How Much Does it Cost to Visit Marrakesh: Trip Cost

How much does it cost to visit Marrakesh? Even though traveling to Morocco is not really on the table right now, I realized the budget section of our blog is empty. We took down some of our old posts a while back so it’s time to work on some budget-related posts, both general and specific. This one is more specific. We’ll be doing other topics as well (like maybe a couple on our moving/road trip experience from last year), but thought we should add to the budget section!

Background: Our Trip to Marrakesh

In November 2017, we took a trip to Marrakesh, Barcelona, Paris, and Uppsala (Sweden). Ultimately that trip was designed around the idea of a trip to Morocco, though.

We considered spending an extended amount of time in Morocco to visit multiple cities but ended up doing this instead, partly due to flights (sounds strange, think it is explained in another post, though) and partly due to thinking we might love or hate it and if it was the latter we didn’t want it to basically be the whole trip. In the end, it was some of both. There are great things about Marrakesh but I would say I don’t think the city is for everyone.

Basic Itinerary in Marrakesh

Our trip to Marrakesh looked like this:

• A few days in Barcelona (not in this post)
• D1- Arrive to Marrakesh at night (we just got in and slept)
• D2- Full Day in Marrakesh
• D3- Full Day in Marrakesh
• D4- Full Day in Marrakesh
• D5- Partial Day in Marrakesh and leave (we didn’t really do anything this day)
• A couple of days in Paris and Sweden (not in this post)

So we had 3 full days and 4 nights. With only three full days there, we thought we should stick to one place. This was also not enough time for a desert tour. That is a classic Morocco experience which we missed out on but we chose this decision (again, mostly due to the reasons above) but we were happy with the overall trip so this is okay.

If you wanted to do a day trip to somewhere like Essaouira one day (we considered this), I think it would be possible but since we already were moving around a lot on this trip, we opted to skip it. We found ourselves busy enough in the medina.

Note on Prices/Changes in Prices

Keep in mind that a few years have passed. That doesn’t always mean that prices would be higher, but often does. Inflation is relevant but the exchange rates can also really change things up.

I try to list prices in both Moroccan Dirham (MAD) and USD (I just use a $). The latter is based on the exchange rates during our visit.

How Much We Spent in Marrakesh

Flights to Marrakesh: Cost

At the time we purchased tickets/visited Morocco, it was rare to see great flight deals to the country. It’s still not as common as seeing cheap flight deals to western Europe of course, but they happen occasionally now. Because of this, I knew we were probably going to want to get there via another city. So when Iberia Level launched and began offering cheap flights (in the $100s one way and the $300s RT) from several airports (including Oakland) to Barcelona, we jumped on that and gave ourselves a few days in Barcelona.

After Marrakesh, we flew Paris and ended up leaving out of Stockholm. Our flights from Barcelona to Marrakesh and Marrakesh to Paris were around $50-$80/person each. The reason I do not have the exact records is because I paid for them in points and so I didn’t record that amount spent because it was $0. The points came from a credit card sign up bonus.

$50-$100 is a somewhat typical amount to pay for a one-way flight from those cities to/from Marrakesh, on similar airlines, though. We did not fly on a budget airline for those routes and so if you did, it could potentially be on the lower end or possibly even cheaper (but also more, depending on dates and other details).

As always, the city you’re coming from, how you plan to travel, how strict you are with dates, and if you’re willing to wait for a good deal will factor into the cost of a ticket.

Cost of Accommodation in Marrakesh

While I always search for what I think will be the best for us of the cheaper options, our experience was that you can find a hotel/place/accommodation at a decent value in Marrakesh. I think this is fairly true throughout Morocco. The amount we paid is on the lower end (ish) of what people tend to pay here and I think is similar to what you might expect at some hostels. You may be able to find cheaper accommodation at some of those or at a location outside of the medina, though.

Note that November is not the high season and so that factored into the price we paid. July and August are considered high season and so prices may be higher during those months. November is actually a good time to visit because the heat of the summer could be a lot to handle, especially when you are expected to dress conservatively. It was even warm in November.

While we spent around $25/night, I think $40-$80 would probably be a common amount to spend. Here is a post that includes some riads that fall in that range, some a little more expensive.

