By Polly Crossman

Marrakech has long been on my list of must-see destinations. The ‘red city’ had me sold with the promise of mosaic-rich riads, red stone baking in the heat, winding souks and snake charmers.

Travelling with British Airways, testing out their new London to Marrakech service, the city lived up to all of my expectations. These are my top five first-time tips for visiting the city.

1. The Kasbah

The Kasbah surrounding Djemaa el-Fna, with its terracotta walls warmed by the sun and winding streets busy with bicycles bears a taste of local Marrekechi life. The Kasbah is calm and the pace slow. Presided over by storks feeding young in their vast nests, greengrocers set up shop wherever they can to lay out their produce – anything from a few ageing carrots to stalls piled high with strawberries.

A quiet walk through these streets reveals Marrakech away from the tourist trade. I passed a couple of Gnawa musicians, busking in the cool of the shade and spinning their tassled hats in the trance of their own music, as well as a hopeful man with seven pairs of battered leather shoes for sale and another attempting to flog half a dozen old lamps. Locals gather, leaning on mopeds, smoking tobacco and surveying the day.

2. Mint Tea

Mint tea is the quintessential Moroccan drink, often a tooth-rotting level of sweetness. As an on-off tea drinker, I shocked myself with the quantity of mint tea I managed to guzzle in just a couple of days. Tea is poured artfully from a height into small glasses from decorative silver teapots that glint in the sun. With a tempting aroma and delicate taste, mint tea is the ideal refresher: once I’d learned to ask for it ‘not sweet’, I was always on the lookout for my next cup.

3. Pastilla

Pastilla, or Pigeon Pie, is generally regarded as Morocco’s national dish, outdoing all of the couscous, meatballs and tagines typically associated with the country. While my vision of a flapping pest – my nemesis in London – stuffed beneath pastry wasn’t overly appealing, my first pastilla – in the Moroccan restaurant at the Royal Mansour Hotel – was outstanding. Cooked slowly with almonds, spices and sugar, the pigeon is enclosed in its own globe of pastry and cooked until crisp. Mine was topped with an intricate chequer-board of cinnamon and icing sugar that hinted at the sweet and sour delight within – I’ll certainly not look at a pigeon the same way again.

4. Les Artisaneaux

Marrakech is known for its souks, with the promise of fantastic shopping and a test of your bartering skills. Despite being a magpie for anything in the line of jewellery, lanterns and leather, what I most wanted to discover were les artisaneaux, the craftsmen who keep this endless network of streets ticking.

In an hour of wondering the kissariats, armed with only a camera (and a few Dirham in case anyone needed tipping in return for a quick snap) I found felt makers scrubbing at soapy stones, cross-legged weavers at looms, potters at their wheels and cloth merchants trundling wooden carts. Jamaal, an apothecary looking for business, gave me a ‘lipstick’ made from natural pigments and I passed hundreds of balls of bright red wool drying in the sunshine as well as spice vendors, olive traders and orange juice sellers.

5. Koutoubia

Visible from virtually everywhere in Marrakech, the Koutoubia Mosque is a sight that (literally) cannot be missed. Standing like a sentinel over Marrakech since the 12^th century, Koutoubia still sends muezzins across the city from the 69m minaret four times a day. Surrounded by well kept gardens and pathways, sweetly scented by orange blossom, the mosque is majestic in its height and history. Koutoubia is at its best if you catch it on a Friday as thousands gather with their mats for weekly prayers.

How to get there

I flew to Marrakech with British Airways. The airline has recently re-launched its Marrakech service, flying to the city three times weekly. With a flight time of only three hours, Marrakech is easily reachable for long weekends and short breaks. Fares start at £159 pp return from London Gatwick, departing on a Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

* Black and white photography by Polly Crossman

Where to stay

Marrakech has a huge variety of beautiful accommodation ranging from small homely riads with only a few rooms, to some of the most extravagant hotels in the world.

Riad Pachavana

Lovingly restored to its Morroccan glory by Nathalie and Thierry, Riad Pachavana is tucked inside the walls of the Kasbah: the small selection of individually crafted rooms and suites give it a charming homely feel.
Rooms from £75 per night.

Hivernage Hotel & Spa

Rooms at the Hivernage are spacious and well-equipped: the perfect base from which to explore the city. The highlight is an extensive roof terrace boasting a city-wide view that lends itself to long al fresco evenings.
Rooms from £250 per night.

