How do I get around Marrakech?

Walking and petit taxis. That covers a first visit to Marrakech. The medina is closed to private cars, so your feet handle everything between Jemaa el-Fnaa and the souks, the Bahia Palace, and the Saadian Tombs. Distances are short. Jemaa el-Fnaa to Bahia Palace is about 800 meters through the lanes. The challenge is navigation, not stamina. Alleys narrow to shoulder-width, branch without warning, and dead-end against someone's front door. Google Maps is unreliable inside the medina walls. Download Maps.me or Organic Maps before you land at Menara Airport. Both use OpenStreetMap data, which volunteers have traced through the alleys in far more detail. For anything outside the medina walls, the beige petit taxis take over. Guéliz, the Ville Nouvelle district with the train station and Majorelle Garden, sits about 3 km northwest of Jemaa el-Fnaa. A petit taxi covers that in 10 minutes for 15-20 MAD on the meter.

Marrakech's petit taxis are beige and seat three passengers. The meter exists. Whether the driver turns it on is a different matter. The legal flagfall sits around 2.50 MAD during the day, with a 50% surcharge after 8 PM, but many drivers will quote a flat 50-70 MAD for a ride that costs 15 on the meter. Your move is simple. Say "compteur" as you get in. If the driver refuses, close the door and flag the next one. Another will appear within 30 seconds on most Guéliz streets. At night, you have less leverage and fares tend to run 30-50 MAD for cross-city trips. That said, even the inflated tourist price rarely tops 50 MAD (about 4.50 EUR) for anywhere within the city, so the financial stakes are low. A 5 MAD tip is standard. Grand taxis, the larger shared Mercedes sedans, run fixed routes to Essaouira or the Ourika Valley and serve day trips, not city transport.

inDrive has largely solved the meter argument. The app lets you propose a fare, the driver accepts or counters, and both sides see the price before anyone moves. It works in Marrakech with wait times of 3-5 minutes in Guéliz and around Jemaa el-Fnaa. Careem also operates, though driver availability tends to be thinner. Download both before you land at Menara Airport. A ride from Guéliz to Jemaa el-Fnaa typically costs 15-25 MAD on inDrive, roughly matching the metered petit taxi fare without the negotiation. From Menara Airport to the medina, inDrive quotes around 70-100 MAD. Compare that to the 200 MAD that taxi drivers at the arrivals curb will open with. Mind you, ride-hail drivers sometimes can't reach medina drop-offs because cars can't pass the gates. Expect to be dropped at Bab Doukkala or near Bab Agnaou and walk the last 5-10 minutes to your riad.

June heat in the medina currently sits around 29°C and will likely push past 38°C by mid-afternoon in July and August. The narrow lanes between terracotta walls trap warmth but also shade you from direct sun. The real hazard on foot is motorbikes. They share every lane with pedestrians, announce themselves with a quick horn tap, and expect you to press flat against the wall. Keep right and don't stop suddenly mid-lane. The smell shifts block by block. Tanned leather from the dye workshops, cedar shavings from woodworkers near Rahba Kedima, mint and orange blossom from tea stalls, and motorbike exhaust underneath it all. You'll catch the tanneries a full block before you see them. Calèches, the horse-drawn carriages parked around Jemaa el-Fnaa, are the one mode worth skipping. A 30-minute circuit runs 150-250 MAD after negotiation, follows the same loop along Avenue Mohammed V every time, and the horses look exhausted. Your 200 MAD goes further on a petit taxi to Majorelle Garden and back.