Marrakesh Travel Answers

You should arrange for someone from your hotel to meet the taxi. At that late hour it should be quiet but dark streets can be a little daunting for the first time visitor.

hi exactly what i was going to say - ask someone from the hotel to come and meet you - im quite gungho at getting about at night but depending on where your hotel is I would be a bit nervous about walking into any of the alleys that go off the back of the main square as the streets do start to get quite quiet from about 1130 - if its any of the hotels in the streets on the right hand side they are well lit and easy to get to eg the streets behind/parallel with Hotel Ali

To reassure you, at 11pm in all the tourist destinations, in Morocco, especially Marrakesh, there are plain-clothes police everywhere, often "dressing down" in jeans and T- shirts to blend into the landscape, this has been ongoing for a few years now , in response to a number of isolated terrorist attacks, designed to disrupt the tourist industry, have been perpetrated. Your pre-booked taxi will be safe for a lone female foreigner, the drivers are all vetted and controlled by the police, but as you say it may or may not be able to complete its passenger consignment to your Riad/Hotel in the Medina, the streets can be too narrow, I've driven a small car in these streets before, but the driver of the larger Mercedes Grand taxis might not be willing or skillful enough to do this. The shops in the narrow Medina streets will be starting to close up at that time of night, depending on customer presence, so it might be possible for a more determined driver, motivated by the offer of an extra tip, say fifty dirhams (negotiable) as is everything now ,in cash-strapped Morocco, suffering from the European financial disaster, resulting in an absence of tourists to support this essential industry, many Moroccans rely on the tourist industry for employment to feed their families........

Alternatively, if you don't feel comfortable with this plan, phone your Hotel/Riad from the airport and arrange for the night concierge to meet you at a convenient location and guide you to your pre-booked accommodation.

Take care in Marrakesh, being the tourist " Capital " of Morocco, it's also tout and hustler "Central", but enjoy the main attraction, Djemma el Fna Square, in the evenings it comes alive with snake charmers, storytellers and their audiences, black magicians, acrobats, open -air food stalls and various assortments of musicians, it's a real " floorshow" not to be missed, and of course, the plain-clothes police survey everything, looking for " the usual suspects" snatch thieves and skulking pickpockets....

But I'm sure you'll enjoy it all, after you become "acclimatised"...............happy travelling, Benny.

I would totally agree with having someone meet you. I would under no circumstances walk around on your own at that time of night. It can be difficult to locate your hotel and you could be walking around for a while. This happened to us - it was NOT a pleasant experience and I was literally ready to get on the next plane out of there!! It's better to be safe.

When I booked a transfer with my riad in the medina in Marrakech, the arranged taxidriver by the riad brought me to the doorstep of my riad, last alleyways by feet.

The poster has already said that she has booked a transfer from the airport to her accomodation. As you have not been to Morocco you will not know that Riads in the Medina are in small streets that cars can not reach. It is quite normal for the taxi to drop you as near as possible and hire a man with a luggage cart to take the passenger the rest of the way.