Marrakech in 6 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Six days in Marrakech: room to shop with real prices in hand
Six days adds a genuine souk shopping day and a Hivernage evening to the route covered on shorter trips, still without leaving the city limits. The 2-day through 5-day itineraries cover the condensed versions of exactly this route; the 7-day adds one more slow morning on top. Want the Atlas Mountains or the desert instead of a sixth city day? Our Marrakech, Morocco base guide covers those as proper overnight trips, not a bolt-on day.
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
Arrival. From Menara airport, use the official ticket counter’s fixed price board rather than a driver’s opening quote of 300 to 400 MAD, roughly 100 to 150 MAD to the medina by day, 150 to 240 MAD after about 10pm. Cars stop at the nearest bab regardless, so plan on a short walk over cobbles to your riad; set a meeting point in advance since GPS is unreliable inside the medina.
Day 1: Jemaa el-Fnaa and first souk walk
Settle in, then spend the afternoon at Jemaa el-Fnaa while it’s calmer than after dark, and walk five minutes to Koutoubia Mosque for the exterior only. Orient yourself in the souks; counter opening prices at roughly a third and treat walking away as a genuine tool. Dinner at the numbered night food stalls beats the rooftop cafes on price and quality; plates run 20 to 50 MAD, agreed before you sit. Keep your hands pocketed around the henna sellers and animal handlers.
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 rewards ten minutes for the dye vats; Rahba Kedima’s saffron is 40 to 70 MAD a tin. Skip the “free” tannery tours. Ben Youssef Medersa (50 MAD, 9am to 7pm) and Bahia Palace (100 MAD) in the afternoon both reward arriving before the tour groups cluster. For dinner, order tanjia rather than the standard tourist tagine.
Day 3: Jardin Majorelle, then Saadian Tombs and the Kasbah
Book Jardin Majorelle for the first slot of the day, timed tickets only through tickets.jardinmajorelle.com; garden plus Berber Museum 230 MAD, YSL Museum alone 140 MAD, all three combined 330 MAD. Saadian Tombs (100 MAD) in the afternoon fills fast, so go early, then the Kasbah quarter and El Badi Palace ruins for a slower wander.
Day 4: Le Jardin Secret, Menara Gardens, and an evening in Gueliz
Le Jardin Secret (100 MAD, 80 MAD under 25) is all-day access with a fraction of Majorelle’s crowds. Menara Gardens’ grounds are free, with a 100 MAD pavilion fee if you want the view. In the evening, Gueliz’s Avenue Mohammed V has flat streets, cafes, and bars that actually serve alcohol.
Day 5: A hammam morning, then the Mellah
A local neighborhood hammam runs 20 to 50 MAD for entry and a basic kit; a budget-friendly tourist-style hammam with a scrub starts around 150 MAD, and a hotel-grade spa treatment runs 400 to 800 MAD. In the afternoon, the Mellah, Marrakech’s former Jewish quarter, created in 1558 under the Saadians and home to roughly 40,000 residents at its peak in the late 1940s, has a spice and jewelry souk with far fewer tourists than Semmarine, even though almost no Jewish community remains after the emigrations of the 1950s and 60s.
Day 6: Souk shopping day, then Hivernage at night
With the sights covered, spend today actually buying things rather than just looking, now that you know real prices from the past several days. Go back to whichever souk had the item you almost bought and didn’t, a rug in Semmarine, a lantern, a leather bag, and negotiate properly; a plausible opening counter is a third of the asking price, and a full round trip of walking away and being called back is normal, not rude. In the evening, Hivernage’s nightclubs and hotel bars are the version of Marrakech nightlife the medina doesn’t really offer, dress code applies at most doors and drinks cost considerably more than a Gueliz cafe.
Six-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 |
| Day 6 | Souk shopping, Hivernage evening | 250 to 450 |
Is 6 days enough for Marrakech?
Six days is more city time than most first-timers need, but it suits shoppers, slow travellers, or anyone using Marrakech as a base without a Morocco-wide loop attached. By day 6 you’ve seen every major sight at least once and have real price knowledge for the souks, which is exactly when a dedicated shopping day pays off.
How much does this 6-day Marrakech trip cost?
Expect roughly 1,700 to 2,650 MAD total across the six days for food, entry tickets, and local transport, on top of your riad’s nightly rate. Day 6’s total depends almost entirely on how much you buy, unlike the other five days where the range is mostly fixed by ticket prices.
Where to stay for this itinerary
A medina riad keeps you within walking distance of everything above; ask specifically about heating if you’re travelling outside summer, plenty go unheated at night even on mild days. Couscous, if you land on a Friday, is the traditional day to order it as an authentic home-style dish rather than the everyday tourist-menu filler.
Pack small bills for the whole trip. Vendors and drivers alike routinely can’t or won’t break anything larger than a 20 MAD note.