Agadir we arrive at eight o'clock in the morning. Our ship is in the container port in a very unattractive position far from the city.
Shore excursion to Marrakech
We booked an organized tour to Marrakech. We consider the distance from Agadir to Marrakech with a good 250 km to be too critical for an individual trip there. If something happens during the day, you may not be able to reach the ship. You can find information in our post Tour to Marrakech.
Agadir - port
Years ago we got to know Marrakech quite well on a Morocco tour and were thrilled. We want to see if the magic is still there. Our tour starts at 8:30am The changing landscapes during the journey - the coastal area, the foothills of the High Atlas, the plateau in front of Marrakech - all of this is just as fascinating as it used to be. At noon we reach the modern outskirts of Marrakech. The city has grown enormously in the last 10 years, according to official information more than 1 million people live there, but our travel guide speaks of 2½ to 3 million.
Marrakech - Koutoubia Mosque
Bahia Palace and Souk
In the vicinity of the Hotel La Mamounia we start with a tour of the city wall and the Koutoubia Mosque. There we also enter the old town and first visit the Bahia Palace, which is located in a beautiful park and impresses with its architecture, the carved wooden ceilings and ceramics. We go through the souk to the restaurant “Dar Es-Salam” for lunch. The food is delicious, but takes too long, of course there is also a belly dance performance. For us, this is also a reason to forego organized tours if possible. For destinations like Marrakech, there is enough time to eat on the bus, and there is more to do on site.
Marrakech - Bahia Palace
After dinner we go through the souks. Time has almost stopped here, the alleys and the shops are unchanged. Since everything is too narrow for car traffic, the density of mopeds is extremely high and sometimes very uncomfortable for pedestrians.
Marrakech - alley in the souk
On the Djemaa el Fna
The absolute highlight of the tour is the "Djemaa el Fna", the central marketplace in the medina of Marrakech. For several hundred years it has been a trading post, a meeting place for the people of Marrakech and the Bedouins of the surrounding desert areas. There are market stalls, food stalls, restaurants, occasionally you can still find storytellers or snake charmers, not too many years ago you even found scribes and a dentist here. The oriental atmosphere has long attracted many tourists. When we visited, the Djemaa el Fna is still picturesque, but for people who experienced it 15 years ago the appeal has disappeared. Too many tourists, too many cheap souvenirs made in China. How did our tour guide say? “The Djemaa el Fna is folklorized” and that's exactly what it is.
Marrakech - Djemaa el Fna
We leave Marrakech at five o'clock and are not back on board Mein Schiff 4 until four hours later. We eat in the buffet restaurant, as always the selection is good and the quality leaves nothing to be desired. It was an exhausting day, which we ended in the Waterkant Bar with a performance by the crew's shanty choir
Mein Schiff 4 - Shanty Choir
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