Marrakesh, Paperback Book, By: Alison Bing

This is the only full-colour guide to Marrakesh with fold-out city maps. It features mapped walking tours, including Marrakesh by Design for the best of the city's elegant interiors. An entertainment chapter provides myriad options from clubbing to performing arts. Marrakesh was an oasis of tolerance for gay travellers long before Yves Saint-Laurent settled down here with his partner in the '60s, and today many same-sex couples report a greater sense of ease here than in their hometowns. Palais el-Badi was reputed to be one of the most beautiful palaces in the world when it was built in 1578-1602. In the traditional cosmetics corner of the Rahba Kedima Market, tourists experiment with kohl eyeliner and cochineal, perhaps unaware that this all-natural lip-stain is actually made from ground-up bugs! 70 fresh fruit juice stalls, pulp over 100,000 oranges, lemons and grapefruits every day.