Marrakesh rewards anyone willing to leave the big squares behind. South of Jemaa el Fna, Rue Riad Zitoun el Jedid still runs past workshops where slippers are plaited from raffia and cloth comes off wooden handlooms, while out in the Palmeraie and along the road to Fes, a handful of houses now grow their own produce and cook it for guests.
Here, IRMASWORLD’s edit of the addresses from our latest visit, to read alongside our Marrakech Spring Travel Guide.
SHOPPING
Hanout Boutique. A Marrakesh label for women, designed and made in Morocco and released in two collections a year. The showroom in the old city is the place to see the work up close: silk blouses with quilted bibs and pleated trims, printed shirts and gingham dresses on the rails. What the city has given our own collection is in 10 ideas found in Marrakesh that inspired our collection.
90 Sidi Abdelaziz, Rue Amsafah, Marrakesh
El Louami Ahmed. Ahmed el Louami makes raffia slippers, tasselled loafers, lace-up sandals and ballet flats by hand, and stacks them up the walls in natural, black, rust and pink. Ready-made pairs cost between 150 and 300 dirham. He also makes shoes to order.
218 Rue Riad Zitoun el Jedid, Medina, Marrakesh
A few doors along the same street, a shirt maker works from a room of wooden handlooms, with shelves of yarn cones climbing the back wall in yellow, rust, grey and pale blue. The shirts and tunics are made here from start to finish, which is reason enough to step inside. For another weaving atelier in the city, read Stripes & Crafts.
Rue Riad Zitoun el Jedid, Medina, Marrakesh
STAY & LUNCH
Farasha Farmhouse. A farmhouse hotel with eleven suites, 30 kilometres out of the city on the road to Fes. Almost everything on the plate comes from the property: vegetables, salads, herbs, honey, eggs from the hens and olive oil from 500 olive trees, with bread, cakes, kombucha and ginger beer made in house. Amine El Gotaibi’s wool sculptures stand among clay walls, raw silk curtains and travertine. A day pass with lunch and the 50 metre pool makes the drive worthwhile. More in our story Sundays at Farasha Farmhouse.
KM 30 Route de Fes, Jaidate, Marrakesh
Jnane Rumi. The former residence of the designer Charles Boccara in the Palmeraie, now a small hotel run by the Dutch art lawyer Gert-Jan van den Bergh and his wife Corinne. The walls carry frescoes by Roberto Ruspoli and a collection of North African artists assembled with the curator Samy Snoussi. The chef, formerly at El Fenn, cooks with organic produce from the hotel’s own gardens, and the new garden restaurant sets its tables beside the pool under fringed parasols. More on the house in our story 10 good reasons to visit Jnane Rumi.
Rue Asasoussane Mejjat 2, Nakhil Nord, Palmeraie, Marrakesh
DINNER
Farmers. Chef Driss Aloui cooks with produce from Sanctuary Slimane, a permaculture farm half an hour from the city, in an open kitchen in Gueliz. Forty-four seats and a place on the Middle East and North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2026 mean booking ahead is wise.
96 Rue Mohamed El Beqal, Gueliz, Marrakesh
COFFEE & SWEETS
Simple. A speciality coffee kiosk barely wider than its espresso machine, set into a doorway in the medina. Order an iced latte to take along the souks. Look out for the hand-painted trade signs on the walls nearby: the osteopath, the pharmacist and the ambulance, each labelled in French and Arabic.
Rue Riad Zitoun el Jedid, Medina, Marrakesh
The neighbourhood patisseries of the medina still fill their glass counters with mille-feuille under feathered fondant, sugared palmiers and trays of small cakes. Customers pull up on mopeds, point, pay and ride on. Follow their lead.
“Leave room in the suitcase for raffia, and a free afternoon for Rue Riad Zitoun el Jedid.”