La Mamounia

Made famous as Winston Churchill’s go-to (a suite is named in his memory) La Mamounia re-opened in 2010 after a major three-year refurbishment, led by French designer Jacques Garcia. The hotel stands out as an oasis of calm just five minutes walk from Djemaa el-Fna, in 17 acres of gardens lovingly tended by 30 full time gardeners.
Doubles from £310 per night on a room only basis.

Amanjena

Rooms at Amanjena are simple yet decadent, beautifully crafted with walled outdoor areas and private pools. Located slightly out of the city centre, the resort is centred around a huge lake that is lit with innumerable candles by night.
Doubles from £920 per night, excluding tax.

The Royal Mansour

Conceived by the king as a medina within a medina, the Royal Mansour boasts 53 three-storey private riads. All have a roof-top terrace and plunge pool and are serviced by an underground network of tunnels for staff. The craftsmanship on show is like no other; it took more than 3 years for artisans to hand make, paint, mosaic and carve these riads to perfection.
Doubles from £1,400 per night.

If you prefer to travel with a tour operator, 101 Holidays recommends Travelzest’s Best of Morocco.

By Mark Hodson, editor, 101 Holidays

Flying across the Atlantic was once a glamorous affair. In Diamonds are Forever – one of my favourite Ian Fleming books – James Bond, accompanied by the glamorous Tiffany Case, boarded a BOAC Boeing Stratocruiser for the overnight trip from London to New York. The aircraft made a short stop in Shannon where passengers were served steak and champagne followed by Irish coffee. On the lower deck of the Stratocruiser there was a cocktail lounge. Ah, those were the days.

By coincidence, the new British Airways business-only flights from London City to New York also stop en route in Shannon. This is because the runway at London City isn’t long enough to allow an Airbus A318 to take off with a full tank of fuel. But what at first appears to be a snag turns out to be an advantage, because – as the aircraft is refuelled in Shannon – passengers can quickly clear US immigration, landing at New York’s JFK airport as domestic passengers.

And the similarities don’t end there, as these twice-daily flights go some way to restoring the allure and exclusivity of trans-Atlantic flying. It’s not a complete return to the 1950s. You can’t smoke on board, as Bond did, or stash a pistol in your hand luggage, but you do get something even more valuable: acres of personal space.

The route – which was launched late last year – is operated by a brace of new aircraft fitted out with 32 forward-facing Club class flat bed seats. Typically, the A318 flies with about 100 economy seats.

Last week I put the service through its paces as a guest of British Airways, leaving London City at 4pm, stopping for just 25 minutes in Shannon and arriving at JFK at about 8pm local time. I was also testing another interesting feature of the aircraft – the ability to surf the internet and send and receive text messages from the air.

London City is by far the most pleasant of the capital’s airports: small, efficient and recently revamped. BA has a small dedicated lounge for the New York service and from there it’s a short walk across the asphalt to the waiting aircraft. We touched down in Shannon in less than an hour and headed straight to US immigration.

It’s not unusual to wait for more than an hour in a queue at JFK then to be given the third degree by an insolent, bullying immigration officer. At Shannon there was no queue and the staff – most of whom have lived in Ireland in many years – were helpful and friendly. Extraordinary.

Back in the air we rose to 10,000ft where a light in the ceiling indicated the OnAir system had been switched on. I tried to get online with my laptop with no success – apparently, a dongle is required. But I could use my iPhone, and this worked just fine. I was able to send and receive texts, surf the web and send Twitter updates. My BA minder even managed to get the BBC1 Six O’Clock News on his iPhone.

However, there’s a catch: the data roaming charges, at £6 per MB, are eye-wateringly expensive. For the cost of streaming a two-hour movie you could probably fly the cast over from LA to act the whole thing out in your living room.

Not all passengers will be overly troubled by the cost of calls. The service is mostly used by high-end bankers, lawyers and businesspeople, some of whom use it to commute regularly between the two cities. The cabin crew – who were supremely friendly and efficient – know many of their regulars by name.

When BA retired its Concorde fleet, it shelved the flight numbers: BA 001, 002, 003 and 004. Interestingly, it has given those codes to the new flights from London City, suggesting it considers it an equivalent service.

It isn’t. The new service is relaxing and sophisticated but lacks the glamour and visceral thrill of Concorde. The inflight dining on my flight was good, but not exciting: comfort food for executives rather than a celebratory feast. Still, the greatest luxury is space. While Concorde was notoriously cramped (and noisy), this new service allows passengers to stretch out and snooze on a wide flat bed.

A fully flexible return fare on the London City route costs around £4,000 – about 5% more than the regular BA Club class fare to New York. But if you’re happy to fly on fixed dates – as most holidaymakers are – you can get a return for about £2,000. If you can afford it, it’s a good deal.