Not to be confused with the El Bahia palace which is close by . A massive courtyard surrounded by buildings that have a number of interesting displays. The entrance is through underground rooms and the remains of guest rooms. Look out for storks nesting on the ramparts. Unfortunately it did seem possible to climb onto the walls.

The El Badi Palace cost us 70 Dirham each entry fee. The palace is fairly well restored and offers an interesting historical insight of Moroccan royalty. The gardens located at the centre of the palace were my favourite part of the attraction, as they are so peaceful and calming to walk around. Whilst there were many interesting exhibitions, many were only translated in Arabic or French so some of the contents / history of the palace were difficult for us to understand. The local authorities might consider adding information in English to improve the experience for tourists.

It’s mostly an open space with some rooms at one end mentioning the history of the place, and its restoration. The citrus trees in the centre were below the walking level and gave a nice contrast. Plenty of cats and birds seem to reside in and around the palace walls. Worth an hour or so, and very close to the Bahia palace.

This palace was home to the 16th and 17th dynasty that ruled Morocco for a time. While much of the palace is in ruins (another ruler scavenged from the site to built his own palace), there are several exhibits demonstrating the history of Marrakesh and Morocco. Personally, I enjoyed this much more than the highly recommended Bahia Palace (which is much newer and more crowded). You probably won't take the best pictures, but it was relatively quiet and serene when we visited and I loved the four sunken gardens in the courtyard. My only complaint is that some of the exhibits were only in French and Arabic (I speak Arabic, but no one else in our party does).

Kind of mixed feelings when visited it. Its huge, tall walls are impressive, the short walk through the basement with the history about the palace and the are is certainly interested. However, most of the exhibited things were with explanations in Arabic and French only, which definitely impacted the experience. The garden with the pools need some restoration and conservation as currently the main pool was filled with 20cm of green, algae-rich water. This place could be tell so much more about the the area’s history, it just needs more appropriate curation and conservation.

Was looking for the Saadian Tombs but got lost and happened to stumble upon El Badi Palace by accident, but enough of that let’s dig into the review (no pun intended). Once owned by Sultan Ahmad Al-Mansur this palace has been decline since his death and showcased much of his wealth. Many artifices are on display from that time including tiles, coins, and even the Minibar of the Kutubiyya Mosque. There is an Annex which was believed to be used for Residential Quarters and a Courtyard with pools and plant-life. Definitely worth seeing, more so if you are French or Arab speaking because the information boards have no information in any other language.

We have been to Marrakech several times before but had never visited this palace. Its size is extraordinary. The price of entry is 70MAD for adults and under 12 is 30MAD. We were not charged for our son 6 so not sure at what age the child price kicks in. Most of the signage on the displays are only in French and Arabic so a guide would be useful as although the architecture was impressive we didn’t really get a sense of the history from just walking around. We took some great photos and footage the entrance way up from the caves through the old tiled section in particular was worth seeing. My son enjoyed running around the open spaces and could largely do what he wanted inside. This probably wouldn’t be on the list of things to do if it was your first time to Marrakech with other sites rating more important to see if you were only here for a few days. See our other reviews for more of these.

I visited 5 sites in Marrakech- 1) Medersa BennYoussef, 2) Badi Palace, 3) Bahia palace, 4) the Medina, 5) Secret Jardin Gardens. I ranked the places I visited within the city in my favourite order as shown above with my favourite followed by my least favourite . My second favourite place . Entrance fee is a little steep at 70 Dirhams but it is more worthwhile than the Bahia palace or much better than the Rio off secret jardin gardens . The palace is very serene and it reflects the neglect but grace this palace evokes . It is a 500 year old palace, and it shows its age and neglect but that makes it so attractive . It is indeed useful to visit both the El Badi and Bahia palace to do a comparative study . I find this palace better as it actually has artifacts - real artifacts that the Bahia palace completely does not have . So it is more authentic than that palace . It is also more attractive and you have those herons flying around amongst the ruins and walls that makes it even more attractive . The toilets are a lot better, cleaner than the Bahia palace . If there is a complain , it is that the explanation of the artifacts are all written in Arabic and French - but you get the picture by looking at the artifacts . At the worst you can still Wikipedia’s out the palace to gain a better understanding of it . To me it is the go to palace and not the Bahia palace .

This is the old ruins in Marrakech, compared to the newer more well preserved Bahia palace, and restored Ben Youssef Madrasa. This is less essential and not as good as those two other sites, but it is close by to the Bahia palace, so worth dropping in if you have the time. It took us only 30-45 minutes to have a good walk around, you could maybe stretch that to an hour if you spend longer at the few small museum exhibit rooms. You can get some nice photos of the expansive central courtyard area. There is not much shade here so bring a hat and shades if it is very sunny.

This would have once been a huge and beautiful palace. Most of what remains is a large courtyard with gardens, fountains, pools and decorative tiles. There was a small museum with very little English signage, but a short video was available which cycled through a few languages. I particularly enjoyed the "guest rooms" with their mosaic floors which we visited just before leaving the palace.