Ramadan in Marrakech: opening hours, atmosphere and visiting tips

Ramadan dates in 2027 and 2028

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is lunar: it moves forward by about eleven days each year compared with the Gregorian calendar. In Morocco, its start is not fixed in advance. On the evening of the 29th of the month of Shaaban, committees look for the crescent moon, then the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs announces whether the fast begins the next day or the day after. The end of the month is determined in the same way.

Provisional dates checked in October 2026; they may shift by one day depending on the moon sighting. Do not book a flight or an important excursion on the exact date of the start or the end.

Eid al-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast, closes the month. In Morocco it is a two-day public holiday: families visit each other, many shops in the medina close and some sites adjust their hours. To place these dates in the year, see our guide to the best time to visit Marrakech.

The time change: Morocco goes back to GMT

Since 2018, Morocco has lived on GMT+1 all year round, with one exception: during Ramadan, the country returns to GMT, its legal time, to make fasting days easier. In 2026, clocks went back one hour on Sunday 15 February at 3:00, then forward again on Sunday 22 March at 2:00. The 2027 dates will be set by a decision of the Head of Government and announced by the Ministry of Digital Transition a few weeks before the month.

In practice, in February 2027 Marrakech will be one hour behind Paris, whereas the two cities share the same time for the rest of the winter. Check the times of your flights, transfers and visit slots: e-tickets show local time, and phones update automatically, but watches and manually set apps do not always follow.

What changes for visitors

Government offices, banks and services

Public administrations and local authorities switch to continuous hours, from 9:00 to 15:00, Monday to Friday. Plan any errand at a public office early in the day. Shops in the souks often open later in the morning and close in the late afternoon, before the fast is broken, then some reopen in the evening.

Monuments, museums and gardens

Sites stay open, but many shorten their afternoon hours. A few examples published by the venues themselves:

• the Jardin Secret opens daily from 9:30 to 16:30 during Ramadan, and from 14:30 to 18:30 on the day of Eid al-Fitr;
• the Water Museum opens from 9:30 to 17:30 during the month;
• MACAAL closes at 15:30 instead of 18:00.

Monuments run by the Ministry of Culture, such as the Bahia Palace, also apply Ramadan hours, posted at the entrance and on their online ticket office. The Majorelle Garden announces any special hours on its official ticketing site. In every case, visit in the morning and check the hours the day before.

Restaurants, cafés and alcohol

In the medina, many small eateries and cafés close during the day or only serve from ftour onwards. Restaurants in hotels and riads, and some of the tourist addresses in Gueliz and Hivernage, keep serving lunch, often indoors rather than on the terrace. The grill stalls of Jemaa el-Fna square set up for the evening as they do the rest of the year.

Alcohol becomes much harder to find: supermarket alcohol sections close for the month, as do many bars, and only some hotels keep serving their foreign guests, discreetly. The rules for the rest of the year are explained in our guide to Marrakech at night.

Ftour, the highlight of the day

Ftour (or f'tour) is the meal that breaks the fast, eaten as soon as the call to the sunset prayer, maghrib, is heard. In Marrakech it falls at around 18:10 at the start of Ramadan 2027 and around 18:30 at the end, GMT; the fast begins at around 5:40, then around 5:20 at the end of the month. These times are calculated; the official timetable for each city is published by the Ministry of Habous.

The table almost always holds the same items:

• harira, a thick soup of tomato, lentils and chickpeas, flavoured with coriander;
• dates and a glass of milk, with which the fast is traditionally broken;
• chebakia, a flower-shaped fried pastry soaked in honey and covered in sesame;
• sellou, a very filling mix of toasted flour, almonds and sesame;
• hard-boiled eggs, msemen or baghrir pancakes, orange juice and tea.

In the days before the month begins, pastry sellers in the souks pile up mountains of chebakia and sellou; it is the right time to try them. Many riads and restaurants offer a ftour menu to their guests, and sometimes a family will invite travellers to share theirs. For the city's other dishes, see our guide on what to eat in Marrakech.

Ramadan nights

Jemaa el-Fna and the medina after ftour

Just before maghrib, the city empties: everyone goes home or sits down to eat, and the alleys become almost silent. An hour later, everything flips. Families head out, Jemaa el-Fna square fills with musicians, storytellers and stalls, and the souks of Marrakech partly reopen until late. It is often the liveliest atmosphere of the year, with an overwhelmingly Moroccan crowd.

Tarawih at the Koutoubia

Every evening, after the night prayer, worshippers perform tarawih, long prayers specific to Ramadan. At the Koutoubia Mosque, they are so numerous that the rows spill out onto the esplanade laid out for the purpose. Non-Muslims do not enter the prayer hall, but can watch the scene from a distance: do not walk through the rows, do not photograph worshippers and keep your clothing covering. The same rules apply at the city's other shrines, such as the courtyard of the Zaouia of Sidi Bel Abbes, open to visitors during the day.

The Night of Destiny

The Night of Destiny, Laylat al-Qadr, commemorates the revelation of the Koran. In Morocco it is celebrated on the night of the 26th to the 27th of Ramadan: mosques are full, incense is burned and many children, dressed in djellabas or kaftans, fast for the first time and are photographed in traditional dress. Girls often have henna drawn on their hands.

A typical day during Ramadan

Times checked in October 2026, for guidance only; ftour moves later by about one minute a day over the month.

Etiquette to respect

Fasting applies to Muslims; nobody expects a foreign visitor to fast. A few customs still matter:

• do not eat, drink or smoke openly in the street during the day; do so at your hotel, in a restaurant or out of sight;
• article 222 of the penal code punishes publicly breaking the fast with one to six months in prison, but it targets people known to be Muslim, not non-Muslim foreign visitors;
• dress a little more modestly than usual, especially in the medina; our guide on what to wear in Marrakech gives specific advice;
• avoid public displays of affection and loud music;
• be patient in the late afternoon, when the fatigue of fasting sets in.

Pros and cons

The upsides

• A unique atmosphere: festive evenings, shared ftour, the fervour of the Night of Destiny.
• Calm mornings in the medina and at the sites, with fewer crowds early in the day.
• A pleasant season in 2027 and 2028: the month falls in winter or early spring, with mild days and cool nights, far from the summer heat.
• Ftour at your hotel: many riads offer a fast-breaking meal to their guests; ask when booking and compare with our guide on where to stay in Marrakech.

The drawbacks

• reduced afternoon hours at sites and many shops;
• less choice for lunch in the medina;
• alcohol hard to find;
• few taxis around ftour and heavy traffic just before;
• noisy nights in the medina, until the meal before dawn;
• closures during the two days of Eid al-Fitr.

Practical tips

• Carry water and drink out of sight; even in February, the afternoon sun is strong.
• Group your visits in the morning and keep the afternoon for a garden, a hammam or your riad.
• Plan your journeys: do not schedule an airport transfer or a meeting at ftour time, and book a taxi in advance through your accommodation.
• Shop in the late morning or in the evening, when shops reopen.
• Beware of fake guides who claim a site is closed "because of Ramadan" to take you elsewhere; our guide to scams to avoid in Marrakech describes this scenario.
• Accept an invitation to ftour if it is sincerely offered: it is one of the best memories of a stay during this month.

Further reading

To choose your dates according to the weather and festivals, read our guide to the best time to visit Marrakech. Evenings outside Ramadan are described in Marrakech at night, and the city's cooking, harira included, in what to eat in Marrakech.