To us, our accommodation was unique, charming, and fancy but if you pay more you can get quite luxurious. Some riads have pools or spas.

Note that I booked 4 or 5 months in advance.

What We Spent on Accommodation in Marrakesh

The cost of our accommodation was $26.40 per night which came out to $105.06 total (you would think 2 cents higher but I’ll post our receipt below). The nightly price was $23.18 plus there was a total service fee of $12.36 which is how it came out to $26.40/night. That comes out to $13.13 per person/night.

Details of Our Accommodation in Marrakesh

We booked a room in a Riad through Airbnb. If you somehow haven’t signed up yet, use this link to get some free money on there.

On that note, you don’t need to stay at an Airbnb. Whatever you do, I would really recommend staying at a Riad as it is part of the Morocco experience.

Here are some details about the place we stayed:

• It was a traditional Moroccan riad located in the medina, but not very close to Jemaa el-Fnaa. We considered staying outside of the medina but are glad we didn’t.
• A large breakfast was provided each morning (included). This is fairly common here. Our breakfast included things like pastries, yogurt, bread, jam, and fruit.
• Wifi. We didn’t use the Internet much but we didn’t have service or a local sim card and had some issues so we did end up checking some things when we’d get back in the evenings (since we had no data/wifi access outside of where we were staying). The Wifi was okay but I personally wouldn’t want to rely on it (at least what we experienced) to work.
• Our room was on the roof terrace (the only room up there). This meant we could lounge out on the furniture and look at the stars by ourselves at night. If other guests wanted to come up to the roof I think they could have but there weren’t any until our last night.
• We had an ensuite bathroom.
• The room and riad as a whole featured nice details and Moroccan charm.

*Keep in mind that we actually got a better room than we paid for due to that room being unoccupied when we arrived. We would have been in the same riad but on a lower floor. I am not sure how much the room itself would have differed since we did not see it. This is another potential advantage of going during a less busy time.

Cost of Food in Marrakesh

We only stayed within the medina so cannot comment on food outside of the medina.

You can find some stands and street food for a cheaper snack, but not necessarily cheaper than an equivalent food at a dine-in restaurant. If you want a meal dining-in at regular place, we found they would usually cost somewhere from $2.50 to $12. $4-$6 for a tagine and  $1-$3 for a smoothie/juice was pretty doable. You can also find some very nice restaurants with higher prices.

What We Spent on Food in Marrakesh

I predicted that we would only spend $40-$50 on food during our time in Marrakesh but we actually spent $80.03. The last day we splurged on two meals which together are half of the total cost. Even so, I should have budgeted more as we could have spent more.

That comes out to $40.02 per person and $13.33 per person per day.

We paid in cash for all of our food except for one restaurant meal, and chips at the Marrakesh airport when we arrived.

For more details on what we ate, see our post: What We Ate in Marrakesh.

Details of Our Food Spendings in Marrakesh

Our breakfast was included in our accommodation so that would usually leave us stuffed to start off the day. I would also set aside a roll or something else small for myself each morning from breakfast as a snack for the evening (Kyle did not eat these snacks).

First Night Meal/Snack Spendings

• $2.95 for a large bag of chips in the airport (for me, though Kyle may have had some later – he was detained and I was hungry waiting).

Day total: $2.95 (the rest was from Barcelona) 

Full Day 1 Meal/Snack Spendings

• Big Breakfast: Free/included
• Lunch: $11.25 (105 MAD) Meal at Cafe Bistro Laksour. This included a vegetable sandwich with fries (me), beef couscous tagine (Kyle), a mango smoothie (shared), and water (shared). Meals were in the 30s MAD ($3-$4), the water was around $1 and the smoothie was around $2.
• Evening Dessert/Snack: $2.89 (27 MAD) Ice cream with cone and honey butter crepe at Oriental Legend. The honey butter crepe was the cheapest crepe option.

Is that all? We got quite lost which created problems for us and went to bed hungry.

