Marrakech Souks

The souks run north from the Jemaa el-Fna as a covered network of lanes, and the thing that makes them more than shopping is that the old guild organisation is still visible in the layout: trades cluster, so there is a lane of dyers with skeins hung overhead to dry, a lane of ironworkers with the noise to match, one of slipper makers, one of wool and one of leather, and the smells and sounds change as you move between them. Souk Semmarine is the main spine and the most touristic; the working quarters are further in and to the sides, and the further you go the fewer souvenirs there are. Prices are not marked and bargaining is the norm - the opening figure is a position, not an insult. Getting lost is the standard experience and is not dangerous; the lanes drain back to the square or to the ring road eventually.

What you actually see

• Trade-by-trade lanes - dyers, ironworkers, slipper makers and wool each in their own quarter.
• Skeins overhead - dyed wool hung to dry across the dyers' passage.
• A touristic spine and working sides - Semmarine at the front, real trades further in.
• No marked prices - bargaining as the normal mechanism rather than a game.

When to go

October to April; mornings are calmer. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Persistent touting and unsolicited guides are the standard experience - a firm no thank you works. Anyone who tells you a lane is closed is steering you. Getting lost is normal. Photographing craftsmen without asking is not acceptable.

Nearby

The Jemaa el-Fna is at the southern end; the Ben Youssef madrasa is north.