Bab Agnaou functions as the main entrance to the Kasbah area, a fortified quarter within the walls of the Medina, and used to be the access to the site of the El Badi Palace, the Saadian Tombs and the El Mansouria (the kasbah mosque). Bab Aganou is perhaps the most unique of Marrakech’s nineteen gates and it’s original function, as a royal entrance, is perhaps the reason for this. The corner-pieces are decorated with floral decorations extending around a shell is simply exquisite and this ornamentation is framed by three panels and on these panels is an inscription from the Quran.

La Bahia (The Beautiful) is an 8000-sq-metre, floor-to-ceiling extravagance of intricate marquetry, plasterwork and zouak (painted wood), and certainly one of Marrakesh's most eye-popping sights. The salons of both the Petit Riad and Grand Riad host intricate marquetry and zouak ceilings, but the Cour d'Honneur, a grand courtyard, with its 1500 sq metre floor of Italian Carrara marble, is the undisputed highlight. Despite the vast area on show, only a portion of the palace’s eight hectares and 150 rooms is open to the public. Its grand spaces sometimes play host to important cultural events.

The Jemaa el-Fnaa is Marrakech’s main square and the most important part of the medina. Here, inhabitants and tourists gather both during the day and night to have something to eat, shop or observe the various shows taking place. During the day the square is full of surprising sights, from monkey trainers who have trained the apes to climb all over tourists to snake charmers, as well as dentists that expose the teeth they have recently extracted. In Jemaa el-Fnaa, you will also find numerous stands selling orange juice, spices, mint leaves and snails. At dusk, Marrakech’s main square transforms and the morning stalls disappear to give room to food stands where visitors can have dinner surrounded by Moroccan musicians playing traditional music and various other shows.

Having a tour guide along with you will prevent any hustling or bustling from any of the vendors throughout the Souks. Marrakech is a vibrant city, one that is bustling, noisy, colourful and vibrant. It is filled with markets, known as souks, and one can literally wander and explore the markets for days. They are filled with food, drink, jewellery, silver, gold, rugs, leather, art, clothing, souvenirs and everything in-between. They are a real highlight of Marrakech, and while everyone will get lost in a souk at some point, everyone will love them!

French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought Jardin Majorelle in 1980 to preserve the vision of its original owner, French landscape painter Jacques Majorelle, and keep it open to the public. The garden, started in 1924, contains a psychedelic desert mirage of 300 plant species from five continents. At its heart lies Majorelle's electric-blue art deco studio, home to the Musée Berbère, which showcases the rich panorama of Morocco's indigenous inhabitants through displays of some 600 artefacts. In recent years, the site has become incredibly popular, and it now ranks as Morocco's most visited tourist attraction, with around 900,000 visitors a year. It's far from the peaceful oasis it was a decade ago, but it's still an extremely stylish place with magical gardens, art deco architecture and an excellent museum.

Take a drive at last before heading back to your accommodation hotel. First built as a military camp, Gueliz was small and occupied primarily by the French. This French quarter grew rapidly and architects embraced Parisian Art Deco by creating large avenues, bustling cafes and theatres, along with charming villas and a central market. Gueliz was designed by French architect, Henri Prost. It’s original main tree-lined avenue was called Avenue du France. Today Avenue du France has been renamed Boulevard Mohammed VI and is filled with modern office buildings, banks, boutiques that are surrounded by magnificent Art Deco facades that remain from the city’s colonial past. Travellers and locals frequent Boulevard Mohammed VI for evening walks and picnics, sipping Moroccan tea at it’s sprawling cafes on sunlit terraces and to shop at luxury boutiques as they take in the glorious flora and fauna in full bloom year round.