Day 1
Arrival in Marrakech, pick up at the airport and transfer to the Riad.
Day 2
After breakfast, guided tour of Marrakech.
In the morning, guided visit to the important points of the city.
– Palais el Bahia. The construction of the Bay Palace was commissioned by Ahmed ben Moussa, an influential, skilful and powerful man, who was vizier (the highest office after the monarch) to Sultan Abdelaziz at the end of the 19th century.
Starting from an old residence, which was owned by his father, and taking over a group of adjacent houses, the vizier commissioned the work of designing and building his palace to the Moroccan architect Muhammad al-Mekki.
It is said that Ahmed ben Moussa dedicated this magnificent palace especially to his favourite among the 4 wives and 24 concubines that made up his harem; in fact, palace of the bay means palace of the beautiful or the brilliant. Only one third of the palace can be visited; the rest is the private property of the royal family.
– Saadies Tombs. Located in an enclosed garden next to the Kasbah mosque, the Saadian tombs represent a beautiful royal cemetery that is visited by hundreds of tourists every day.
Although the construction dates from 1557, when Ahmed El Mansour ordered the construction of a mausoleum on the tomb of his father, with the arrival to power of the Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail, it was decided to hide the cemetery behind a great wall. Because of this, the place remained hidden for a long time, until in 1917 it was rediscovered and then restored by the Fine Arts and Historical Monuments Service.
– Dar si Said Palace Museum. When visiting the palaces the most important thing is to appreciate the beauty and artistic finesse of their decoration. And that should be the aim of your visit to the Dar Si Said Palace, which has housed a museum of Moroccan art since 1932. This palace was built at the end of the 19th century by Sir Said Moussa, brother of the vizier Ahmed Ben Moussa, who built the Bay Palace at the same time.
After his death in 1900, the palace was occupied by the authorities of the French Protectorate, and in 1932 the building passed into the hands of the Directorate General of Fine Arts, and since then several areas of it have housed a museum of Moroccan art.
In your walk through the Dar Si Said museum of Moroccan art, besides looking at the artistic objects that are shown in its various rooms, especially appreciate the beauty of its various corners.
– Majorelle Gardens. The Majorelle Gardens were created in 1924 by Jacques Majorelle, a French painter who settled in Marrakech in 1919. At first the gardens served the painter as a source of inspiration, but in 1947 they were opened to the general public. Since 1980, the Majorelle Gardens have been owned by Yves Saint Laurent. If you like Islamic art, you can visit a small museum in the gardens. The Majorelle Gardens are quite big gardens with a lot of different plants. The plants are divided into cactus, palms, bamboo, garden plants and water plants.
Free afternoon to enjoy the Medina. Accommodation.
Day 3
Day off.
Free day to enjoy the Medina of Marrakech, its souk and of course, the Jemma el Fna Square.
Accommodation.
Day 4
After breakfast, pick up at the Riad and transfer to the airport, according to flight time.