RFK Rankings · Marrakech
Best Rooftop Restaurants in Marrakech 2026
Medina rooftop terraces · Marrakech · 6 rooftops ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
In Marrakech the roof is the dining room. The medina builds up rather than out, so the best tables in the old city sit two and three floors above the souks, level with the date palms and the call to prayer, the Koutoubia minaret on one side and the snow line of the Atlas on the other. Almost every riad has a terrace; far fewer have a kitchen worth the climb. The six below are ranked on the cooking, not the panorama, because in this city the view is a given and the meal is the variable.
1.Nomad
Kamal Laftimi's four-floor medina roof reinvents Moroccan cooking under an Atlas view — the city's best rooftop kitchen. Book the top terrace.
Nomad opened in 2014, when Kamal Laftimi and Sebastian de Gzell took over a former carpet store at 1 Derb Aarjane, just off the Rahba Lakdima spice square north of Jemaa el-Fnaa. Four floors of intimate rooms climb to two terraces that step over the medina toward the mountains. The kitchen calls itself modern Moroccan: spiced calamari, a sweet-potato cake, lamb with preserved lemon, with mains roughly 140 to 190 MAD.
Laftimi is the most influential restaurateur in the old city, also behind Café des Épices on the square below and the garden room Le Jardin a few alleys away. Nomad is the one to book for the meal rather than the postcard. Reserve the upper terrace and time it for the call to prayer at dusk.
Book on the Nomad site; ask for the top terrace at sunset.
2.Café Arabe
A 360-degree Mouassine rooftop running Moroccan and Italian kitchens side by side, with a rare wine list. Reserve a sunset table.
Café Arabe holds 184 Rue Mouassine, and its rooftop turns a full 360 degrees over the medina rooftops to the Atlas. The kitchen runs two cuisines at once: the chicken tagine with preserved lemon and green olives anchors the Moroccan side, fresh pasta the Italian. Starters land around 90 to 160 MAD and mains 120 to 190 MAD, with a long Italian-led wine list that is rare in the largely dry old city.
It is a polished, grown-up room rather than a party roof, which makes it the safe sunset booking when you want the panorama and a proper meal in one place. Read our full Café Arabe review, then ask for a rooftop table when you reserve; the courtyard below misses the view entirely.
Reserve on the Café Arabe site; ask for the roof, not the courtyard.
3.Terrasse des Épices
Nomad's design-led sibling above the textile souk, private booth alcoves and live oud; modern Moroccan worth the climb. Book a corner booth.
Terrasse des Épices sits at 15 Souk Cherifia in Sidi Abdelaziz, reached by a staircase up through the textile souk. It belongs to Kamal Laftimi's group, the more polished sibling to Café des Épices, and it is built around private wooden booth-alcoves that ring an open-air terrace, each its own small room with a view.
The menu is modern Moroccan with a strong vegetarian run alongside the grills and tagines, mains roughly 130 to 200 MAD, and there is live oud most evenings. It is calmer and more romantic than the bar-led roofs, which is the point. Reserve a perimeter booth for the privacy and the medina lights.
Book ahead online; request a perimeter booth alcove.
4.El Fenn
Vanessa Branson's boho-luxe riad roof near Jemaa el-Fnaa, pink terraces and a seasonal kitchen framing the Koutoubia. Go for a long lunch.
El Fenn is the rooftop of Vanessa Branson's riad-hotel at Derb Moulay Abdellah Ben Hezzian, off Bab El Ksour and a five-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fnaa. The roof is a run of pink-tadelakt terraces, daybeds and a small plunge pool, with the floodlit Koutoubia minaret cutting the skyline. The kitchen is seasonal Mediterranean-Moroccan: sharing plates, grilled fish, a daily tagine, mains roughly 150 to 230 MAD.
It is as much a design pilgrimage as a meal, and it is at its best by day, when the colours and the courtyards do the work. Come for a long lunch and stay for the first sunset drink. Book through the hotel and ask whether the roof is on full service the day you visit.
Book through El Fenn; lunch on the roof is the move.
5.Le Salama
A multi-level Moroccan house a minute off Jemaa el-Fnaa with a retractable-roof sky bar and a show. Book the open top floor.
Le Salama runs several floors at 40 Rue des Banques, a minute from the top of Jemaa el-Fnaa, climbing to a sky bar with a retractable roof. The kitchen is traditional Moroccan — pastilla, lamb tagine, couscous royale — and the evening leans theatrical, with music and, on some nights, dancers. Mains run around 140 to 220 MAD.
This is a night out more than a quiet dinner, and the show is part of the bill, so set expectations accordingly. It earns its place for the open roof over the medina and the easy walk back to the square. Reserve the top level for the retractable roof and the lights of Jemaa el-Fnaa.