Day total: $14.14 ($7.07/person)

Full Day 2 Meal/Snack Spendings

• Big Breakfast: Free/included
• Lunch: $10.39 at Unknown (we don’t remember the name). This included a beef tagine (Kyle), vegetable tagine (me), orange juice (shared), and water (shared). There was also a free appetizer including fresh bread, olives, baba ganoush and tomato/pepper sauce. That amount also includes the tip.
• Dinner: $2.46 (23 MAD) for a shawarma at Terrasse Panoramique Shawarma. (Kyle)
• Evening Dessert/Snack: $2.14 (20 MAD) for an apple pastry and pineapple juice at Cremerie Patisserie Fine de Marrakesh. (Me)
• Evening Snack: $0.43 (4 MAD) popcorn from a popcorn vendor. (Me)

While the lunches were pretty filling all days (especially with the added free appetizers) I was pretty hungry again this evening also but this is a result of us trying to avoid getting lost again and not passing more places to eat on our way back. All of this could have been avoided if we simply could have gotten a local sim card (if Kyle’s phone wasn’t stolen in Barcelona or if mine was unlocked). Having the correct address for our place also would have helped, though. I did finish the rolls I stashed from breakfast both evenings so far, though.

Day total: $15.42 ($7.71/person) 

Full Day 3 Meal/Snack Spendings

• Big Breakfast: Free/included
• Afternoon Dessert: $2.68 (25 MAD) for ice cream at Terrasse Des Epices Cafe. (Shared)
• Lunch: $19.82 (185 MAD) on an appetizer meal at Terrasse Des Epices. We shared an eggplant cannoli appetizer, vegetable and cheese samosas with lemon yogurt sauce appetizer, as well as mint tea and water. There was also complimentary olives and bread.
• Dinner: $20.31 (purchased on a card, not in MAD cash) on a meal at Bazaar. Kyle had a 3-course meal (I tried a little bit of his dessert) which cost 95 MAD ($10.30 at the time) and I had their spaghetti atlas dish. We shared water and the meal came with complimentary bread which we indulged in quite a bit.

Day total: $42.81 ($21.41/person) 

Final Day Food Spendings

Breakfast: Free/included

Day total: $0 (the rest was in Paris)

Other Food/Drink Spendings in Marrakesh

We drank water and orange juice at breakfast and also drank with meals but we purchased water three additional times.

• $1.50 (14 MAD) water
• $1.07 (10 MAD) water
• $1.07 (10 MAD) water

There was also an additional $1.07 (MAD) tip which applied to one of the meals (tipping is typically less there). The amount we tipped is included in the price in our totals above minus this corresponding meal.

Total Other Food/Drink Costs: $4.71

Cost of Transportation in Marrakesh

You will be coming to Marrakesh either from the airport or another city. If you’re coming from another city the cost depends on how you’re coming (bus, rental car, etc.) but from the airport, you can either do a bus or taxi. Some places online say you can get either of these for under $10 basically. While we usually like to choose what is cheapest, after some research we decided against it in this case, especially since it was such a new place for us and went the safer route of having our host arrange a taxi for us (the room page said this was possible).

Within the city, you will be walking. I really wouldn’t recommend other forms of travel there as they seem dangerous (maybe if you want to go outside of the medina). We saw someone on a motorbike get hit with a car and our taxi from the airport even hit/scraped against someone else. I think we even saw another accident in those three days, but I just don’t recall the specifics right now. Anyway, walking is free.

If you do some kind of tour outside of the city I assume any transport would be included in the price but you can always check.

Amount We Spent on Transportation in Marrakesh

We spent $47 (based on the exchange rate at the time) total on taxis to/from the airport (40 euro). It was 20 euro each way.

Reasons for Choosing The Arranged Taxi

Though I kind of touched on this above, If you aren’t staying in one of the hotels/areas the buses take you to, I wouldn’t bank on being able to find your place from there, especially if you arrive at night/in the dark like we did, though. The cars can’t go down any alleyways and you may want some kind of guide. We had to wind down many alleyways cars cannot go down to find our place on foot past where the taxi dropped us off and we could only find it because our host picked us up from this point (as we arranged).

I actually think it was almost problematic that our host posed it as an option than a necessity after having done this as we never would have gotten to the place. Still, if we actually had a local sim card/if our phones worked there it would have been less of a problem (I think — but we also would have needed the correct address for our place which we didn’t have).

