Business Class Flights to Marrakech

The shortest routing is Royal Air Maroc's nonstop from New York JFK, Washington or Miami to Casablanca — seven hours from New York on the 787 with a lie-flat business cabin — then a 45-minute domestic flight to Marrakech on the same ticket, or the train from Casa Voyageurs in two hours forty. The European one-stops are just as good and often cheaper: Air France via Paris (three hours on), Iberia via Madrid (90 minutes), TAP via Lisbon (90 minutes), British Airways via London (three and a half), KLM via Amsterdam, Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Munich, SWISS via Zurich, and Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, all with lie-flat seats on the transatlantic leg. No routing to Marrakech carries a First Class cabin on the final leg; British Airways First via London and Air France La Première via Paris put one on the long one.

Menara airport is remarkably close to the city: the Medina is 15 minutes, the Palmeraie 20, and the Hivernage and Gueliz hotels ten. Riads arrange transfers, usually to the edge of the Medina with a porter for the last stretch on foot. Marrakech is also the base for the Atlas — Kasbah Tamadot and the Ourika Valley are 90 minutes — and for the Sahara: Merzouga is nine hours by road or a short flight to Errachidia; the Agafay stone desert is 45 minutes. Essaouira on the coast is three hours.

Spring (March–May) and autumn (September–November) are the seasons — warm days, cool nights, the Atlas green or golden. Summer in Marrakech regularly passes 100°F, though it is the cheapest time and the riads' pools help. Winter is mild and sunny by day, cold at night, with snow on the High Atlas for skiing at Oukaïmeden. Ramadan moves earlier each year; the city runs on a different rhythm during it, and fares dip. Our $2,900 starting fare from New York applies to shoulder-season business via Casablanca or Europe.