amid the bustling maze, there are myriad shopping opportunities where you can put your haggling hat on and barter to your heart's content.

The main souq area is the tangle of lanes between Place Rahba Kedima and Place Ben Youssef.

When Paris settles in Marrakech

La Cantine Parisienne, open since the end of November, it is slowly but surely making its name among the prestigious restaurants of the city of Marrakech; from the unique décor to the delicious cuisine, a few of many reasons why this place is popping in the map, and Made in Marrakech will give you the full tour.

Have A Break In Marrakech

An insider's guide to Marrakech, featuring the city's best hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, attractions and things to do, including how to travel there and around. Why go? Red baked-mud medina palaces beneath the snow-capped High Atlas and a powder-pink ring of ramparts around 19 kilometres of seething souqs, Marrakech is Morocco’s most memorable experience.

Marrakech’s Attraction To World Celebrities

HISTORY: The gorgeous imperial city of Marrakech has stolen the hearts of many celebrities, with its magnificent climate and the outstanding landscapes that is known to have; from the mountains to the dunes, from the palm trees to the deserts, the fusion that warmed the hearts of all of these iconic personalities, as they all share their love and passion for the ocher city.

Hollywood Made In Marrakech

CINEMA:  The city of Ouarzazate is with no doubt the rightful holder of the title “City of Cinema”, however, the city of Marrakech is rivaling Ouarzazate for that title, as a lot of directors are succumbing to the beauty, charm and the decorative diversity of the red city. Let’s discover some masterpieces, all made in Marrakech.

The Mystical Gnawa Of marrakech

The Gnawa are on of the pillars of Jemaa El Fna, their frentic rhythms and dynamic movements guide tourists to this magical place. Onlookers and tourists gather for this incredible show steeped in history.

The Gnawa are not confined to a single genre, this brotherhood has cultivated a world of combining body language, folk music and spirituality. 

Live Like A king in Marrakech

Whether you're strolling through lush boutique gardens or dining at the most highly esteemed restaurants in the city it is easy to feel like royalty when enjoying one of Morocco's finest luxury holidays. Let the following recommendations guide you on your trip to North Africa and make sure to deny yourself nothing... 

Marrakech OASIS FESTIVAL 2016

When you think of Morocco, the first things that will spring up are probably the classic and romantic connotations from popular fiction like Casablanca and Lawrence Of Arabia (not set in Morocco but you get where I’m going at). What nobody expects in this Northern-African, is a quality dance music festival in a luxurious surrounding with reigning artists like Dixon, The Black Madonna & Tale of Us.

So there, in the middle of the desert, just south of the state’s capital of Marrakech, laid Oasis Festival. The festival’s second edition had a change of location and was moved to “The Source”, a luxury resort consisting of picturesque Berber-like buildings functioning as hotel rooms. The idea behind Oasis Festival was to organize an event with international as well as settled local DJ’s to show the potential of a now rapidly growing Moroccan scene. This year alone, two new dance festivals popped up in the wake of Oasis succesful debut edition in 2015, in the form of Atlasand Moga Festival. Other than that, people like the internationally booked Moroccan DJ Amine K are influential spokespeople for their home country when traveling to dance music hubs like Amsterdam, Berlin or Ibiza.

A long weekend in... Marrakech

After its independence from France in 1956, Morocco, and specifically the fourth largest of the historical Berber Empire's Imperial Cities, Marrakech, took off as a hippie mecca for artists (Andy Warhol), Hollywood starlets (Rita Hayworth), film directors (Alfred Hitchcock shot scenes for The Man Who Knew Too Much here) and the musical jet-set with The Beatles and the Rolling Stones enjoying rest and hazy "relaxation" in the maze-like alleys of this medieval medina.

Marrakech: The Desert's Edge

Once a haven for hippies, Marrakech has outgrown that phase along with its visitors. Today, it's a showcase of high design, mixing Euro cool with the medina's rich colors. The "new Marrakech" look is keeping local craftsmen busy: if you spy a piece of furniture you like during your stay, most places will sell it to you and ship it back home.

