Stressful is definitely the best way to sum up what I said. The least relaxed holiday I’ve ever been on because of being constantly on edge/watching my back. Some people go for that I guess.
I might be remembering this wrong but I think a grand taxi is just a normal car with 4 people squashed in the back seat and two in the front seat. It was uncomfortable enough getting one in town so I think it would be pretty unpleasant to go right to the mountains in one.
I did an overnight trip into the desert with a tour company and we went in a minibus with a few other people, even that was a bit hairy when we got near the mountains. Would recommend though, it was probably my favourite part of the holiday. The minibus dropped us off somewhere and we got on camels to this camp where the guides made us a banging lamb tagine and mint tea and then we slept there in warm blankets.
Yes, I’ve been a couple of times. I love Marrakech!
Where are you staying? In a riad in the old town or a hotel in the new town?
Personally, I prefer the old town. The new town is very westernised and a bit soulless.
The old town is very traditional, you wont find anywhere serving alcohol and it’s important to observe local customs and etiquette (as I girl, I made sure my shoulders and knees were covered - even in 40 degree sun! - but I did this in the new town too).
You need to be prepared for a bit of a shock when you first arrive. It is very busy and completely different to what we are used to. If you have been to Egypt or India, I am told it is similar, but I hadn’t been to either of those places so was a bit taken aback when we first arrived.
The roads are crazy. There are no crossings, you literally have to just pick a moment and walk out in front of cars, mopeds, horses etc.
In the old town the main square Jamaa el fna (sp?) is great but also very busy and full of people trying to get you to part with your cash, such as ladies doing henna, orange juice sellers, men with monkeys on chains or snake charmers. Give the entertainers a wide berth and you’ll be fine. The orange juice is great so I recommend that.
I haven’t got sick at all any of the times I’ve been. And one of the times I did a cooking class and we went to buy meat that was not refrigerated! 
The souks (markets) are amazing and you’ll get to try out haggling. I think it’s really fun and I bought loads of amazing things (including loads of great fake stuff like raybans for £2, converse for £5, Beats by Dre headphones for £5!). There are three entrances to the souks from the main square; my advice is to go to the far left corner of the square and enter the souks from there as that is one of the quietest routes. You will probably get lost, don’t stress, it’ll be fine. Refuse any offers of help as they will either want paying or take you to a friend / family member’s shop. You may also be told you can’t go certain ways, but just ignore that as it isn’t true.
I recommend taking a day trip to Essouira (pron. ess-ow-era). To do so you will need to go to the Supratours bus office which is behind the train station. Tickets are cheap but you may need to book a day in advance. The journey is about 2.5 hours but it’s a good journey and we got to see goats in trees which was pretty fucking awesome. Essaouira is a coastal town, it’s really nice and the stray cats there are much fatter / healthier looking than those in Marrakech as they get all the fish scraps.
We took the bus (that was an experience!) to Aqua Fun Park https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g293734-d4787710-Reviews-Aqua_Fun_Club-Marrakech_Marrakech_Tensift_El_Haouz_Region.html that was really good fun if you like water parks.
We also had a great meal and cocktails at Kechmara restaurant in the new town.
Let me know what else you’re interested in and I’ll have a think what else we did.
Oh fuck, yeah those monkeys are super depressing
It’s part of the culture shock, which is why I usually recommend people going to any part of Africa to go for two weeks at least. For me it took about four days to get over the feeling of constantly being pestered and harrassed, and being really uncertain about who to reach out to. After that you just start rolling with it and tell street merchants to piss off with a smile as wide as theirs.
I worked with someone on a temp job that would not shut up about how much he hated Marrakesh. He’d booked a package holiday for him and his wife or something like that, but the hotel was shit and so was the food, and he talked about it every fucking day for like 2 weeks. fuck.
Feeling a bit more positive about it now, mostly because the goats and you didn’t get sick.
It’s a riad, not actually sure where because I didn’t really do the research this time, I’ll find out.
Dunno how I’ll cope with this, maybe try to set them free.
yeah it’s really sad 
as if work isn’t bad enough
it’s a great place as long as you’re prepared for how different it is. The first time I went we went for a week and this was great because it allowed us to acclimatise slowly. On your first day, just have a little wander. Go and change some money up, have a dinner somewhere, then go back to your riad to chill. Just build it up each day and by the 3rd or 4th day you’ll be pretty relaxed. Remember that Friday is the holy day and this means that everything will be much quieter and calmer.
Staying in a riad is great, they tend to be really beautiful. If you want to do a trip to the mountains ask the owners of your riad for recommendations - they may even book it for you if you ask. Research on tripadviser too.
You should go to a hammam too, the one we had was awesome. This is the one I went to: Hammam de la Rose - Home
if you want to let me know where your riad is I can tell you where things are in relation, such as the main square, the best place to get money changed etc.
I could go in there hard ass, being rude to everyone before they even have a chance to speak.
We’ve got a week though so hopefully long enough to learn how to ride it out and enjoy it. How does it compare to somewhere like istanbul, I’m pretty sure that lots of people were saying that it could be pretty hassly and in the end it wasn’t too bad.
I’m totally up for hammam relaxation, so I’ll be up for going there.
I’ll send you the riad, I think it’s the old town. Thanks!
Never been hassled like I was in Marrakesh. Highlight was some lad trying to drag me into his shop and shouting ‘cheap like Tesco’ in my face then when I refused he started howling insults, very nice. a fair few attempts to entice me down alleys with promises of girls, beer, or weed. One had a picture of a naked lady taped to a shoe box, very sexy. I’ve experienced similar things in a few other places (not the naked lady shoe box bit) but in marrakesh it seemed so common it became more of a nuisance.
The architecture is nice and the cafes are good in the evening if you can find a quiet one. Mountains are good, especially if you can stay somewhere overnight and faux camp. Place I stayed was 90% gap year bastards but it was still pretty good. Got the shits a lot.