Sally Kirby

From souk stalls to designer boutiques embracing slow fashion, Marrakech is bursting with colour and creativity, a city where traditional craftsmanship isn’t just embraced – it’s treasured. True, Marrakesh’s Medina can be overwhelming; a bewildering labyrinth of souk stands piled high with spices, leather, jewellery, ceramics, scarves, cushions, poufs, brassware, and everything else. But if you’re not up for the haggling? Some of the best fixed-price boutiques in the Medina are on Rue Sidi Abdelaziz, Rue Mouassine, and Rue Amsafah. On this guide you’ll find concept stores, home decor, and more – read on for the best places to shop in Marrakech.  ➡️ Discover more great things to do in Marrakech Sally Kirby is a writer based in Morocco. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Food and the sharing of meals is a huge part of Moroccan culture. Traditional recipes are handed down through generations; simple, seasonal and largely eaten from one dish – like tangia, a Marrakech speciality in a clay urn dish used to slow-cook meat, found all over the city, from food stalls to candlelit courtyards.  Nowadays you’ll find tradition often meets modernity in Marrakech, and the city is sizzling with stylish new openings and global fine dining menus, from Australia to India to Japan. As Michelin-starred chefs raise the bar (and prices) in the city’s palatial hotels, the streets of Gueliz are aflutter with talk of the latest newcomers bringing minimalist dining rooms, farm-to-fork sharing menus and innovative cocktails to the city. Find our top picks below.  The best restaurants in Marrakech, at a glance: 🌇 Best views: Nomad 💎 Bougiest bites: Dar Yacout 📍 Most authentic experience: Sahbi Sahbi 🥦 Best for vegetarians: La Famille 🖼️ Best interiors: Bacha Coffee House Paula Hardy and Sally Kirby are writers based in Marrakech and Taghazout Bay, Morocco. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

Few cities know how to keep you busy like Marrakech. One minute, you're weaving through the medina's maze of souks, the next, you're bargaining at the stalls piled high with spices, artisan goods and colourful ceramics. And sometime in between, you slip in a mint tea on a rooftop or a palace to admire the curvaceous building designs and intricate tiles. Beyond the typical Marrakech itinerary, there’s also a thriving creative scene, cacti gardens paired with bold, blue architecture and a food culture worth travelling for alone. With the summer heat slowly fading into cooler autumn days, this is the idyllic time to explore the city by foot, especially come November to catch the city’s international film festival. Whether you’re here for the historic landmarks and stunning architecture, some seriously good food or simply the pleasure of experiencing somewhere new, these are the best things to do in Marrakech. The best things to do in Marrakech, at a glance: 🥘 Best for foodies: Souk Cuisine 👨‍👩‍👧 Best for families: Jemaa el-Fna 🧑🏾‍🤝‍🧑🏾 Best for couples: Café Clock 📚 Best for history buffs: El Badi Palace 🛞 Best adrenaline junkies: Inside Marrakech This guide was updated by Sally Kirby, a writer based in Morocco. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content.

Over the past half-decade or so, much has changed in the way we live, work and play in our cities. It wasn’t too long ago that lockdowns rendered the city centre all but obsolete and brought to the fore the vital role of our immediate neighbourhoods and communities.  Now, the balance has been restored. Our local neighbourhood remains fundamental: mini-villages where the barista knows your order, where local restaurants, bars and indie businesses thrive, and where communities continue to band together for all sorts of cool stuff, from art walks and day festivals to creating greener streets and pedestrian-friendly spaces. And six years on from the pandemic, the city centre is seeing a renaissance, with brand-new music venues, galleries, coffee shops and more opening up and welcoming a new generation of hybrid workers and the back-to-the-office crowd (and, of course, city-breakers and tourists).  On this year’s list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods, you’ll see this mix play out. There are downtown hubs and seaside strips, homely enclaves and warehouse districts, all nominated by our global network of on-the-ground experts. This lucky lot spends their time exploring every corner of their hometowns to discover the best places to eat, drink, shop and hang out right now, so you can trust we know what we’re talking about. To decide the final ranking, a panel of Time Out editors vetted each neighbourhood against a range of criteria, including food and drink, nightlife, unique loc

