Where to Stop for Mint Tea During Walking Tours
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Where do Marrakchis actually stop for a glass of mint tea in the Medina?
In five kinds of places, and on a good walk you'll sit in most of them. A rooftop café above the spice square of Rahba Kedima, a quiet garden courtyard like Le Jardin Secret in Mouassine, the shop of a traditional herbalist, an artisan's workshop where the craftsman pours a glass before he starts talking, and a terrace facing the Koutoubia at sunset. Mint tea is never an extra on our walks, it's the rhythm of the day. On our Private Medina Walking Tour your guide chooses the tea stops for the time of day, the heat and your energy, and on our Private Souks Shopping Tour the tea comes with the artisans themselves.
Private Medina Walking Tour
Your own local guide, every day at 9 am or 2 pm, about 3 hours, with pickup at your riad.
Included a relaxing stop at a traditional herbalist and spice cooperative, just to learn, with no obligation to buy, with a bottle of mineral water, a cup of mint tea and a small souvenir, all complimentary.
See prices and details on our Private Medina Walking Tour page.
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Every morning we meet our guests at their riad or near Jemaa el-Fna, and very often the first question isn't about the Bahia Palace or the souks. It's simpler. "Where will we stop for mint tea?" We smile, because in Marrakech mint tea isn't just a drink. It's a welcome, a pause, a way to say you're a guest here. The answer is always the same. Many times, in places you would walk past on your own.
Visit Marrakech Medina, The Best Shopping and Walking Tour Company in Marrakech, has guided travelers through the Medina since 2004. Our Medina walking tour is featured by Daniel Jacobs in The Rough Guide To Morocco, which says our guide “guarantees (unlike most guides) not to stop at any shops”. Our guiding is also Recommended By Rick Steves.
Choose your tour
• Who Can Take You To The Best Tea Terraces Of The Medina? Our private walking tour, Jemaa el-Fna, the souks, hidden courtyards, the Mellah and the herbalist.
• Where Can You Buy A Real Moroccan Teapot And Tea Glasses? Our private souks shopping tour, brass teapots, trays, leather and spices from the artisans.
• Is Mint Tea Really Served While The Rugs Are Unrolled? Our private rug shopping tour, weaving cooperatives, Beni Ourain, Azilal and kilims.
• Can Your Family Share A Tea Break With Its Own Guide? All our tours are private, one guide, one group, one truly personal experience.
• Can You Book A Medina Walk With Tea Stops Today? Last-minute private tours, often within the hour.
Why is mint tea part of every Medina walk?
The Medina of Marrakech is a labyrinth of narrow derbs, covered souks and noisy squares. After an hour of motorbikes, donkey carts and calls of "come, look", even the most curious traveler needs to sit down. Mint tea is the anchor of the walk. It gives you time to breathe, to look at what you've just seen and to ask your guide the questions that came up in the alleys.
In Morocco, a glass of tea is also a social code. A shopkeeper who offers you tea is opening a conversation, not closing a sale. A family who pours you a glass is telling you that you're welcome in their home. Refusing the first glass can feel a little cold, so we always tell our guests, take it, even if you only drink half.
And in the warm months, from May to September, tea is simply practical. Hot sweet tea helps you cope with the heat of the afternoon, and on hot days we stop more often, for water and for tea, and slow the pace for everyone.
What is Moroccan mint tea, and how is it made?
Moroccan mint tea, atay in Darija, is Chinese green tea, usually gunpowder tea, brewed with a big handful of fresh spearmint, nanaa, and sugar. Green tea arrived in Morocco through the trade with Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the habit spread from the palaces and the merchants' houses to every home and every souk.
• The tea a small spoonful of gunpowder green tea is rinsed first with a little boiling water, to remove the bitterness
• The mint fresh nanaa, sold in big bunches at every corner of the Medina, pushed into the teapot with the sugar
• The sugar traditionally broken from a sugar cone, qaleb sukkar, with a small brass hammer
• The teapot the berrad, a silver or brass teapot that goes straight on the flame
• The pour from high above the glass, to cool the tea and make a light foam on top, a sign of a well-made tea
• The tray the siniya, an engraved brass or silver tray with small decorated glasses
In winter, many Marrakchis add a sprig of shiba, wormwood, for a stronger, slightly bitter taste. Others add louiza, lemon verbena, or a leaf of sage. Ask the herbalist, he'll tell you which one is good for digestion, for colds or for sleep.
