Half Day Marrakech History Tour including entrances

Marrakech, Morocco

4 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Discover some of Marrakech’s most beautiful buildings and hidden treasures on this morning tour. With a local guide, admire top Marrakech attractions including the Koutoubia Mosque with its sublime minaret; and the pavilions, courtyards, and perfumed gardens of the Bahia Palace. Hear historical anecdotes from your guide as you explore and round off your tour with visits to the decorative Saadian Tombs and Tiskiwin Museum, home to a fascinating exhibition on the ancient Saharan caravan routes between Marrakech and Timbuktu.

City tour of palaces and monuments in Marrakech
Visit Bahia Palace
See Koutoubia Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakech
Stop at the Saadian Tombs

What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop off
Entrance fees for El Bahia Palace & Medrassa Ben Youssef
Air-conditioned vehicle

Food and drinks
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

The activity start time excludes pickup times. You MUST contact TUI Destination Services for the exact pick-up time and place AT LEAST 48 hours before the start time of the activity.

Operating hours
.8:30 am

Itinerary

Start your tour in central Marrakech. Then, set off to discover some of Marrakech’s most notable palaces and monuments, as well some lesser-known treasures.

Head for the Koutoubia Mosque, Morocco’s biggest mosque and one of the largest in the world. Take in the Hispano-Moorish, 12th-century exterior as your guide recounts its history, and admire the centerpiece—the 253-foot (70-meter) minaret, topped by a spire and orbs.

Continue to the Bahia Palace, a 19th-century sultans’ residence. Built to outshine all other palaces, this lovely complex comprises ornate pavilions, gardens, and a harem. Stroll around the mosaic-coated halls and perfumed courtyards as your guide shares tales of the sultans who lived here.

Next, visit the Saadian Tombs, a series of royal burial chambers dating from the 1500s. Admire the marble and cedar-domed chambers and learn how the tombs were unearthed in 1917.

Finally, visit the Tiskiwin Museum, a double riad (traditional courtyard house) with an exhibition covering the ancient Saharan trade routes between Marrakech and Timbuktu.

View the arts and crafts on show, including Berber clothing, jewelry, and carpets, and then finish your tour at the original start point.

Koutoubia Mosque

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Bahia Palace

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Medersa Ben Youssef

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Infants must sit on laps

Most travelers can participate
Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
Please note that that one or more of these monuments could be substituted at any time according to availability or any occurred event.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

3.7

based on 39 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

The guide's English was a little...

TD, Dec 2017

The guide's English was a little difficult to understand, went on a little bit too much on certain historical aspects. The sights were good didn't need the herbalist shop visit towards the end.

The tour proceeded in a downpour...

Gregory P, Dec 2017

The tour proceeded in a downpour. No consideration was given to reschedule as you could not leave the taxi. Complete waste of time.

This tour was not the best, but good...

ashley.stallworth, Nov 2017

This tour was not the best, but good enough to get you familiar with the area to later go sightseeing on your own. I felt the tour guide didn't give a lot of information and didn't see a whole lot. However it was just ok to me.

Great tour, lovely efficient guide...

Vicki H, Oct 2017

Great tour, lovely efficient guide. Monuments were beautiful and the history fully explained. There was a bit of walking which was great as it took you through non touristic parts outside the medina wall. We stopped at a cake shop to sample some of the local cakes. Also stopped for lunch at a designated restaurant which had a mixture of tourist and locals there. The food was actually some of the best I had in Morocco and you were able to enjoy wine with your meal which is rare in the medinas in Morocco. The pace of the tour was quite relaxed and the length perfect. Also one person was not picked up due to a mix up and the tour guide changed the schedule slightly to allow her to join the tour pretty much from the start which I thought was excellent service.

Superb Abdul was very attentive to...

Ann R, Sep 2017

Superb Abdul was very attentive to us all spoke 4 foreign languages. We visited many of the key sites and he was a wealth of information. Cannot wait for my next tour this afternoon which if yesterday,s tour is anything to go by will be equally enjoyable.

Very nice! Our tour guide was fun...

Huraiyah A, Apr 2017

Very nice! Our tour guide was fun and knowledgeable. His English was clear and I was happy he showed us some shops where my mother, sisters and I were able to get some natural products for the hair and skin.

Great tour with a very friendly and...

GERARD C, Mar 2017

Great tour with a very friendly and informative guide, took us to the major sites in and around Marrakech. Would highly recommend as a great introduction to Marrakech.

Guide was lovely and spoke in...

Eireann V, Jan 2017

Guide was lovely and spoke in several languages, definitely knew his stuff as well. Learnt a lot and saw some beautiful places, would highly recommend!

Worst tour I have been on. Do not go...

KH, Nov 2016

Worst tour I have been on. Do not go. Advertised as a 3.5 hour half day tour but done in less than two hours! Total crooks. Avoids many main attractions in Marrakech with tour guide dismissing the Bedi palace as nothing but bricks presumably as it has a higher entrance fee compared to other attractions. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

This tour was a good way to get...

christel s, Oct 2016

This tour was a good way to get familiar with the city

Don't bother!!! The tour guide...

