Things to do
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Essaouira Medina
Walking a walled Moroccan medina on your own, without a guide, is easy here: the lanes run to a plan, the sellers call out rather than chase, and the ramparts break the Atlantic wind that scours the beach outside.
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Essaouira Port
Before lunch you can watch a fishing fleet sell its catch on the quay, see wooden boats built the traditional way beside it, and buy a fish to have grilled on the spot.
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Mellah of Essaouira
In the north-east corner of the medina, plaques on doorways mark the houses that served as synagogues in the old Jewish quarter. Some houses are restored and others still stand in ruins. Start at Bayt Dakira, the heritage museum in the quarter, then walk the lanes out to the northern ramparts.
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Bab Doukkala
Through this horseshoe arch at the north end of the medina, the main street runs straight ahead toward the souks. The gate has been a listed monument since 1924. The old Jewish quarter lies a short walk inside, along the northern walls.
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Bayt Dakira
Photographs, clothing and recorded music in a restored house of the old Mellah recall the Jewish community that once made up a large part of the town. A small restored synagogue stands within the same building. The visit takes under an hour, and the Mellah lanes around it are partly ruined, so the walk there is part of the story.
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Borj al Baroud
Walk three or four kilometres south along the beach to reach this ruined watchtower on the sand by the mouth of the Oued Ksob. The river can be forded reliably only at low tide, so cross then and start back before the tide turns. The village of Diabat lies just beyond.
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Borj Bab Marrakech
An art gallery fills the vaults of the round bastion beside Bab Marrakech, the gate on the landward side of the medina, and an open-air stage sits on its roof. Exhibitions change through the year. The Supratours coach stop is a two minute walk away, so it is an easy first look on the way in.
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Diabat
Sandy tracks lead from the southern end of the bay to this small village behind the dunes, a few kilometres from the medina. Cafes in the village trade on the Jimi Hendrix legend. Horse and camel rides from the beach reach it, and a golf resort now spreads over the hills behind.
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Mogador Island
Mogador Island and its islets hold a colony of Eleonora's falcons that you can watch only from a boat or the sea wall. Landing is restricted because the archipelago is a biological reserve that protects the birds.
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Moulay Bouzerktoun
Windsurfers come to this small village north of the town for the waves, which are best from spring to autumn, and the Charki trade wind blows here all year. Lessons and board rental are available at the beach. The trip up the coast needs a car or a taxi.
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Place Moulay Hassan
Cafe tables ring the big open square between the medina and the harbour, and almost every walk in town crosses it. The Gnaoua festival puts its main stage here in late June. The harbour lies just beyond its seaward end.
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Plage d'Essaouira
Come for the wind, not a tan: this long Atlantic bay is one of Morocco's most popular places to kitesurf and windsurf, and its sand runs south past a river mouth to a ruined fort.
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Sidi Kaouki
Atlantic swell breaks steadily along an open beach about 25 kilometres south of the medina, with a whitewashed shrine on the rocks at its northern end. Surf schools rent boards and wetsuits, and winter brings the bigger waves. Grand taxis make the run from the town, and the hamlet behind the beach is small, with few services.
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Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah Museum
Pottery, coins, jewellery and carpets fill the rooms of a nineteenth century mansion in the medina. Rooms are small and cool, which makes the museum a good stop when the wind or the midday sun drives the town indoors. Entry is ticketed, and an hour covers the collection before a walk on to the ramparts nearby.
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Skala de la Ville
Free to walk and open on the sea side, this rampart puts you beside a row of bronze cannons with Dutch and Spanish inscriptions, facing straight into the Atlantic wind.
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Skala du Port
One climb up the tower at the harbour mouth gives you the postcard view of Essaouira: the boats framed through a round stone gun port, with the town, the sea and the island behind.
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Souk Jdid
Go in the morning, when the fish and grain markets in the middle of the medina are busy but not yet packed. They spread between the avenues Mohammed Zerktouni and l'Istiqlal, with the fish market the loudest. Some cafes will grill fish bought here, so ask a cafe before buying.
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Villa Maroc
Four traditional riads joined around tiled courtyards form this hotel at the edge of the medina, just inside the ramparts. Rooftop terraces look over the walls to the port and the sea. Rooms are small and the stairs steep, and booking ahead matters through spring and summer.
