Marrakech is among the top most visited cities of the World. People from China to England throughout the year Visit this city and enjoy the hospitality of Moroccans. Although there is a lot to see in Marrakech like, Parks, raids, hotels, Mosques etc but the most important one is Shopping because many of you may wonder how to shop in Marrakech what are some best shops to buy the souvenirs and what is the average cost you would expect. In this article we will discuss how to effectively shop in the souks of Marrakech so without further ado let’s jump into it.
When you enter in Marrakech the sound of motor bikes, shouts of people at the stalls and the smell of Leather and bags will overwhelm you. Marrakech is also known as the shopping hub of Morocco so do not worry about people coming to you for selling their stuff. They are just trying to convince you to buy from their Shop or stall, If you do not want something just walk away from there and do not try to indulge in conversation because they are champions of negotiation and on selling they may sold you some cheap rug or tagine pot at expensive rate so try to be very alert and walk around before purchasing something. Talking about tagine there are estimately more than 3500 stalls at Marrakech alone and it is very obvious that due to such high competition everyone would try to beat one another by selling something to you especially foreign travelers. Getting into the market specially in medina is easy but getting out is extremely difficulty because the streets are just like the Maze and soon you enter you would realize that you lost the entrance point. Although there are many sellers there who would guide you and many shopkeepers sell Maps at their shops but to cope up with this Navigational Challenge, I would like to use Google Map and if you use their Primum service which gives you Dynamic street view which cost only $10 per 1000 request is the ideal solution for this problem. Just be sure you have the internet connection available or use their Offline service called cache Google maps where you download the maps and use later when needed.
Now sometimes what happens that your maps do not works or you do not have the internet connection at the Medina or if you have the signal issue than just be calm and go where ever you want without hesitation and reach at the wall of the Medina where you will find the Djemma el-Fnaa, Koutiba Mosque and some other popular spot of Marrakech because medina is in the center of Marrakech and all the popular spots surrounded the Medina so Next time when you lost at medina just pick a direction and head straight to it. You will find many local Moroccan who can guide you out through medina and may charge you a dollar or two or sometimes even for free. For females I would advice to ask some women to guide you out from Souks.
The narrow streets of Medina will surprise you as you walk around it because you will never know what comes in your way like donkey, Cart or who knows what you will encounter. What I am trying to say is just be alert and know what is happening around you and be sure keep your belongings like Camera, mobile, purse or even watch at some safe place. I always recommend people not to bring digital camera with them because you may encounter with pick pocketers or thieves. Also, do not even think about having jewellery or other expensive stuff with you and bring minimum cash like less than $500 with you.
Now lets discuss the most important thing when you want to purchase a thing from Marrakech which is BARGAINING. As I mentioned they are champions at negotiating and you should up your game and bargain as hard as you can but be very gentle do not shout at them remember they are just doing their jobs to earn money for their families. The best thing is to do some research work before having something and ask price from few different stalls.
Remember that bid about a quarter of what the shop keeper or staller tells you and try to cut down half the rate and stay very hard either they laugh at you or tells you that it is not the retail price. Just remember if some seller is not willing to give you some souvenir at your quoted price then there is always a seller there to sell the similar thing willing to sell at lower price. Finally, if you do not want to indulge in bargaining then there are many stores there which will give you all the things at fixed and reasonable price just go and buy stuff there.
I also recommend travelers to take a break and relax at raid and shop in intervals do not indulge to much in shopping as it will exhaust you. Relax and chill at your raid enjoy Marrakech foods, sight seeing is also a very good option and if you have a time than Book a tour to SAHARA DESERT. My personal favourite is to eat tagine at the roof tops of Marrakech. Remember to eat there at evening where the square light lit up the sky and the performers at djemma el Fna performs which lifts the whole scene to next level.
At Marrakech there are many good spot which only locals would know like unique mosques, majoreller gardens and many more so it is advised to book a guided tour where you do not have to worry about paths, maps or finding best place for your residence. I have booked a Guided tour with https://www.marrakech-desert-trips.com/ and got and amazing experience specially their Desert Tours are very popular they also provide shared tour which is very cost effective highly recommend to check it out.
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