Shirley,

We seem to be following each other around this year

I was in Thailand in April and have just booked to go to Marrakech for Christmas. Look forward to reading your report.

You're not going to Paxos any time soon are you? We're off there in 2 weeks

Elaine

hi there xenos, you will love Marrakech , I was there last October, where are you staying?

Hope you enjoy Paxos, it looks beautiful, love shirley

It's our first visit to Marrakech and we're staying at the Riad Dar El Souk in the Medina, how about you?

I think I'll enjoy Paxos - this will be my 15th visit there

Elaine

Oh you are lucky staying in one of the riads, I really would prefer to stay in one but as we are visiting with a teenager and a child of 8 we go to hotels as they just offer that little bit more for them to do.
We are staying in a hotel called the Imperial Holiday, will post a report when I get back.
There is lots of good shopping there in the souks, I know but Paxos must be good for you to go so many times.
If you want to know any info about Marrakech son't hesitate to ask , love shirley.

We are going to Marrekesh next month and wondering how much food is likely to cost. I know it is probably the same as anywhere and will vary but for instance how much would a 2 course evening meal be?

Also, could you advise how we women should dress. We plan on t-shirts and 3/4 length trousers in the day but is it more acceptable to dress up a little for the evening and will we be frowned upon for anything that shows shoulders or clevage ?

Thanks for any suggestions.

carrie I would suggest for the evenings out then just put a pashmina over your evening wear if going into the souks, I went into the souks every night and wore cropped jeans with a short sleeved wrap top or similar, i found lots of men leering at me and realised it would be better to put a pashmina over next time, I was not provocatively dressed at all but still felt a little under dressed.
Around the hotel it will not matter and t shirts and cropped pants for day will be perfect.
Afraid cannot help re eating out costs as we just ate in our hotel last time, plan on eating out this time though, hope you enjoy your trip Carrie

Good tip about the pashmina Shirley. I've heard it can get quite chilly at night in December, so I expect I'll probably end up wearing sweaters to go out in the evenings, but I'll pop a pashmina into the case, just on the off chance we get lucky with the weather

Any tips on what bargains to look out for? I've given up buying ornament-type souvenirs, because I've run out of both the space to put them and the inclination to keep dusting them But I can't resist a nice handbag or those loose kaftany things that are great for slobbing around in on a Sunday morning. Any other ideas would be most welcome.

Thanks
Elaine

i bought lots of things in Marrakech, I would say the best buys are very ornate lanterns and mirrors, great prices too.

Leather bags are everywhere and georgeous beaded slippers.

we bought argan oil which is good for moisturizing skin and also blocks of solid amber which you rub on your skin for a great scent.

there are lots of moroccan tea glasses in beautiful colours and candle sticks.
I brought home a leather pouffe which I love and stuffed it when I got home, I do know one really great leather shop which is like a little cave crammed with the most beautiful handbags in every possible colour, I am going there next time to buy my bags so I will get you the name, it is only 6 weeks for me now I am stating to get excited, love shirley x

Thanks for the advise I appreciate it. It sounds as if I may have to take a little more money than I thought as its sounds as if there are some great things to buy. Would you say it is expensive to buy things eg. bags etc?

Not long to go for us now so starting to look forward to it.

Do you have any suggestions of places that we must visit while we are there?

Thanks

we didnt find it expensive, but did find the bartering too much,drove us crazy lol. must dos

open top bus trip, ticket lasts 24 hrs and you can hop on and off the buses all day at various tourist hot spots and also a trip to outskirts of marrakech we found interesting

day trip out to the bottom of mountains and visiting a berber house was a fab day out, best day we had there

we went to 2 of the castles and found them interesting

jeema el fna we found hard work and so much hassle it stressed my hubby out and he refused to go again, interesting but wasnt happy seeing monkeys on chains being thrown on people and lots of snake charmers and snakes about etc

we went to 1 of the famous gardens on a horse and carriage which was a nice trip, but you do feel sorry for these animals and thought after maybe we shouldnt have gone on horse and carriage

ive listed loads of photos of marrakech not sure if you have had a look

Thanks for your help its much appreciated.

