Morocco Travel Blog | Jemaa Al Fna (Main Square) - Marrakech, Morocco
Dal Moha Al Medina Restaurant (Mos r ecommended by locals)
Jemaa Al Fna is the busy city square located in the heart of the Medina. Personally in Marrakech, you'll find the cheapest prices here and be sure to read up on haggle strategies before you go and buy something for twice the price.
When: usually busy in the morning to evenings and especially on Saturday (don't go on Eid or the day after it's deserted)
Cost: free
Who: you'll see signs everywhere leading to the square in the Medina or you can ask the locals or your hotel/riad host
Duration: however long you want its basically like NYC times square (obviously not as advanced)
Tips: in the evening all these food stalls pop up in the middle of the square, be sure to have dinner there with freshly grilled/bbQ tangines and skewers! The best time to see the square in action is to go on Saturday.
My personal experience: we learned quickly that from the square we know how to go anywhere and to get to the square there's signs as you can easily get lost in the Medina (the key thing to learn is how to actually get back to your hotel from the square). The square has everything you need- access to the grand souks, all the restaurants, post office, banks, exchange rates whatever you need most probably they'll direct you to the square. Jemaa al Fna is most entertaining on Saturdays, crowds fill up and everyone has dinner in the food stalls that pop up. It's so interesting to see a couple games come up like at the carnival, games like you could get the ring around the bottle using a fishing rod. Unlike carnivals in the US where you only see one person trying, on Saturdays you'll see a huge crowd form as they watch a couple people try and it's actually a lot of fun. There's mini snake shows you can pay for a price, get henna done by the local ladies (that probably persist after you girls but just politely say no) and constant vendors asking you if you want fresh citrus juice (which is pretty refreshing).
Grand Souks is where you can find a bunch of the souks, but beware most souks in the grand bazaar are overpriced because the locals know tourists go there first (darn Moroccans).
Tips: go deep into the grand souks or even better go to the souks that are on the outline of Medina or outskirts of the grand bazaar for legit deals and prices, if you get lost no biggie there's signs that direct you to the city square (although they take you the long route) so as long as you know where to go from Jemaa al Fna you're set.
Bargaining: Moroccans are pretty aggressive when it comes to bargaining as soon as they see you eyeing their store, they'll do their best to lure you in. They key to getting good pricing, is not letting them know which item you really want. First ask the price of an item similar to what you're trying to buy, then tell them no too high. Then ask them the price of the item you actually want to buy, hopefully they'll say a lower price. You can say no still too high and then start walking out the store, most usually they come after you saying okay what price do you want. If they don't chase you then that means they're not really willing to change the price. This is your homework to research a reasonable price, and tell them a bit lower than that. They'll disagree and then tell them your ideal price and they eventually give in. Good luck!
Sick of Moroccan food? Look for Terrasse de Espices, it's a European rooftop/terrace burger restaurant. You'll find all the normal American food you missed. Just ask the locals for this restaurant, it's on top of a mini mall plaza inside the Medina.