The short answer
Teenagers tend to love Marrakech for its contrasts: haggling in the souks, a hammam, a quad or camel ride in the Agafay desert, a night at a desert camp, zip-lines in the Atlas foothills and the street food of Jemaa el-Fnaa after dark. Give them a job, such as photographer or chief haggler, and they lead the day.
In more detail
The medina is a playground for this age. The souks are grouped lane by lane by trade, so the lane names are a map: Haddadine for the blacksmiths, Sebbaghine for the dyers. Haggling for a pair of slippers or a lantern is a skill they can learn in a morning. Our evening food tour, with snail soup, sheep's head and merguez on the menu, is a dare and a dinner in one.
Outside the city, Agafay offers camel caravans or guided quad and buggy outings, with operators setting their own age limits, then sunset tea and dinner in a camp. Terres d'Amanar in the foothills has zip-lines, a climbing via ferrata and archery. The Ourika Valley walk to the Setti Fatma falls is a real scramble over rocks, which older children enjoy.
A hammam is a rite of passage. Our hammam ritual runs through the warm rooms, black soap, a vigorous kessa scrub, a rhassoul clay wrap and an argan-oil massage. For those who like photography, the colours of Jardin Majorelle, the rooftops at sunset and a sunrise balloon over the plains are hard to beat.
If you can add two or three days, a Sahara night at Erg Chebbi, with a camel ride to camp and a dune climb at dawn, is the memory most teenagers rank first.