UKC

No car.  Staying in a riad near the centre of the Medina.  Never been before.  What mustn't I miss?

The Souk and market day.  Do try the fresh orange juice, don't step in the snakes.

Al

And basically repeat for the next 5 days.

I strongly recommend doing some research on places to get outside the city.  It is a great place for a couple of days but you will need more to see beyond the city if you are there for 5 days.

Another vote for leaving a fair bit of time to just exploring the souks, markets and alleys. Definitely eat in the square at least one evening. 

Outside the city, there are some waterfalls that make a decent daytrip. We arranged for a taxi to take us there and pick us up in evening. I think there was a bus service as well. The main falls were busy when we went but you only had to walk a few hundred metres downstream for some solitude and a day relaxing in/around one of the many pools.

Your dates are probably fixed already but if not, I would avoid ramadan. The hunger and fatigue makes many people far less welcoming and friendly. 

But don't keep some of above orange juice in your hotel room overnight.  I was very glad I opened the bottle in the bathroom as the orange, fermenting explosion fountainned out of it.

The Souk in the evening is a great for food.  Been years since I was in Morocco but a trip to the Jardin Majorelle (the late Yves St Laurent's house), makes for a peaceful afternoon.

Someone above mentioned waterfalls - might have been Cascades at Immouzer des Ida Outanane.  Trip to Essaouira also good.

Apart from the stuff mentioned above, we went to see the Medersa Ben Youssef, the Saadian tombs and the Bahia Palace, and they were all pretty great. Aim to get to the tombs earlyish because apparently they can get very busy later.

Also, if you're anything like us, you might want to factor in some quiet time chilling out in your riad recovering from the madness of the town - it's amazing, but it can get tiring fairly quickly.

Read 'A Year in Marrakesh' by Peter Mayne, for a description of the town in the 1950's and many suggestions of things to do.

Should have said - going start of Feb, so swimming unlikely!

Majorelle Gardens (probably spelt wrong) are wonderful, this was the highlight for our trip in Sept 2017, 

Agreed, don't do it on your first day though.

It was the first thing I did, very nice but I don't think I appreciated the peace without having a few days in the Medina first.

Another recommendation is go to a rooftop terrace (I'll try and find link to the one went to) for sunset dinner then wait for the call to prayer. As it's raised above the city you'll be able to hear every mosque in the city, it was impressive and almost haunting.

You may know all this but...

Be wary of people who offer to give you a tour or show the way somewhere (especially in the souks where it's easy to appear lost). They may seem kind at the time but will most likely demand money after the fact and can come across as quite rude/pushy.

Haggle for everything in the souks, it's part of the Moroccan culture and if you agree to the first price for anything you will have been massively ripped off.

We did a couple of day trips from the city - out to the Atlas mountains, and another trip star gazing at a Bedouin camp in the desert. Both were great!

Zeitoun is a restuarant on the main square and we found it very nice indeed. Make sure you sit on the top floor so you can watch the scenes below! I would also recommend the TripAdvisor top rated day tour to the Atlas, we did it and it was a nice day away from the hustle and bustle of the centre.

If you aren't confident haggling in the souks, especially at the start, there is a 'shopping centre' if you turn right in front of the main minaret and walk along the main road for 5 mins. Its a good place to get a feel for prices without the constant attention, or just buying from if you dont mind paying a tiny bit more.  

Other than that you can easily do most of the 'main museums' in a couple of hours each if you want to, leaving plenty of time to just wander and soak it in. Its an incredible assault on the senses. 

Beware the tannery scam.

https://marocmama.com/avoid-the-tannery-scam-in-morocco/

Yep.

The other thing about the souk is that it's very easy to get lost. Make sure you note where you're going and take a few photos so you have a note of which gate you went through etc. If you stop and look lost you'll get people offering to show you the way. They'll want paid if you accept and may get abusive if they don't think you've paid them enough.

The real price is a quarter of the first price.

The henna tatoos take over a week to go away. Don't be surprised if someone grabs your arm and starts tattooing even if you tell them no. If you then don't pay them you'll get an earfull of abuse.

Be careful what you eat.

We were advised by our Morrocon riad owner to have the phone number of the tourist police in our phone. He told us the police will not mess around with locals who hassle or con tourists, first stop will be prison for days or weeks, later the police station and usually a good beating along the way. Just threatening to call the police will usually be enough to stop anything. Not that you are likely too, but worth bearing in mind just in case.

We tried this when we were being conned in a back street restaurant and they caved in immediately when they realised we were serious about calling them.

I hate haggling, i liked visiting the The Ensemble Artisanal instead. This a small centre of artists and craftsmen shops, mainly with fixed prices. I found it much more relaxed and friendly than the souks. My Turkish wife though was brought up haggling for everything, even in supermarkets so she was in her element. 

The souk is really full of europeans, being ripped off.  It has become a 'must see' tourist destination in its own right.  Every other town has its own souk or Kzbar.  Its worth one day for the experience, but I get bored easily.  

There's a fantastic museum, the Medersa Ben Youssef, the Saadian tombs and the Bahia Palace, Get a city guide.   I never got worried about being lost -= you always have the sun to guide you.  Just walk..... (away from the tourist traps)

I like the idea of using a camera to photo gates/in & out - but don't try photographing older people - the more conservative ones do not appreciate it.

You must be VERY firm with local hustlers. Give an inch and they'll take a mile.  They will attempt to get you to part with every penny you've got.  Some of them will deliberately rip you off by misleading you.  I knew a local lad, who I got friendly with when I stayed in Morocco and if he was short of time or not feeling to energetic when he was taking tourists around Tangiers he'd point out the residence of Barbara Hutton's house -0 a famous heiress at the time.  One day I noticed we'd gone to a different house which he claimed was hers.  When I asked him why, he just shrugged his shoulders and said he was too tired to go to the right has and no one would know.  

Hustlers aside, I never met one Moroccan who was not kind & helpful.

Always check your change, if it isn't right then argue like you're not English. They're not your new friend and they never will be if you don't give as good as you get.

Actually, a big problem in Morocco is breaking the large denomination notes you always get from a cash machine. Out in the Atlas mountains I was leaving coins under stones in payment for bottles of Coke I had days before; 'you can pay on your way back'!

Look out for this bloke dancing in the central square, a big hit with the ladies

youtube.com/watch?v=Dge5JMBj7So&

If you see a woman dancing, it's a man

youtube.com/watch?v=jc60wr_Slig&

Yeah 5 days in that city might be too much. You could visit Essaouira for a change, there is a direct bus line.

I second the 'get out of the city' comments - it can get so hot, and after a while can be quite overwhelming. We went in a large group for ten days (three of them were spent hiking in the Atlas Mountains), and found that heading to a water park just outside the city (I can't remember the name but I imagine there's only one!) was totally with it, and very unlike the tacky water parks in other countries - very lush green plants, beautiful pools, and just generally a lovely break from the madness of Marrakesh!

We booked this day trip - https://abnb.me/nu1gYl7LLT?user_id=161137822&s=50 - and it was one of our highlights of our stay. It's a full on day, but highly recommended.

The best restaurant we found in the city was Nomad - as mentioned above, try and get a rooftop table for sunset and the call to prayer, it's amazing.

I found the call to prayer to be, shall we say, less than beautiful

It's an acquired taste! The first morning it gave us all a heart attack, but by the end of my stay I was very fond of it