Marrakech: Souks & Foundouks Guided Walking Tour by Locals

Great time in the Souks with Abdel. Met at the cafe de France which was relatively easy to find and then Abdel was fantastic. Very informative spoke excellent English and knew his way around the Souks. Took us to the oldest bakery in Marrakech and they took us to all the different areas with the markets. Great time made better by a great guide

My friend and I booked a private tour to the medina and souks. The pickup was fine. We received a text message confirming the driver and car reg and where they would be etc. Arrived early. The driver was very pleasant and explained that he will drop us with the tour guide in the square. Our guide was Abdel who was lovely! We had a 3 hour trip walking around. We visited a traditional bakery, hammam and various other places that you wouldn't see without a guide. Abdul was brilliant. He ensured we bartered and paid reasonable prices for our goods and never let any of the market traders harass us. Well worth paying for a private tour guide and can't recommend Abdel enough!

A good all round tour of the souks, showed us some interesting parts that on your own you might miss.

Loved the tour, exploring the soul. Mohammed showed me high quality merchants and prices were reasonable. I highly recommend this. I can not imagine doing any tour with more than 2 people and the guide.

We had an amazing experience from the moment the driver collected us from the hotel. To meeting our guide at the square. It was informative and fun. We even tried authentic Moroccan barbaque.

Booked this to have a private tour guide take us around the souk as it was just myself and daughter travelling and we wanted to have someone to accompany us. Tour guide Ali was lovely but he ran us off our feet with a very clear preorganized agenda to take us to 5 "special" shops to see how they hand made wool, metal, carpets, clothes and herbal products. It was VERY obvious that he had pre-made deals with the shop owners to bring tourists in and trap us in uncomfortable talks and presentations. Wasted a lot of precious time doing this. Literally all we wanted was a local to walk us around the Medina at our own pace, where we felt comfortable having someone with 2 females, not be rushed around on an agenda to places we didn't want to see. To anyone traveling solo or with children - after experiencing it ourselves, we would have no problems going back alone as felt very safe and don't think there is a need for a guide, unless you have an interest in the history and want to learn more. On a positive note, the tour guide were excellent in working with me when I needed to change the date and time, very responsive with quick replies.

We booked the tour option that includes pick up and drop off from our hotel. Our driver confirmed the pickup time with us the day before. He picked us up in a nice airconditioned car and he asked us what kind of music we wanted to listen to. We asked for Moroccan music and we got to talking about music, language, and culture in Canada (where we are from), in Morocco and in other countries as well. It was an enjoyable conversation, but I unfortunately forgot his name. I apologize! We met Ali our tour guide, at the souk and he took us to a mural of the king and told us about some Moroccan customs and about his extensive background (30 years) of working and touring the souk. He asked me what I was interested in so that he could take us specifically to shops that we would like. We wanted to see handmade shoes, women’s clothing, tea pots, and wood working. He took us to Slippers House which had tons of beautiful handmade shoes and for a price I thought was fair for nice handmade shoes (we paid 100 euros for two pairs). Then we went to a unisex clothing store called Caftan Al Fann, where everything is made by a women’s cooperative, and the clothes are made of vintage recycled rugs and they are one of a kind. Everything in this store is absolutely beautiful and well made but I will admit, pricey but I believe in paying for quality work and supporting women’s cooperatives. It is hard to find nice, unique, quality clothing in north America, it’s all fast fashion so I welcome the opportunity to support these women and get some beautiful pieces. We went to a few other great places whose names I don’t remember (a man who had some beautiful dresses he designed himself, a man who sold beautiful tea pots and lamps, and a Berber jewelry store with the most colour pieces I’ve ever seen, and all handmade. We also went to a herbalist which I loved, we got these scented closet bars that make your clothing smell nice. Every time I go in my closet now, I think of Marrakech. The souks in Marrakech are absolutely magical! I am not a shopping fan at all but I LOVED shopping in the souks in Marrakech. But it is very overwhelming for a first timer so I would highly recommend going with a guide for your first time and also, if you are like me and you love handmade one of a kind pieces, come prepared to spend money because it's more expensive than you think. At least we felt that way because the euro is a common payment method but one euro is practically two Canadian dollars (where we are from) so it was pretty pricey for us. The souk is a HUGE maze and can be difficult to maneuver if you’ve never been. It made me feel relief going with a guide especially one as knowledgeable as Ali. He made sure to show us the good stuff. The high quality, handmade, unique artisan goods, rather than the machine made, dime a dozen knick knacks that break as soon as you take them home and aren’t even made in Marrakech. I would highly recommend a souk guide/tour! It was my favorite part of our whole trip to Marrakech.

Oh my goddess! Mr. Mohamed was beyond incredible. I will definitely recommend him 10/10. He’s very knowledgeable, incredible connections, kind, patient and just a well rounded person. Will definitely use him again to explore. Perfection!!!

Booked the pricey private tour option of Marrakech's souks. Our guide, Abdel, was a nice elderly man who knew the Medina well. He showed us around the textiles, leather, metals, and herbalist areas. Bit hard to understand him at times, though. Good points: - No pressure to buy - Guide was great with our teenage boys - Learned about different souk areas Not so good: - Felt like some stops (leather, textile, herbalist shops) had commercial ties - Tour ended earlier than the promised 3 hours - Bought some stuff we regretted later (scarves, tea, argan oil) Managed to bargain down some scarves to a third of the asking price, so that was a win. Tipped Abdel well because he was friendly, but overall, the tour was just okay. Bottom line: The experience was fine, but not worth the high price tag. If you're considering it, maybe look for cheaper options or try to negotiate a better deal. You'll probably see the same stuff without the sales pitches.

For first timers visiting the souks/medina area of Marrakesh I would highly recommend this tour. Abdel our tour guide was first class. His knowledge of the area and relationship with the people made us feel part of the community. Whist there, Abdel showed us where and how the community live and work and he was always happy to answer any of our questions. At the souks, not once did we feel any pressure to buy any items. Some of the shop keepers are keen to sell, it’s their life, it’s how they make money. But if you’re not interested, we found that by saying a simple ‘no thank you’ it was always respected and everyone was still very friendly and polite.