El Fenn is 9 minutes from Jemaa el-Fna, with a taxi to Bab el Ksour beside it; Dar Kandi has Le Jardin Secret 9 minutes away; the Koutoubia is 8 minutes from La Villa des Orangers, 9 from La Mamounia and about 10 from Royal Mansour Marrakech, all three with a car to the door or gate.
5 of our ten · Hand-pickedHotels cannot pay to be hereLast checked: October 2026
In Marrakech, walkable means the Medina or its edge. Inside the ramparts the sights are close together: from Jemaa el-Fna the Koutoubia is 8 minutes on foot, Le Jardin Secret 9, the Bahia Palace 13 and the Ben Youssef Madrasa 15. The Jardin Majorelle, in Guéliz, is 40 minutes' walk, so most people take a petit taxi for it, about 5 minutes. Many Medina lanes are too narrow for a car, so the other question is where the taxi stops with your bags.
All five of these are inside the walls or on them. Choose by which half of the Medina you want outside the door. The south-west edge, by the Koutoubia, has roads to the door and the Kasbah sights close by. The west and north-west, by Bab el Ksour and Bab Doukkala, put you nearer the souks, Mouassine and the Ben Youssef Madrasa. Hivernage, just outside the walls, is a 33-minute walk to the square.
El Fenn sits just inside Bab el Ksour, a stone gate in the western Medina, and it is one of the few hotels inside the walls a taxi can almost reach: the car stops at the gate on Rue Lalla Fatima Zahra, you walk through, take the first street on the right, and the door is 5 metres along.
That puts the middle of the old city on foot. The Koutoubia is 7 minutes away, Jemaa el-Fna and Le Jardin Secret 9, the Ben Youssef Madrasa 13, the Saadian Tombs 20 and the Bahia Palace 22. Kabana is 2 minutes away for dinner, and the evening stalls on the square 9. The Jardin Majorelle is a 31-minute walk or about 5 minutes by taxi. The walks are flat, through narrow lanes, and the 13 m pool on the roof, heated to 24°C, is there when you get back.
The room to book
Medium Rooms
from 30 m²€781 a night
From 30 m² in the original house, with a sitting area and an open fire to come back to after a cool winter evening in the lanes.
Dar Kandi's door is on Derb Arset Aouzal, in the Bab Doukkala quarter, five minutes' walk inside the gate that gives the quarter its name. Of the five it is the closest to the souks of the north Medina and the Ben Youssef Madrasa: Le Jardin Secret is 9 minutes on foot, the Ben Youssef Madrasa 12, the Koutoubia 16 and Jemaa el-Fna 17. The Jardin Majorelle is 25 minutes' walk or a 5-minute drive, and the railway station 4 minutes by car.
Breakfast is in every rate, and lunch is within easy reach: Henna Café is a minute along the lane, Dar Moha and Bacha Coffee 3 minutes, and the rooftops of La Terrasse des Épices and Café Arabe 8. There is no car park at the riad: cars stop at a guarded car park nearby, where staff meet you and help carry the bags along the lane.
The room to book
Suite Balcony
about 40 m²€235 a night
Its own balcony over the patio and the fountain, somewhere to sit with a coffee before the walk into the souks, or in the evening once the lanes go quiet.
La Villa des Orangers stands at 6 Rue Sidi Mimoun, between the Koutoubia and the Royal Palace, and Rue Sidi Mimoun is a road, so the taxi stops at the door and there is no walk through the lanes with luggage. From there the south Medina is on foot: the Koutoubia 8 minutes, the Saadian Tombs 10, Jemaa el-Fna 11, El Badi Palace 14 and the Bahia Palace 15.
The souks and the northern sights are further, with Le Jardin Secret 20 minutes away and the Ben Youssef Madrasa 22, and Guéliz and the Jardin Majorelle about 6 minutes by car. Come back to a 16-metre courtyard pool, heated in season, and a rooftop bar facing the minaret from 18:00 to 21:00. Two car parks beside the hotel charge €10 a day for anyone driving in.
The room to book
Room with Terrace
about 20 m²
A private terrace up a staircase from the bedroom, over the Medina rooftops, for a coffee before you set out and a drink when you get back on foot.
La Mamounia is on Avenue Bab Jdid, just inside the ramparts on the south-west side of the old city, and cars and taxis drive up to its own entrance, with valet parking in a guarded lot. The Koutoubia is 9 minutes away on foot, Jemaa el-Fna 16, the Saadian Tombs 18, the Bahia Palace 21, Le Jardin Secret 23 and the Ben Youssef Madrasa 25.
