Marrakech in 5 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Five days in Marrakech: medina, gardens, and a real rest day
Five days adds a hammam morning and a proper look at the Mellah to the medina-and-gardens route covered on shorter trips, all still in-city. See the 2-day through 4-day versions for the condensed route, or the 6-day and 7-day itineraries for more.
Book these before you go:
- Jardin Majorelle timed tickets , the official site, slots sell out
- Riad rooms in the medina, Booking.com
- A licensed medina walking tour for day one
- A hammam or spa experience if you want a fixed time slot rather than a walk-in
Arrival. Petit taxis from Menara airport will open at 300 to 400 MAD; use the official ticket counter’s fixed price instead, roughly 100 to 150 MAD by day, 150 to 240 MAD after about 10pm. Cars can’t reach the medina’s inner lanes, so you’ll walk the last stretch from the nearest bab; arrange a meeting spot with your riad ahead of time.
Day 1: Jemaa el-Fnaa and first souk walk
Ease in at Jemaa el-Fnaa, calmer in the afternoon than after dark, then walk five minutes to Koutoubia Mosque for the exterior only, non-Muslims can’t enter, standard across the country. Spend the rest of the day orienting yourself in the souks; counter opening prices at roughly a third and treat walking away as a real move, not a bluff. Dinner at the square’s numbered food stalls beats the surrounding rooftop cafes on both price and quality; plates run 20 to 50 MAD, agree first. Keep your hands out of reach of the henna sellers and don’t let anyone drape a snake or monkey on you for photos.
Day 2: The souks properly, then Ben Youssef Medersa and Bahia Palace
Souk Semmarine’s leather runs 250 to 400 MAD opening, 120 to 180 MAD after countering; Souk des Teinturiers is worth ten minutes for the dye vats; Rahba Kedima’s saffron is 40 to 70 MAD a tin, 10 MAD gets you turmeric instead. Skip the “free” tannery tours. In the afternoon, Ben Youssef Medersa (50 MAD, open 9am to 7pm) has the best carved courtyards in the medina, and Bahia Palace (100 MAD) rounds out the day well. For dinner, order tanjia rather than the standard tourist tagine, best found near the Mellah or Kasbah.
Day 3: Jardin Majorelle, then Saadian Tombs and the Kasbah
Book Majorelle Garden for the first slot of the morning, non-negotiable if you want it uncrowded. Timed tickets only through tickets.jardinmajorelle.com; garden plus Berber Museum 230 MAD, the YSL Museum alone 140 MAD, all three combined 330 MAD. In the afternoon, Saadian Tombs (100 MAD) fills fast, so go early, then the half-ruined El Badi Palace and the wider Kasbah quarter for slower wandering. Round out the evening with mint tea on a rooftop, 10 to 20 MAD.
Day 4: Le Jardin Secret, Menara Gardens, and an evening in Gueliz
Le Jardin Secret is 100 MAD full price (80 MAD under 25), all-day access, with a fraction of Majorelle’s crowds. Menara Gardens’ grounds are free, with a 100 MAD fee for the pavilion interior; the grounds alone justify the trip. In the evening, Gueliz’s Avenue Mohammed V has flat streets, cafes, boutiques, and bars that actually serve alcohol, a different world from the medina.
Day 5: A hammam morning, then the Mellah
Four days of medina walking earns a slower morning. A local neighborhood hammam runs 20 to 50 MAD for entry and a basic kit of black soap and a kessa glove; a budget-friendly tourist-style hammam with a scrub starts closer to 150 MAD, and a full spa treatment at a hotel-grade hammam runs 400 to 800 MAD. Pick the tier that matches your patience for a no-frills, locals-only room versus an English-speaking version of the same ritual. In the afternoon, the Mellah, Marrakech’s former Jewish quarter, created in 1558 under the Saadians and once home to roughly 40,000 residents at its peak in the late 1940s, is a working neighborhood today with a spice and jewelry souk that sees a fraction of Semmarine’s foot traffic, even though almost no Jewish community remains following the emigrations of the 1950s and 60s. Spend the evening back at Jemaa el-Fnaa or on a quiet riad rooftop.
Five-day cost breakdown
| Day | Focus | Rough cost (MAD, food + entries + local transport) |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Jemaa el-Fnaa, Koutoubia exterior, souk orientation | 200 to 300 |
| Day 2 | Souks, Ben Youssef Medersa, Bahia Palace | 300 to 450 |
| Day 3 | Jardin Majorelle, Saadian Tombs, the Kasbah | 500 to 650 |
| Day 4 | Le Jardin Secret, Menara Gardens, Gueliz evening | 250 to 400 |
| Day 5 | Hammam, the Mellah | 200 to 400 |
Is 5 days enough for Marrakech?
Five days is the point where the trip stops feeling rushed: the full medina rotation, both gardens, and a genuine rest day built in rather than bolted on. It suits a first Marrakech trip that isn’t part of a wider Morocco loop, where the city itself is the whole point rather than a stopover.
How much does this 5-day Marrakech trip cost?
Expect roughly 1,450 to 2,200 MAD total across the five days for food, entry tickets, and local transport, on top of your riad’s nightly rate. The hammam day is the widest swing in the whole trip, a local neighborhood hammam costs a fraction of a hotel-grade spa treatment for a genuinely different, less polished version of the same ritual.
Where to stay for this itinerary
A riad in the medina keeps everything above within walking distance and usually includes a rooftop terrace. If you’re travelling outside summer, ask specifically about heating, many riads leave guests cold at night even on mild days.
Pack a light scarf regardless of season, useful for covering up at religious-site exteriors and surprisingly handy on cool riad rooftops after sunset even in warmer months.