Marrakech itinerary for first-timers

The great square at the heart of the medina, recognised by UNESCO for its storytellers, musicians and street life. In the morning it is the quietest it will be all day, with orange juice stalls lining the edges and the Koutoubia minaret rising beyond.

• Jemaa el-Fnaa
• Orange juice stalls
• Koutoubia minaret
• Arset El Bilk garden

Performers with snakes or monkeys expect payment for photos; if you do not want to pay, keep the camera down.

North of the square, the covered lanes of the souks run for what feels like miles, each traditionally given to one craft: leather, lanterns, metalwork, carpets and spices. The open Rahba Kedima square and the dyers' souk, hung with skeins of coloured wool, are the landmarks.

• Souk Semmarine
• Rahba Kedima
• Dyers' souk
• Souk Mouassine
• Le Jardin Secret

Getting a little lost is part of it. When you want out, ask a shopkeeper for 'the square' and you will be pointed back to Jemaa el-Fnaa.

At the northern end of the souks, the Madrasa Ben Youssef, once the largest Quranic school in Morocco, has a courtyard of carved cedar, stucco and zellige tiles around a long pool. The streets around it are quieter than the souks further south.

• Madrasa Ben Youssef
• Carved cedar and zellige
• Quiet back streets

At dusk the square changes completely: rows of food stalls fill the middle under clouds of smoke, and circles of musicians, storytellers and performers gather crowds around them. It is the one thing in Marrakech not to miss.

• Food stalls
• Musicians and storytellers
• The square lit up at night

Watch the square fill up from one of the terraces on its edge before walking in.

The old royal district in the south of the medina, entered through the carved stone gate of Bab Agnaou. Beside the Kasbah Mosque lie the Saadian Tombs, the richly decorated burial place of a 16th-century dynasty, and around it are calmer streets of houses and small shops.

• Bab Agnaou
• Kasbah Mosque
• Saadian Tombs
• Royal palace walls

The tombs are small and fill up quickly; going early in the morning gives you the most space.

The ruins of El Badi, a vast 16th-century palace whose sunken gardens and high walls are now home to storks, stand a few minutes from Tinsmiths Square, a lively little square of metalworkers on the edge of the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter.

• El Badi Palace
• Tinsmiths Square
• The Mellah

A 19th-century palace built for a grand vizier, with painted cedar ceilings, carved stucco, tiled courtyards and shady gardens of orange trees. It is one of the best places to see Moroccan craftsmanship up close.

• Painted ceilings
• Marble courtyard
• Riad gardens

Look up in every room: the ceilings are the highlight.

The garden the painter Jacques Majorelle created over almost forty years, later restored by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé: cactus and bamboo, lily ponds and a villa painted an intense cobalt blue. The Berber Museum is in the villa and the YSL Museum is next door.

• Majorelle blue villa
• Cactus garden
• Berber Museum
• YSL Museum

Tickets are sold online for set times and the garden gets busy; book ahead and come early.

The modern side of Marrakech, laid out in the French era: Avenue Mohammed V runs through Guéliz past shops, cafés and galleries, then into Hivernage, a district of wide boulevards and hotels. It shows how most of the city lives today.

• Avenue Mohammed V
• Guéliz cafés
• Hivernage

The 12th-century minaret of the Koutoubia, 77 metres high, is the landmark of the city. Its gardens and the park of Lalla Hasna in front of it are a favourite evening stroll for families, with the minaret floodlit and Jemaa el-Fnaa a few minutes away.

• Koutoubia minaret
• Koutoubia gardens
• Parc Lalla Hasna

Non-Muslims cannot enter the mosque, but the gardens around it are open to all.