Book on the Le Salama site; ask for the open top floor.
6.Kabana
A Koutoubia-facing rooftop pairing Mediterranean plates and a sushi bar with a DJ; the late, loud pick. Go for sunset, not silence.
Kabana looks straight at the floodlit Koutoubia minaret from a rooftop on the medina's western edge near Bab Ksiba. The kitchen is Mediterranean with a sushi counter — ceviche, robata skewers and maki alongside the cocktails — and after dark the room turns into a DJ terrace. Mains and sushi sets run roughly 150 to 250 MAD.
It is the most international and the most party-leaning roof on this list, which is exactly why people come. For the view and a conversation, take the early sunset seating; the later it gets, the louder it runs. Book the first seating if dinner, not the dance floor, is the plan.
Reserve on the Kabana site; take the first sunset seating.
Avoid for a rooftop dinner
Go for the view, eat elsewhere
The Jemaa el-Fnaa café terraces (Café de France, Le Grand Balcon, Café Glacier). The view straight down onto the square at dusk, smoke rising off the food stalls, is the single best panorama in Marrakech. The kitchens are tourist-grade. Go up for a mint tea and the spectacle, then walk into the souks to eat.
Sky Bar at La Renaissance. Marrakech's original panoramic rooftop, on the new-town Guéliz side, is a polished sunset cocktail terrace rather than a dinner destination. Come for the drink and the 360, then cross back into the medina for the meal.
Le Jardin. One of Kamal Laftimi's loveliest rooms, but it is a ground-floor courtyard under banana trees, not a rooftop. Book it for a shaded lunch rather than a skyline; for the same group's roof, go to Nomad or Terrasse des Épices.
How to book a Marrakech rooftop
Book Marrakech rooftops to the sunset and to the season. Spring and autumn are the prime windows, and the medina's best roofs — Nomad, Café Arabe, Terrasse des Épices and El Fenn — fill their golden-hour tables days ahead, most of them taking reservations on their own sites rather than the global platforms. Ask specifically for a terrace or a perimeter table when you reserve, since the interior seats at every one of these places miss the reason you climbed the stairs. The medina is largely dry, so confirm an alcohol licence before a celebration; Café Arabe, El Fenn, Le Salama, Kabana and Nomad all serve, while many smaller roofs do not. High-summer afternoons are punishing, so service shifts to the evening, and on cool winter nights the better terraces bring out heaters and blankets — worth confirming before a December booking. Riads sit deep in the souks with no car access, so allow time to find the door on foot and have the venue's pin saved before you set out.
Frequently asked
Which Marrakech rooftop restaurant has the best food?
Nomad, off the Rahba Lakdima spice square at 1 Derb Aarjane, is the food answer. Chef-owner Kamal Laftimi reinvents Moroccan cooking across four floors that climb to two terraces over the medina, with mains around 140 to 190 MAD. Café Arabe on Rue Mouassine is the alternative, running Moroccan and Italian kitchens side by side under a full 360-degree roof. Book Nomad's upper terrace for the best meal with a view.
Where is the best rooftop view in Marrakech?
The café terraces ringing Jemaa el-Fnaa have the single best view in the city, straight down onto the square at dusk, but the kitchens are tourist-grade, so go up for mint tea and eat elsewhere. For a view you can also dine on, Café Arabe turns a full 360 over the medina and El Fenn frames the floodlit Koutoubia minaret from Vanessa Branson's riad roof. Both pair the panorama with a real kitchen.
Do you need to book a Marrakech rooftop for dinner?
Yes, for sunset. The medina's best roofs, Nomad, Café Arabe, Terrasse des Épices and El Fenn, fill their sunset and golden-hour tables days ahead in spring and autumn, and most take reservations on their own sites. Ask specifically for a terrace or perimeter table when you book, since the interior seats miss the reason you came. Walk-ins are easier at lunch and on weeknights out of high season.
Are Marrakech rooftops open year-round?
Largely yes. Marrakech runs warm and dry, so the medina rooftops serve through most of the year, with spring and autumn the prime seasons. High summer afternoons are fierce, so the roofs come alive at sunset; winter evenings are cool and the better terraces bring out heaters and blankets. Confirm open-air seating before a December or January booking, since some roofs shift service indoors on the coldest nights.
Which Marrakech rooftops serve alcohol?
The medina is largely dry, so a licence is worth checking before you book a celebration. Café Arabe, El Fenn, Le Salama, Kabana and Nomad all serve wine, beer and cocktails, and Café Arabe keeps an unusually long Italian-led list for the old city. Many smaller medina rooftops and the Jemaa el-Fnaa café terraces are alcohol-free. If wine matters to the evening, confirm the list when you reserve.
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