How Much Do Activities Cost in Marrakesh?

• Free – There are some free activities in Marrakesh. Being in Marrakesh itself is an experience. While it is not free, you have to eat and eating can be an experience unto itself.
• Cheap – The standard activities tend to be pretty affordable (~$1-$5). I will go over the places we went below, but there are even more.
• More – Doing a desert tour or something else big like that will typically run you in the $100-$200+ range for a shorter one I think, but it could definitely vary. One activity we strongly considered was a hammam/spa. Prices can vary of course but I believe you can get this experience for under $50.

For some info on additional activities and more, check out our bigger guide to Marrakesh.

How Much Did We Spend on Activities in Marrakesh?

We spent $23.58 total on activities in Marrakesh. We may be missing some other free things and obviously, I covered the food above.

Here are the activities:

Full Day 1 Activities in Marrakesh

• A ticket to Le Jardin Secret cost $5.36 (50 MAD) so we spent $10.72 (100 MAD)
• We wandered the souks. This is free. We also shopped for souvenirs/gifts at some of these, trying out haggling (which we don’t love).
• Checking out Jemma Al Fenna and the area around it was free. This is the area which has the snake charmers, henna ladies, etc.
• The Artisans Ensemble is a place you can shop without the haggling and so we did a little shopping here. (See souvenirs/gifts section for more on this). Similar to the other shopping the cost is the cost of the items.
• Koutoubia Mosque. Non-Muslims are not allowed inside but we visited the outside. Free.
• Parc Lalla Hasna. Free.
• Getting lost for hours. Free, I guess.

Day Total: $10.72 ($5.36/person)

Full Day 2 Activities in Marrakesh

• Entrance to El Badi Palace was $2.15 (20 MAD) which came out to $4.29 (40 MAD) total.
• A ticket to Bahia Palace was $1.07 (10 MAD), or $2.14 (20 MAD) total. (There is a lot to both of these activities).
• The ability to walk around the Jewish cemetery costs the same as Bahia Palace $2.14 total.
• We checked out more of the city like the mellah (the Jewish quarter) and returned to Jemma Al Fenna. We planned to go to the Saadien Tombs which required a ticket but could not find it (but did spend a fair amount of time looking for it).

Day Total: $8.57 ($4.23/person)

Full Day 2 Activities in Marrakesh

• Entrance to Ben Youssef Madrasa was $2.15 (20 MAD), or $4.29 total.
• Mosque Moulay El Yazid (free).
• We viewed the area with leather, but not the tanneries themselves.
• Final shopping (including revisiting the Artisan Ensemble) and wandering.
• This day we took slower and made a lot of extra efforts to avoid getting lost.

Day total: $4.29 ($2.15/person)

Other Marrakesh Trip Cost: The Bathroom (And More)

I paid for the bathroom 3 times and Kyle paid once. Each time we paid in cash. This is necessary here so keep some coins around.

• $0.54 5 (MAD) bathroom
• $0.54 5 (MAD) bathroom
• $0.11 (1 MAD) bathroom
• $0.21 (2 MAD) bathroom tip 

Total for bathroom visits: $1.40 

Additionally, Kyle fell for the scam of a child giving you directions to a place and paid them 10 MAD ($1.07).

Also, we had 17 MAD ($1.82) MAD leftover and so that currency is basically a souvenir, but I thought I would put it in the other category.

Total for other: $4.29 

Souvenirs/Gifts

We spent more time shopping in Marrakesh than any other place and I think we spent more on souvenirs/gifts than any other place so far as well. We’re not going into details here, though as at least a couple of people in our family who received these presents read some of our posts. About a fifth of our shopping spendings went to souvenirs for us, and the rest were gifts.

I mentioned this earlier, but we do not like to bargain/negotiate prices. We did try this a couple of times but as I mentioned above, opted to do most of our shopping in places with fixed prices.

Marrakesh Trip Cost: How Much Did We Spend?

*as mentioned above, souvenirs/gifts not included

That comes out to ~$32-$43/person/day depending on if you divide by 3 or 4 days (technically there on five days, three full, and 4 nights).

So what do you think? If you’ve been to Marrakesh did you have a similar or different experience? Would you like to see more spendings posts?

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