The other way, the flat streets of Hivernage begin at the gate, with Nobu Marrakech 5 minutes away and Palais Jad Mahal 4, so dinner out needs no taxi either. Marrakech station is about 4 minutes by car and the Jardin Majorelle about 5. Between walks there are the walled gardens and an outdoor pool heated to 28°C all year, for hotel guests only. Leave the backpack in the room: large bags go to the cloakroom at the Ksar Gate.
The room to book
Park Deluxe Room
about 31 to 41 m²€1,642 a night
Every one has a terrace over the gardens to the Atlas, the view you come home to, where the Classic and Superior Rooms look over Hivernage.
Royal Mansour Marrakech is on Rue Abou El Abbas Sebti, inside the western ramparts between the Koutoubia and Bab Doukkala, and that street takes cars: a taxi or the hotel's car stops at the hotel's own gate, so arriving with luggage is easy. On foot, the Koutoubia Mosque is about 10 minutes away, Jemaa el-Fna 16, Le Jardin Secret 18 and the Ben Youssef Madrasa 22.
The nearest good tables are on foot too: La Mamounia's Italian restaurant is 8 minutes away and the El Fenn rooftop 10. For the rest of the Medina and Guéliz, almost every table worth booking is 2 or 3 minutes by car from the gate, and the Jardin Majorelle about 5. The walks are longer than the address suggests, so plan the souks for the morning and eat in at La Grande Table Marocaine one night.
The room to book
Premier Riad
about 175 m², on three floors€2,421 a night
A dining room and bar around the patio, so dinner can be served in the riad on the nights you would rather not walk back.
In Hivernage, on flat city pavements, the Koutoubia is 13 minutes on foot and Jemaa el-Fna 20, with Nobu Marrakech downstairs for dinner and a petit taxi back in about five minutes.
From about €735 a night
The best things to do in Marrakech, hand-picked
Hand-picked: only the best, one version of each, researched so you don’t have to.
Which part of Marrakech is best for walking to the sights?
The Medina, inside the ramparts. From Le Jardin Secret in Mouassine, the Ben Youssef Madrasa is 7 minutes on foot, Jemaa el-Fna 10, the Koutoubia 16 and the Bahia Palace 21. El Fenn, by Bab el Ksour, and Dar Kandi, in Bab Doukkala, are both 9 minutes from Le Jardin Secret. On the south-west edge, La Villa des Orangers and La Mamounia have roads to the door and the Koutoubia 8 and 9 minutes away. Hivernage is a 33-minute walk to the square, and Guéliz a taxi ride.
Can a taxi get to a riad in the Medina?
Sometimes to the door, often only to the nearest gate. Many Medina lanes are too narrow for a car. La Mamounia, Royal Mansour Marrakech and La Villa des Orangers have a road to the door. At El Fenn the taxi stops at Bab el Ksour and the door is 5 metres along the first street on the right. At Dar Kandi cars stop at a guarded car park nearby, where staff meet you and carry the bags along the lane.
How long is the walk from Jemaa el-Fna to the Jardin Majorelle?
About 40 minutes, 2.9 km, from the square to the garden in Guéliz, or about 5 minutes by taxi. From our hotels it is a 25-minute walk from Dar Kandi, 31 from El Fenn, 33 from Royal Mansour Marrakech and 39 from La Mamounia, so most people walk the Medina and take a petit taxi for the Majorelle. Agree the fare first or check that the meter is running.
How far is Jemaa el-Fna from the Medina hotels?
On foot, 9 minutes from El Fenn, 11 from La Villa des Orangers, 16 from La Mamounia and Royal Mansour Marrakech, and 17 from Dar Kandi. The Koutoubia is closer for most: 7 minutes from El Fenn, 8 from La Villa des Orangers, 9 from La Mamounia and about 10 from Royal Mansour Marrakech. Dar Kandi is the one nearer the souks and the Ben Youssef Madrasa, 12 minutes away.
Do you need a car in Marrakech?
No. Inside the Medina you walk, and the Medina's lanes are closed to cars. Outside it, petit taxis do the work: agree the fare or check the meter. From Hivernage a petit taxi reaches Jemaa el-Fna in about 5 minutes with the roads clear, 15 at busy times. For a day out of town, hotels book a car with a driver. If you do drive in, La Villa des Orangers has car parks beside it at €10 a day.
How did you choose these hotels?
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
The design one
