Morocco: souvenirs
Morocco's souks are the souvenir deep end - leather, brass, rugs and argan, with haggling as the admission price. Here is what travellers bring home from Morocco, where the good versions live, and the export questions worth a look - alongside our 394 written places.
The classic buys
Leather from the tanneries
Babouche slippers, poufs (buy unstuffed, they flatten) and bags from Fez and Marrakech - smell-test for proper curing and check stitching.
Berber rugs
Beni Ourain shag to flat kilims - buy from cooperatives or dealers who talk regions and knots, and drink the tea; shipping is routine.
Argan oil, certified
Culinary and cosmetic grades from women's cooperatives with certification - the roadside funnel bottles are usually cut.
Brass, lanterns and trays
Hand-pierced lamps that throw the pattern on your ceiling at home - pack bulbs' fittings in mind.
Ceramics from Fez and Safi
The blue of Fez, the polychrome of Safi, tagines glazed and unglazed (cook only in the unglazed-lead-free ones - ask).
Spices and amlou
Ras el hanout blended before you, saffron in sealed grams, and the almond-argan amlou spread.
Check before you buy
- Some tagine glazes are decorative, not food-safe - the cooperative shops label; the tourist stacks do not.
- 'Saffron' sold loose by the heap is safflower - grams, threads, sealed.
- Fossils and meteorites from the south are a real trade with real rules - buy from licensed dealers with paperwork for anything significant.
✗ Better left behind
- 'Berber whisky' jokes aside, unlabelled spirits do not fly.
- Tortoise-shell combs and wild-animal pelts in the souks - protected species, seized at borders.
Markets shift, workshops close and open, and the best souvenir is still the one with a story you were there for. Buy from makers where you can, keep receipts for anything substantial, and when a deal feels too good, it usually is.