Vina_G, Oct 2016

Don't bother!!! The tour guide is arrogant, rude and kept having a go at everyone! Patronising unnecessarily and preached about Islam and attempted to sell other tours rather than actually telling us anything about where we were!? Pointless and really unenjoyable.

really fun must do in Marrakesh. The...

Yacine G, Aug 2016

really fun must do in Marrakesh. The guide was really entertaining as well

Great excursion and excellent tour...

David S, Feb 2016

Great excursion and excellent tour guide. A truly unique experience and worth doing.

Met our guide, who picked us on bang...

joanna_barrington, Feb 2016

Met our guide, who picked us on bang on time. The tour was very informative and we were a small group of 6. He was very knowledgeable and had a brilliant sense of humour. The sights we saw were amazing, the architecture beautiful. The Medina was very busy but our guide made us all feel very safe and we had a great time.

A good introduction to Marrakech...

Anthony D, Jan 2016

A good introduction to Marrakech with a knowledgable guide who was willing to explain Islamic history to some curious members in our group.

The tour was great. Our guide Micky...

Shanice D, Nov 2015

The tour was great. Our guide Micky is highly recommended and very funny and personal. Definitely knows his stuff about Marrakech

Very informative... The guide new what...

Teresa G, Jun 2015

Very informative... The guide new what he was talking about.

Be aware that this tour is the same...

David H, Apr 2015

Be aware that this tour is the same route as the morning of the full day tour Marrakesh Discovery

Highly recommend taking this tour if...

Cat, Jan 2015

Highly recommend taking this tour if you're in Marrakech! Amazing guides, happy to help and no opportunistic selling :)

We paid £11 each for this trip to...

Ian H, Oct 2014

We paid £11 each for this trip to Viator who squeezed us onto a coach full of Thomson clients most of whom will have paid £16 each. Thomson customers checkout Viator at home before booking with your holiday company in location. The walking tour of palaces and monuments was excellent value partly because our £11 included transport to and from the medina, entrance fees into the Saadian Tombs, Bahia Palace and a Museum but moreover for the outstanding guide. This ageing rockstar or self confessed last hippie in Marrakech was very informative and highly entertaining

Well worth doing, the 2 guides were...

Rebecca C, Jun 2014

Well worth doing, the 2 guides were friendly and informative. Quite a bit of walking involved but you get to sample a lot of different parts of Marrakech, places you wouldn't normally walk down yourself. Highly Recommended

Guide proved to be an interesting...

Anita M, May 2014

Guide proved to be an interesting character who gave a real personal aspect to the areas we visited combined with a fascinating insight into the religious and historical background of Marrakech. A most like able and interesting gentleman

Our guide was excellent. He took our...

James_M, Mar 2014

Our guide was excellent. He took our group of four married couples to areas of the Souk which we would not have normally had the confidence to visit on our own at night. Every aspect of the local diet was thoroughly explained - herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits, nuts, couscous, bread, tea and meat - the lot. The walk through the Souks at night was unforgettable; we felt safe at all times and was the best introduction to Marrakech we could have hoped for. Thoroughly recommended. Five star

Despite the fact there isn't a...

Mrs_j, Feb 2014

Despite the fact there isn't a plethora of historical sights to see in marrakesh the guides were extremely helpful and informative and provided an entertaining tour

We were picked up nearly 20 minutes...

Lindsey P, Jan 2014

We were picked up nearly 20 minutes late. We first visited the well-known mosque and the tour guide gave very little information on the mosque itself. He spent more time focusing on religion, some minor historical facts and pronunciation of vocabulary. We then went to the tombs and the tour guide carried on about religion rather than discussing the tombs. Feeling a little alienated since our religious beliefs were not the same as his very strong beliefs, we left after the tombs rather than continue to listen to him harp on about religion. The tour guide missed the opportunity to give us information on each site. He couldn't have told us about the architecture or what the inside of the mosque looked like -- anything about the site rather than telling us we all came from Adam and all worshiped the same god etc.

I really enjoyed the tours. The tour...

michael a, Dec 2013

I really enjoyed the tours. The tour guide was very informative when he spoke about monuments, also the history of them.

It was an excellent tour and good...

Vinay Shanker S, Nov 2013

It was an excellent tour and good value for money. We had 2 guides with us on the tour who took turns to explain the history of the monuments. The palace was amazing with the lovely ceiling and tiled floors. Covered a lot of monuments and they even dropped us back at the square when we requested instead of our hotel.

This is a great value tour. The sites...

Emily, Oct 2013

This is a great value tour. The sites visited do get busy with lots of tourists so it really helps having a tour guide. Our guide was interesting and informative and we covered a lot of sites during the morning. As I was staying in the medina I was picked up from a central location very near Djemaa El Fna which worked out very well. I would recommend this tour for first time visitors to Marrakech.