Arriving in Marrakech via Marrakech Menara Airport sets you up perfectly, with surrounding cities and experiences a short drive away. Marrakech is Morocco's red city, a walled medina of souks, courtyard riads, and palm groves set against the snow-capped Atlas Mountains. It is intense, colorful, and theatrical, with the great square of Jemaa el-Fna as its nightly stage.

Standout experiences around Marrakech: - Watch Jemaa el-Fna fill with food stalls, storytellers, and musicians after dark - Bargain for rugs, lanterns, and leather slippers in the souks - Visit the cobalt-blue Jardin Majorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum - Tour the tiled courtyards of the Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs - Use the Koutoubia minaret as your landmark whenever you get lost - Book a hammam scrub and relax in a riad courtyard afterward - Eat tanjia, the slow-cooked lamb dish that is a Marrakech specialty - Shop the boutiques and rooftop cafes of the modern Gueliz district - Sip mint tea on a terrace as the call to prayer sounds

Marrakech is the gateway to the High Atlas. The Ourika Valley, with its waterfalls and Berber villages, is about an hour south, and Imlil, the trailhead for Mount Toubkal, is around ninety minutes. The stony Agafay desert, where camps offer dinner under the stars, is only forty-five minutes away, and the pretty village of Oumnass and the Lalla Takerkoust lake are even closer. Try a breakfast of msemen with honey and amlou almond butter, and learn the gentle art of saying no thank you in the souk. Marrakech will keep you on your toes.