I think my hubby will be the same if the hassle is that bad but then again, I probably will be annoyed as well. Still gotta try these things.

We are staying in the Moroccan House Hotel which seems to have good reviews.

I suppose I am a little concerned about how to dress but it probably wont be as bad as I imagine lol

Carrie , I have just bought 2 cheapo pashminettas from matalan , ideal for covering shoulders when out and about.

Fantastic thanks i think i better get down there.

we really enjoyed our trip to marrakech but the hassle really was too much 100 times worse than turkey which i can cope with , this spoilt it slightly as hubby couldnt cope and therefore refused to go shopping in the markets etc which sadly for me meant i couldnt go alone wouldnt have coped alone lol was bad enough with him with me. he found it more stressful than i did but then he hates shopping at all times lol.so maybe that was his way of avoiding going ummm about right i think lol, it was a wonderful experience, we met 2 people on our berber trip that were staying at the moroccan house and they enjoyed it there, the reason i remember this was it was 1 of the hotels on my list to book when i was sorting out our diy trip to marrakech. im sure you will have a great time but be prepared to go into battle lol !!! try and do the low mountain trip it really was a great day out and included a wonderful lunch in a restaurant with fab views and trip to berber house with home made fresh bread and mint tea lol

i did get stared at a lot despite dressing causally with crop trs not tight and a standard short sleeved t shirt again not low cut or tight, but got used to it lol

Hi Ellie-meg i'm off to Marrakech in October and am really looking forward to it. Where did you tend to eat and what were you paying for food and drinks?
Thanks Laurence

hi

we ate out in different places we did find a really cheap restaurant near our hotel and it was lovely but cant remember the name, but the 1 near jeema el fna was called maison de couscous and we had a 3 course lovely meal there for about £6 each.

try moroccan fresh orange juice its gorgeous the best ive ever tasted, food was mainly kebabs,chicken,lamb or veg couscous, lemon chicken,loads of pancake,pizza and omelette cafes. alcoholic drinks were very difficult to find, so i didnt drink, hubby bought some beer and took it back to the hotel as most restaurants we ate in didnt allow alcohol, beer in the supermarkets was cheap

Thanks for that. I have a few questions for you if you don't mind.
1) What did you do there by means of sightseeing and tours?
2) Did you buy in the Medina or the Souks?
3) Can you remember the prices of handbags and such like?
4) Did you go to Guilez and is it worth a look?

Sorry to be a pain. Thankyou in advance for your info.
Laurence

hi

we went on a horse and carriage around the centre that was good, then went around medina, souks etc and some lovely gardens

we went on an open top bus that was about £8 for 24 hours that you could hop on and off as much as you like, there were 2 buses one took you to all the main tourist places the other took you outside the city to some lovely palm tree areas, both buses can be used with the same ticket

we went to 2 palaces, that was worth visiting, 1 was ruins but had fab views over the city when you went up top of the stairs, the other was rooms but no furniture, but fantastic tiled walls. ceilings, etc ,we enjoyed both palaces

we went on a trip to the mountains ,wow this was great, coach stopped at a berber house (more a shack) we watched them cooking bread and making mint tea then sampled it, it was fascinating, we then went to the bottom of the mountains, stunning views, some of the coach went on a short camel ride, we stopped at a lovely restaurant where lunch was laid on inclusive, again fab views fantastic restaurant, this trip cost us 350 mad each which is about 21.50 but worth every penny,trip was 9.15 am til 4 pm

we didnt do a lot of shopping in the medina as my hubby couldnt stand the hassle, i bought some really pretty hand made shoes for my 7 yr old daughter about £6, prices were similar to turkey for bags etc, but you really have to barter tons and it got us down after a while, i also bought my son a silver stress ring which after 15 mins of haggling i got it for about £10 ish but its thick, spins around and is a small mans size so not bad a price. hope this helps

Wow that's fab thankyou very much. I've heard it's more aggressive hassling than Turkey. I'll be on my guard.

Laurence