A Face-Lift for Marrakech's La Mamounia Hotel

La Mamounia, or at least its eight hectares of gardens, began life in the 18th century as a wedding gift to Morocco's Prince Moulay Mamoun from his father, King Mohammed Ben Abdellah (the hotel didn't follow until 1923). Today, those gardens, with their centuries-old olive trees, still retain their historic splendor. And the rest of La Mamounia has never felt fresher.

A Place In The Sun

Ean Vassort, dressed comfortably in jeans and blue cotton shirt, stands on the terrace of his whitewashed house, taking in the view of long golden beaches and a broad estuary snaking eastward into a hot, rocky valley. Retired since selling his restaurant near Avignon, France in 2002, Vassort, 74, now lives year-round in this sun-washed setting where he once took his holidays. But unlike earlier generations of French pensioners, Vassort's retirement idyll isn't tucked away along the villa-studded expanses of the Côte d'Azur, or in one of the popular resort towns of Spain's Costa Brava. Instead, Vassort is one of a growing number of European pensioners jumping the Mediterranean to Morocco — and getting much more bang for their euro.

He's over the hump! David Beckham enjoys a camel ride with his children during lavish 40th birthday celebrations in Marrakech

He celebrated his 40th birthday in style on Saturday night with a lavish bash attended by a host of A-list stars.

But David Beckham started his day making memories with his children as they were spotted enjoying a camel ride near the luxurious Amanjena resort.

Making the most of their time in Marrakech, Morocco, the retired footballer certainly didn’t have the hump about reaching his age milestone as he rode around with his kids ahead of the night’s festivities.

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Birthday boy: David Beckham started his day making memories with his children as they were spotted enjoying a camel ride near the luxurious Amanjena resort

Marrakech named world's best destination Summer 2015

Marrakech named world's best destination by TripAdvisor as London ranks sixth behind Prague and Hanoi... and New York fails to crack top ten

• Marrakech has been rated the world's best destination for the first time
• Results came from the website's annual Travellers' Choice awards
• Siem Reap, Istanbul and Hanoi also made the top ten world locations 

One of Britons' favourite places to visit in North Africa has been named the world's top destination by TripAdvisor users.

With its desert landscape and bustling souks, Marrakech came out on top in the website's annual Travellers' Choice Awards for the first time.

Daniel Boulud’s Marrakech Chicken Tagine

This recipe for an elegant North African stew comes out of the kitchen of Boulud Sud, Daniel Boulud’s sophisticated Mediterranean French restaurant in New York. It is a dish steeped in the flavors of North Africa, but also of France. Chicken serves as the protein, bathed in a blend of North African spices — cinnamon and coriander, turmeric, ginger powder and cardamom — combined with tomatoes, saffron and a little stock. Preserved lemons and olives added at the end provide bite. Tagines are often cooked with root vegetables and dried fruits. Boulud, who famously grew up on a farm, in Lyon, uses cauliflower.

Marrakech Express

The chef Daniel Boulud has a long history with tagine, the North African stew that takes its name from the elegant earthenware pot in which it is cooked. Thirty years ago, he said recently, he tasted a tagine cooked by a Moroccan magician and cook named Baby Dahane. The taste lingered with him. “I loved the soulful, Berber-style delicate preparation,” he said, “the crossroad of spice and flavor and the smell, the taste, the combination of spices and vegetables.”

10 Places For having Fun in Marrakech

TOP 10 Marrakech Attractions:

1. Maison de la Photographie, 46 Rue Ahel Fes Medina, 5 24 38 57 21

2. Jemaa el Fna (Place of the Dead)

3. Bahia Palace, Beyond Place des Ferblantiers

MARRAKECH’S BEST VIEWS

The top 3 Marrakech Best Views You shouldn't Miss:

A Rustic Hideaway In Marrakech

So the name of the Beldi Country Club is a giveaway: everything at the beguiling, 27-room hotel amidst fields of roses - from the earth-based pise walls to the sackcloth bags gardeners gather blooms in - is done as it was centuries ago.