As a Moroccan resident, Rabat is my go-to city for a long weekend: dive into Morocco’s enigmatic history, a thriving arts and culture scene and a capital with proud traditions. You’ll be in good company: ‘Rabatis’, the locals, are known for being cultured, genuine and open-minded. As the Royal family's main residence, ceremony shows up in ornate streetlights, palaces, Parliament buildings, and Royal Guard uniforms. One minute you’re walking around ancient Roman ruins, the next taking an elevator up Morocco’s tallest tower. Rabat’s laid-back coastal culture and after-work beach and surf scene set it apart from hectic cities like Marrakech. Getting around is easy, with pedestrianised zones, a modern tramway, tuk-tuk tours, and blue ‘petit taxis’. Here’s what to do and what to see in Morocco’s charming capital, Rabat. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best cities to visit in Morocco (that aren’t Marrakech)🛏️ Our favourite hotels in Morocco

A red sandstone amphitheatre. An ancient woodland on the English coast. A teeny tiny island with a black sand beach. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes – luckily, the world isn’t held to the same rigid beauty standards as humans are – and we’ve curated this list to celebrate that.  It goes without saying that Time Out’s ranking of the world’s most beautiful places is entirely subjective and by no means exhaustive, but what we can guarantee is real-life experience. Every single beach, lake, city and valley on this list has been visited and vetted by our globetrotting network of travel writers. In short, they’re all well worth making the journey to see for yourself (no social media fakery here).We update this list regularly, ensuring we’re including the big-hitters while considering the impact of overtourism and spotlighting lesser-known beauty spots. So here it is: Time Out’s guide to the most beautiful places on planet Earth. Happy travels!Updated March 2026: There are seven new additions to the list this year, including a terracotta-coloured Old Town in Italy, an opulent Renaissance-style library in New York and a compact mountain range in northern Spain.Grace Beard is Time Out’s travel editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED:⛰️ The most beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites🗺 The most underrated travel destinations i

This list is from 2025. Our latest ranking for 2026 is live here. People who don’t live in cities will tell you they’re busy, lonely and expensive places. But there’s a reason so many people choose to live in them: with world-class art and culture, unbeatable food and nightlife, buzzing neighbourhoods and a dizzying amount of stuff to do and see, there’s simply no better place to be.  Every year, we take the pulse of city living by quizzing thousands of locals across the planet about life in their hometowns. This year, more than 18,500 city-dwellers shared their insights on everything from food, nightlife and culture to affordability, happiness and the overall city vibe. When urban living can sometimes feel isolating and costly, this year we wanted to get a sense of what, exactly, makes a city feel like home. Sure, the nightlife is great, but is the city safe and walkable? Is good quality food and art available at a reasonable price? Is it easy to make friends, find love, and access nature?  Livability was a key factor in our ranking this year. But a great city to live in is, naturally, a great city to visit. So, along with the thousands of responses from locals around the world, we asked Time Out’s global network of city experts to vote on the places they think are particularly exciting right now. After crunching all that data, here we are: Time Out’s definitive ranking of the world’s best cities in 2025. Read on to see how your hometown fared… RECOMMENDED:🛍️ The coolest n

What would be your death row meal? Some might choose sushi, many would choose pizza, but there’s a whopping proportion of us who would opt for a steak without a moment’s thought. Picture it: a generous hunk of freshly sizzled, melting beef, doused in smokey flavour and oozing all those salty, meaty juices, with some chips on the side. Drooling? Us too.  The good news? Outstanding steaks are being cooked all over the world, from Michelin-starred chefs searing it up in Paris to an Australian restaurant producing plates of meat in just 15 minutes – 15 minutes! So, for all the steak fanatics out there, we’ve called on our network of editors and international writers about their favourite spots for a steak in their city. Vegetarians and vegans of the world, we recommend you look away now. RECOMMENDED:🥪 The best sandwiches in the world🍝 The best cities in the world for food🌃 The coolest neighbourhoods in the world right now This list was edited by Liv Kelly, a writer at Time Out Travel. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Many are drawn to Marrakech, Morocco’s tourist capital, for its riads, souk shopping, nightlife and more – and I don’t blame them. But its popularity comes with a price, and if you prefer less tourist-centric cities, there are several others in Morocco that offer all the above (and more), without the crowds. Head to the north – Casablanca, Tangier and Rabat – to experience progressive and thriving cities. Here you’ll find historic kasbahs (fortresses), medinas, souks and palaces alongside state-of-the-art theatres, museums and parks. In the south, laid-back ocean vibes flow in the coastal cities of Agadir and Essaouira. Ready to see another side of Morocco? Here are its best cities. RECOMMENDED:🏨 The best hotels in Morocco🛍️ The best things to do in Marrakech🥙 The best restaurants in Marrakech Sally Kirby is a writer based in Taghazout, Morocco. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.