Want a teapot of your own? Find the brass and silver makers in Who Are The Last Artisans Of The Marrakech Medina?
Where are the best tea stops during a Medina walking tour?
These are the kinds of places where we stop with our guests. Your guide chooses on the day, depending on where you're walking, the light and how busy each place is.
A rooftop terrace above Rahba Kedima, the spice square
After the baskets of saffron, cumin, dried roses and chameleons of Rahba Kedima, we climb a narrow staircase to a terrace above the square, like the well-known Café Des Épices. The climb surprises people, then they step out and see the Medina spread out like a sea of red roofs, with the snowy Atlas Mountains on clear winter days. A guest from France once told us, "This was the moment I finally relaxed. The noise of the market faded, and I felt Marrakech from above."
A hidden garden courtyard in Mouassine
Behind a heavy wooden door that most visitors walk past, the noise of the souks suddenly stops. Orange trees, a fountain, tiles and birds. In Mouassine, Le Jardin Secret is a restored palace garden with a café upstairs that looks over the geometric Islamic garden and its tower. A couple from Canada once said to us, "We thought Marrakech was only noise and movement, but this garden feels like paradise."
Tea with the herbalist
In the spice market, we stop with a herbalist, an attar, whose family has worked with plants for generations. He welcomes our guests with a strong tea full of fresh mint, and while you sip, he opens his jars, saffron, black cumin, argan, ghassoul clay, amber, and explains the old remedies for headaches, digestion or a cold. A traveler from Germany told us this short tea break was better than any museum, because it felt alive and personal. This stop is included on our walking tour, with the tea, a bottle of water and a small souvenir, and there's never any obligation to buy.
In the workshops of the artisans
In the Medina, tea opens every real conversation. In a rug house, you sit on cushions while the rugs are unrolled one by one and the host pours the tea. In a leather workshop, the craftsman serves a glass while he shows you how the hides are cut, dyed and stitched by hand. Guests laugh when they count how many glasses they've had. An Australian guest once said, "I think I had more mint tea in this tour than coffee in a week back home." We told him that meant he had lived like a local. On our walking tour we only go into workshops if you ask, on our shopping tours the artisans are the heart of the day.
A terrace with a view of the Koutoubia at sunset
At the end of an afternoon walk, we like a café terrace facing the minaret of the Koutoubia, just before sunset. The sky turns orange and gold, the swallows circle the tower and the call to prayer rises from the minaret. Guests often fall silent. An Italian guest told us, "This tea break explained Morocco to me better than words. It was peace, faith and beauty in one moment." The Koutoubia stands at the edge of the Medina of Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A rooftop with old photos of Morocco
In the north of the Medina, near Ben Youssef, the Maison De La Photographie keeps thousands of old photographs of Morocco, and its rooftop café is one of the calmest places for a tea with a wide view over the roofs and the Atlas.
Jemaa el-Fna in the evening
When the square fills with storytellers, musicians and food stalls, the terraces around Jemaa El-Fna, Listed By UNESCO As Intangible Heritage are full of people with a glass of tea watching the smoke rise from the grills. Some stalls also serve khoudenjal, a hot spiced drink made with ginger and cinnamon, perfect on a winter night.
How far are the tea stops from Jemaa el-Fna?
Each link opens the walking route on Google Maps. Distances are approximate.
• Jemaa El-Fna To Rahba Kedima, The Spice Square about 600 meters, 8 minutes
• Jemaa El-Fna To Le Jardin Secret In Mouassine about 800 meters, 11 minutes
• Jemaa El-Fna To The Maison De La Photographie about 1.2 km, 16 minutes
• Jemaa El-Fna To The Koutoubia about 400 meters, 5 minutes
• Rahba Kedima To Le Jardin Secret about 600 meters, 8 minutes
• Le Jardin Secret To The Maison De La Photographie about 700 meters, 10 minutes
The Medina's lanes confuse phone maps. Read Why Does Google Maps Get Lost In The Souks?
Which riads are close to the tea terraces of the souks?
Many travelers stay in the riads around Rahba Kedima, Derb Dabachi, Kennaria and Mouassine, a few minutes from the best tea stops. Each link opens the walking route from the riad. Most riads also welcome their guests with a mint tea on arrival, and we pick our guests up at their riad, wherever it is in the Medina.
