Travel Guide > Africa > Morocco > Essaouira
Essaouira along the central western coast of Morocco is a laid-back and peaceful place (no traffic within the huge walled area), lots of cafes in squares to lounge around and drink mint tea and just soak up the atmosphere. You can walk everywhere in Essaouira as it is relatively small. Essaouira is the perfect place to unwind at the end of a Moroccan tour.
The beach is clean with gorgeous soft sand and pretty much hassle free. At times, the beach can be very windy and ideal for windsurfing, and at other less windy times it is ideal for relaxing on a sunlounger, although, as with all weather you have to take your chances. Essaouira retains its old fashioned traditional charm, unlike more aesthetic built up resorts like Agadir and there is not a jet ski in sight!
This coastal town is famous for the GNAOUA World Music Festival which takes place every year around the 20 of June thereabout for 4-5 days (see below).
Most of the activity in Essaouira is normally limited in the area within the sandstone walled area of the medina and especially at the time of the GNAOUA festival. The medina consists of a number of alleys and Babs (doors/gates). Bab Zerktouni is famous for the two restaurants - one that serves pizzas and the other very good breakfasts. Different babs serve different functions: there are places which are reserved for restaurants and others where they sell souvenirs and traditional wares etc.
The GNAOUA festival comprises a number of individual concerts and other events, starting from noon untill late at night. At this time, small riads and apartments get booked up and locals even rent out their apartments for the duration. This can be a good option but if anything goes wrong, you can’t count on the police since the place you are staying is not registered.
The best events tend to be at night, at the entrance of the Bab e medina. This is the place where the best atmosphere can be seen from 11pm onwards until 2am.
The atmosphere in the concerts is amazing with lots of people on a high! The Moroccans love to dance and their movements would put any ballerina to shame. A lot of the performers are French and Moroccan rap artists.
Though a word of caution: when going out at night it's best to leave your valuables in your hotel, because of groups of pick pockets in the packed crowds.
The weather is hot or warm during the day, all year round but sometimes windy. It's usually not very humid though and conditions are fairly fine year round. Temperatures can drop in the evenings, but are mostly around or above 20 °C during the day.
The nearest airports are in Agadir and Marrakech:
Some domestic services exist as well, for example to and from Casablanca. Regional Air Lines has many domestic services.
Essaouira is a 2.5 hour drive from Marrakech or a 3.5 hour drive from Agadir on good tarred roads.
Supratours and CTM buses run regularly Marrakech - Essaouira (leaving aprox. 8.30, 10.45, 14.45, 18.30). Buses also run between Agadir and some other cities.
Taxi's leave from the bus station or the area just outside the walls of Place Moulay Hassan. These can be handy for a trip to Diabat if you'd prefer to go by road rather than along the beach.
You can walk around the town in about half an hour. The bus station is an easy stroll about 15 minutes inland, towards the back of the town.
The medina is just a 15 minute walk from the main bus station so there is no need to take a taxi, even though you may be persuaded by eager locals that you need to. You can however take advantage of the helpful men with huge wheelbarrows who will happily wheel your luggage to your riad or guesthouse for a few dirhams and this can be a welcome relief in the heat.
There are lots of budget guesthouses or mid-range traditional riads as well as 4-5 star ones like Sofitel on the seafront. Finding accommodation should not be a problem outside of the festival period. There is a campsite about 25 kilometres down the coast, handy if you have a car.
| Property | Address | Type | Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| BrightRooms | Ancient Medina | Guesthouse | 57 |
| Casa Naïma | Idaogourd | Guesthouse | 97 |
| Dar Al Bahar | 1 rue de Touahen | Guesthouse | 73 |
| Hostel Essaouira | 17 rue laghrissi | Hostel | 87 |
| Hotel Riad Villa Damonte | km 6 Route d'Agadir B.P 1160 | Hotel | 80 |
| Kasbah Zineb | Km 15, route village Idaou Gourd | Guesthouse | 53 |
| Les Matins Bleus | 22 rue Draa | Guesthouse | 87 |
| Maison du Vent | 25, Rue Mourabitine | Guesthouse | 83 |
| Palazzo Desdemona | 12-14 rue Youssef El Fassi | Guesthouse | 60 |
| Riad Chakir Mogador | 13 Rue ben morhal 4400 Essaouira | Guesthouse | 82 |
| Riad Jemalhi Mogador | 6 Ahmed Ouharoun | Guesthouse | 80 |
| Riad Marosko | 66, Impasse Rue d'Agadir | Guesthouse | 90 |
| Riad Villa Damonte | Km 6 Route D Agadir Essaouira | Hotel | - |
| Ryad Mogador | BP 368 Route De Marrakech Essaouira | Hotel | - |
There are lots of internet kiosks in the medina so its easy to find a place to on the world wide web.
See also: International Telephone Calls
This is version 57. Last edited at 15:05 on Nov 19, 09 by Jules7 (+135). 6 articles link to this page.

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