Essaouira

Essaouira is Morocco's most bohemian city — an 18th-century fortified port on the Atlantic coast where artists, musicians, and surfers coexist with fishermen and craftsmen. The constant ocean wind (the Alizé) keeps temperatures mild year-round and makes it a world-class kitesurfing destination. Jimi Hendrix visited, Orson Welles filmed Othello here, and the artistic legacy endures.

The site was a Phoenician trading post before the Portuguese built a fort here in 1506. The current city was built by Sultan Mohammed III in 1765, designed by French architect Théodore Cornut — making it uniquely European in its grid layout while remaining deeply Moroccan in character. It served as a major trans-Saharan trade hub. The thriving Jewish community that shaped its commercial culture largely emigrated after 1948.

Essaouira is the world capital of Gnawa music — the trance-inducing spiritual music brought by sub-Saharan slaves. The annual Gnawa World Music Festival (June) transforms the city. The town is famous for argan oil production (the surrounding region is an argan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) and thuya wood craftsmanship — the swirling-grain wood used in boxes, frames, and furniture.

• ✓Wind is constant and strong — pack a windproof layer even in summer.
• ✓The port fish stalls are touristy but genuinely good — haggle the price first.
• ✓Book accommodation inside the medina for the real experience.
• ✓Day-trip from Marrakech is possible (2.5h each way) but a night stay is much better.
• ✓Kitesurfing lessons are available at the beach — wind is reliable year-round.

CTM buses from Marrakech (2.5h), Casablanca (5h). Supratours buses connect to Agadir (3h). No train. Small airport with limited service.