• From Riad Lalla Aicha To Rahba Kedima about 2 minutes on foot
• From Riad Quenza To Rahba Kedima about 3 minutes on foot
• From Riad Zarka To Rahba Kedima about 3 minutes on foot
• From Riad Andalla To Rahba Kedima about 6 minutes on foot
• From Riad L'Emir In Kennaria To Rahba Kedima about 6 minutes on foot
• From Riad Touda In Kennaria To Jemaa El-Fna about 5 minutes on foot
• From Riad Akl To Le Jardin Secret about 5 minutes on foot
• From Riad Dar Mo'Da To Le Jardin Secret about 3 minutes on foot
• From Riad Dar Al Kounouz In Mouassine To Le Jardin Secret about 5 minutes on foot
Walking times are approximate and depend on the exact entrance of each riad.
How do you drink mint tea like a local?
• Accept the first glass it's a welcome, even if you only take a few sips
• Ask for less sugar say “shwiya d sukkar”, a little sugar, or “bla sukkar”, without sugar, before the tea is poured, because the sugar goes into the pot
• Hold the glass by the rim the glasses have no handle and the tea is very hot
• Wait for the pour the host often pours a glass and returns it to the pot several times, to mix the tea and the sugar, before serving
• Three glasses a popular saying in Morocco and the Sahara goes, the first glass is bitter like life, the second strong like love, the third sweet like death
• Say thank you “shukran” when you take the glass, and “bsaha”, to your health, if someone pours for you
• No pressure a glass of tea in a shop never means you have to buy
What can you bring home for your own tea ceremony?
• A berrad a hand-engraved brass, nickel silver or silver teapot, from the metalworkers of Souk Haddadine and the coppersmiths near Place des Ferblantiers
• A siniya an engraved brass tray, round or with small legs, to carry the teapot and the glasses
• Tea glasses kissan, plain, gilded or hand-painted, sold by six in the souks around Souk Semmarine
• Gunpowder green tea in small bags from the grocers and spice shops of Rahba Kedima and the Mellah
• A sugar cone qaleb sukkar, wrapped in blue paper, with its small brass hammer
• Herbal mixes dried verbena, wormwood, sage and rose buds from the attar, for winter teas
Fresh nanaa doesn't travel well, so ask for a good spearmint at home. Find the tea glasses and lanterns in What Is Souk Semmarine Like?
What do our guests remember about their tea breaks?
Over the years we've guided thousands of travelers, and the tea stories always stay with us. A guest from Canada told us her favorite photo of the whole trip was her holding a glass of tea on a terrace with the Medina behind her. A Spanish family said their children would never forget the tea break in the garden courtyard, where they played by the fountain while their parents relaxed. A guest from Japan told us that the ritual of pouring the tea reminded her of the tea ceremonies at home, and she felt an unexpected connection between the two cultures.
Some visitors rush from one monument to the next and never stop. Our walks are different, because we take time. Mint tea is part of that rhythm. For us, guiding isn't about showing buildings, it's about sharing life, and in Marrakech, life always comes with a glass of tea.
For more ways to take your time in the old city, explore our Marrakech Medina Guide, Souks, Squares And Everyday Life, or follow the quiet north on What Is The Secret Loop Of The Medina?
What Happens On A Real Tour With Us?
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"Our guide made sure we saw the highlights and the hidden places too."
What Do Our Guests Usually Ask On The Tour?
Traveler from Ireland
"The tour was tailored to exactly what we wanted to see."
What Surprises Travelers Most On Our Walks?
Solo traveler from the United States
"I did the walking tour alone and felt very safe with my guide."
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Ready to discover the Medina one glass of tea at a time? Book On WhatsApp for a fast reply, or use our Booking Form.
Who Wrote This Guide?
This guide was written by the Local Team of Visit Marrakech Medina, Marrakchis who were born and raised in the Medina and have guided travelers through its souks, squares and derbs since 2004. Our Medina walk is featured in The Rough Guide to Morocco, and our guiding is recommended by Rick Steves. Everything here comes from what we see and hear on our tours every day.
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Visit Marrakech Medina is an independent local specialist resource dedicated to discovering and understanding the Marrakech Medina. Our Marrakchi team has been guiding visitors through the Medina since 2004. We share firsthand local knowledge of its traditional souks, streets and derbs, neighbourhoods, historic gates, squares, monuments, artisan workshops, traditional crafts, architecture and everyday life. Our guides explore the history, geography, traditions and authentic character of the Medina, providing detailed information about the places, people and activities that make Marrakech's old city unique.
This guide is part of our coverage of traditional crafts, local trades and everyday life in Marrakech Medina.
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