Audio walk · Marrakech
Kasbah & Mellah
Put your phone in your pocket and walk. Your phone reads each stop aloud, then waits while you walk to the next one; tap “I've arrived” to carry on. Everything it says is written out below, so the walk works without sound too.
- 3 stops
- about 5 min of listening
- about 19 min between stops
- Cluster guide
3 stops · about 5 min listening · about 19 min between stops
Before you start
Voice and speed
The script is in English. On-device voices keep working with no signal once this page is open or saved.
Transcript
Everything the tour says, in order. Read it instead of listening if you prefer.
Before you start
Welcome to the Kasbah & Mellah audio walk in Marrakech. 3 stops: Bahia Palace, Saadian Tombs and El Badi Palace. Morning cluster: Bahia Palace, El Badi ruins and the Saadian Tombs are all within ten minutes on foot; go when they open, before tour buses.
Saadian Tombs and El Badi Palace in the west, Bahia Palace and Place des Ferblantiers in the east; the old Jewish quarter (Mellah) is the middle. Underfoot: paved streets, uneven lanes; slope: flat; shade: low.
Marrakech was built as a base for desert armies and stayed a market where the mountains, the plains and the Sahara trade.
Before you start: Shoulders and knees covered inside palaces and tombs. The Saadian Tombs queue is short before 09:30 and long by 10:30. Keep your eyes on the street, and pause the audio before you cross a road.
1. Bahia Palace
قصر الباهية
Stop 1 of 3: Bahia Palace. Arrival point: Rue Riad Zitoun el Jedid; enter from the street entrance.
A 19th-century palace of courtyards and painted ceilings: go when it opens, 45 minutes, and pair it with the Saadian Tombs.
South of the square lies the Kasbah, the Almohad citadel, and around it the palaces: El Badi, Bahia, the Saadian tombs, the Kasbah mosque. Bahia Palace, built in the late 19th century, is a late Moroccan palace with painted cedar ceilings, mosaic floors and a marble courtyard.
Cover shoulders and knees; no tripods. Tour groups from 10:00; quiet in the first hour. Shoulders and knees covered out of respect; no beachwear. How long do I need? About 45–60 minutes. The route is one way and the rooms are similar; the courtyards are the best part. Is it worth the ticket? Yes at opening; by 10:30 the tour groups fill the narrow rooms and the interior loses its calm.
Walk:Next, stop 2: Saadian Tombs. It's about 11 minutes on foot, about 650 metres to the south-west. Route: Walk west along Rue Riad Zitoun. The tour waits here. Tap I've arrived when you get there.
2. Saadian Tombs
مقابر السعديين
Stop 2 of 3: Saadian Tombs. Arrival point: Rue de la Kasbah, north of Kasbah Mosque.
Sixteenth-century royal tombs behind the Kasbah Mosque: the queue decides the visit, so go before 09:30 or skip.
The Saadian dynasty brought it back. From 1524 they ruled from Marrakech, and Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, who reigned from 1578 to 1603, built the El Badi Palace and the Saadian tombs with the wealth that came from a ransom paid by Portugal after the Battle of the Three Kings and from sugar cane grown in the south. After his death the dynasty fractured, and the Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail, who ruled from Meknes, stripped El Badi of its marble and gold in the late 17th century and walled up the Saadian tombs.
Small courtyard: keep moving, no tripods. Queue reaches 30–60 minutes late morning. Shoulders and knees covered; the tombs are a burial place. What is the main sight? The Hall of Twelve Columns, with the tomb of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur in the middle, in carved cedar and marble. The garden has many smaller graves.
Walk:Next, stop 3: El Badi Palace. It's about 8 minutes on foot, about 250 metres to the east. Route: Walk north along the kasbah wall. The tour waits here. Tap I've arrived when you get there.
3. El Badi Palace
قصر البديع
Stop 3 of 3: El Badi Palace. Arrival point: Place des Ferblantiers, then the palace gate.
The ruins of a 16th-century sultan's palace: go at opening or late afternoon, 45 minutes, and skip it in the midday sun.
Do not climb on the ruined walls; storks nest on them. Tour groups from 10:00; little shade after 11:00. Shoulders and knees covered; hats and water are wise. No drones. Arrive at opening or after 16:00; the courtyard has almost no shade. Walk the sunken gardens, then climb to the terrace for the view of the storks and the Atlas. What is left of the palace? Big walls, a sunken courtyard planted with orange trees, pools and underground passages. The wood, marble and gold were taken in the 17th century, so most of the interest is scale, not decoration. What else is inside? The museum room shows the carved minbar (pulpit) made for the Koutoubia mosque in the 12th century, one of the finest pieces of Almohad woodwork.
End of the walk
That's the end of the Kasbah & Mellah walk. To carry on, Jemaa el-Fnaa & Koutoubia is about 15 minutes away (walk north). To carry on, Souks & Mouassine is about 20 minutes away (walk or taxi north).
Built from this site's place pages, walking times and city deep dive; nothing is added that isn't on those pages. Opening hours, prices and rules change: check each place page before you go. Walking times are typical (median) and assume a steady pace.