A Vegan Friendly Itinerary in Marrakech, Morocco
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Marrakesh, a beautiful city that has so much history and so much to explore. Founded in 1070 by the Almoravid dynasty, it was once the beating heart of a Berber empire that stretched from the Sahara to the Iberian Peninsula — a crossroads where sub-Saharan gold traders, Arab scholars, Andalusian architects, and Jewish merchants all converged. Walk through the medina — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — and you are quite literally walking through medieval history, through the same limestone alleys and souks that have been alive with commerce and culture for ten centuries.
Its legendary souks, hidden riad guesthouses, and the extraordinary spectacle of Djemaa el-Fna square make it one of the world's truly unmissable destinations. This was our last stop on my Vegan Ventures Morocco group tour and it was a favorite amongst our group. The history, the shops, the energy. Everything about it made us want to stay here longer.
With so much to see, here are some of my recommendations that you cannot miss you can do in a day or spread across a few days.
Best vegan friendly stay in Marrakech - Riad Atrium
A beautiful and cozy riad in Marrakesh. Photo by Vegan Ventures
For the best stay in Marrakesh, Riad Atrium is the one. It is just outside the Medina but it is a short walk to it. Therefore, making it quiet stay if a quiet’s nice sleep is important to you as the Medina can be quite lively at night.
Each of the rooms are named after a Moroccan city and it has a very cozy, home vibe while still offering a beautiful riad experience. Upon arriving, we were greeted with Moroccan tea and vegan cookies. Yes, we had to let them know ahead of time that we are a vegan group but they were extremely accommodating.
When it comes to the breakfast, they do a phenominal job of accommodating vegans. Warm almond and coconut milk to serve with your coffee and lots of vegan options when it comes to their breakfast spread. Moroccan pancakes, lentils, beans, fruit, sweet breads, and so much more. It was truly a feast for my Vegan Ventures Morocco tour group and I. The staff were also so kind and helpful. I can’t recommend this riad enough! Book my stay.
Walk through Bahia Palace
For any art and history lover, a visit to Bahia Palace is necessary while in Marrakesh. Built in the 1860s, the Bahia Palace in Marrakesh is a stunning 20-acre masterpiece designed to be the "most brilliant" residence of its time. Bahia translates to "brilliance" or "the beautiful," reflecting the ambition of its creators, Grand Vizier Si Moussa and his son Ba Ahmed.
It boasts a massive Italian marble courtyard, and features intricate, maze-like architecture that took over 15 years to complete by over 100 top Moroccan artisans in order to finish the intricate marquetry, plasterwork, and zouak (painted wood) ceilings.
While inside, there’s also the famous Bacha coffee. A luxury coffee experience that features over 200 types of 100% Arabica coffee sourced from 35 countries.
The original 1910 coffee room was a meeting place for historical figures, including Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Charlie Chaplin, and Colette. Now if you’d like to have a seat in the coffee room, wait times can be up to 1-2 hours and they don’t take reservations. But you can easily shop in the store and buy coffee if you wish.
If you want to just shop at the coffee shop and not go into the palace, it’ll cost you 10 MAD to enter.
Shop at Le Herboristerie Morrocaine
Our group learned a lot about the natural products the herboristerie had to offer. Photo by Vegan Ventures
These herb stores in Morocco, or herboristeries, function as traditional pharmacies blending medicine, magic, and culinary spices. They’re often family-run shops in ancient medinas offer everything from authentic, hand-pressed argan oil and ras el hanout spice blends to exotic aphrodisiacs. These are great stores to shop at for any beauty, spice, and herbal needs. This specific herboristerie is absolutely fantastic. Really helpful staff and everything is natural and most of the products are naturally vegan. A great spot to stock up on products for yourself and even buy gifts.
For Lunch
Stop at World Storytelling Cafe, the first exclusively plant-based (vegan) cafe in the Medina. What started as a place of storytellers and performers during the pandemic and still is, it has also become a quaint cafe that specializes in Moroccan tapas, including falafel, zalouk (eggplant), stewed beans, and pumkin with sesame. They also offer soups, salads, garlic, and spinach pasta as well as fresh smoothies and coffees.
Visit The Largest Mosque in Marrakesh - The Koutoubia Mosque
While it is not the original, it is still something to behold. The first version was built in 1147 but deemed wrongly oriented toward Mecca, leading to a second, improved version rebuilt around 1158. It is a is a 12th-cntury masterpiece known for its 77-meter (253 ft) minaret, which is visible from 25 km away and served as the model for Seville's Giralda. Its name means "bookseller mosque," referencing over 100 manuscript vendors that once surrounded it.
Evening Stroll Through Jardin Marjorelle
This beautiful garden is a must. A 2.5-acre botanical oasis that houses over 300 species of plants from five continents, including a rare collection of cacti, bamboo, and bougainvillea.
Buy your tickets - mandatory to buy in advance as time slots fill up quickly!
Dinner at Mandala Society - Koutoubia
This is a great sustainable restaurant that is very vegan friendly. Located right in the city center, it offers a calm oasis as well as breathtaking views of the Koutoubia Mosque from its rooftop terrace, making it a perfect spot for sunset dinners. It operates as a sustainable kitchen as they are dedicated to a plastic-free service and use fair trade coffee. When it comes to their dishes, they offer vegetarian, vegan, and pescatarian options with a focus on local, seasonal, and organic produce. It’s also a fantastic spot for lunch if you want to come in earlier in the day.
Best Vegan Souvenirs in Marrakesh
Engraved bracelet by Art Lou
Throughout the souks in Marrakesh, you’ll find many vendors offering engraved jewelry. But the best one is Art Lou. They create personalized, hand-engraved gold and silver bracelets on the spot. You can have your name or any other word written in Arabic calligraphy. It costs 100 MAD for a bracelet as well as a ring. I ended up getting both and love them! They make great gifts too.
Tea from The Moroccan Botanist
This tea shop creates organic, locally sourced herbal teas and infusions inspired by Morocco’s diverse landscape, from the Atlas Mountains to the desert. They blend traditional Moroccan healing remedies with modern, sustainable farming practices, offering sustainable, biodegradable tea products.What I love about this shop is that all teas are organic, free of artificial flavors, and sourced directly from Moroccan farmers as well as a portion of the proceeds from every tea bag sold is dedicated to social projects focusing on education.
If you’re looking for a vegan cooking class
The Amal Women's Training Center and Restaurant in Marrakech empowers disadvantaged women through culinary training, founded by Nora Belahcen Fitzgerald in 2013. "Amal" means hope in Arabic, and the center provides training to women facing challenges, such as single mothers or those without education, boasting over an 80% employment rate for graduates.
For vegan/vegetarian options, they have vegetable tagine and vegetable couscous.
For a Hammam experience in Marrakesh
If you’re looking for a hammam experience, I highly recommend this women-only hammam in Marrakech. A place that offers authentic, private, and intimate cultural ritual. Allowing you to relax, socialize, and cleanse in a safe, female-only space.
The process includes sweating in a steamy, hot room, followed by a rigorous scrubbing with a kessa mitt to remove dead skin, often followed by a Ghassoul clay mask. Using natural ingredients such as savon beldi (black olive oil soap) and argan oil.
