3 Days in Essaouira

Start at Bab Marrakech, the main eastern gate. The town was laid out from scratch in the 1760s, and unlike the tangled medinas of Fes or Marrakech, the streets here run in a fairly regular grid. That makes it the easiest medina in Morocco to read, and the hardest to get properly lost in. Mohammed III built it for foreign merchants and diplomats, and for a century it was Morocco's main seaport, receiving the caravan goods that came over the Atlas from Marrakech.

Walk west towards the sea, ducking into side lanes whenever something looks interesting. Motor traffic is largely kept out, though mopeds are a nuisance. Bab Doukkala, the other main gate, is a good landmark if you lose your bearings.

Essaouira's craft is thuya, the knotted burl wood of the Tetraclinis tree, a conifer from the western Mediterranean. Cabinetmakers here have worked it for centuries into boxes, chess sets and inlaid tables, and small workshops near the eastern wall let you watch it being turned and polished. The wood smells of resin and cedar, and the grain looks like flowing water.

There's a catch: the burl comes from the base of the tree, and harvesting it puts pressure on the trees. Ask where a piece came from and buy small. A small box is a better souvenir than a large table.

In the 19th century Jews were around half of Essaouira's population, running much of the trade with Europe after Mohammed III encouraged them to settle here. Their quarter, the mellah, still has its synagogues, and Bayt Dakira ("House of Memory") sits inside it. It's a small museum around the Simon Attias Synagogue, with photographs, texts and objects that tell the story of a community that has almost vanished, and of the Muslim and Jewish neighbors who shared the town.

Give it an hour. The Chaim Pinto Synagogue is another well-known Jewish site in town.

The fishing harbor sits just below the western ramparts, and the whole point of Essaouira's seafood is that you pick it yourself. Fishermen sell their catch at the quay and in the market hall, and a row of small grill stalls will cook whatever you bought, adding bread, olives and salad. Sardines, shrimp, squid and sole are the staples, and conger eel is a local catch too, thanks to the upwelling the winds and the Canary Current create.

It's casual, smoky and fun, and also where visitors get overcharged. Prices are posted by weight, but fix the total for the whole meal before anything goes on the fire. Cheaper still is buying at the dock and carrying your fish to the stalls in the market lanes, following the smoke.

The Sqala du Port is an 18th-century artillery platform at the end of the harbor, and the postcard view of Essaouira: a row of bronze and iron cannons pointing at the Atlantic, thick stone walls, and the blue fishing boats bobbing below. Orson Welles shot his Othello in Essaouira in the early 1950s, and the skala stood in for Astapor in the third season of Game of Thrones.

From the top you see the bay, the Iles Purpuraires and Mogador island, a protected reserve about 1.5 km offshore that isn't open to visitors without official permission. Place Moulay Hassan, the square at the foot of the walls, is where Essaouira gathers for a mint tea once the sun starts to drop.

Walk up to the Skala de la Ville, the long sea bastion along the northern edge of the medina, an hour before sunset. Rows of old cannons still point out over the rocks, the waves crash on the foot of the wall, and gulls ride the wind. You can walk along the top, and the view south over the town and the bay is the best in Essaouira.

Sunset is around 17:40 from mid-November to late December, a bit later in January. Bring a jacket: the rampart is exposed and the Atlantic wind is cool even on warm days.

For dinner, walk back into the lanes between the Skala and Place Moulay Hassan, where small restaurants serve fish tagines and couscous in big portions. A short menu and local diners beat a host calling you in from the street.

Order a fish or seafood tagine or, if it's Friday, the family couscous.

Breakfast in Morocco is bread, and in Essaouira it comes with the local twist: a spoon of argan oil to dip it in. Msemen is the square, flaky pan-fried flatbread, served warm with honey or cheese, in small cafés around the main street.

Pick a café with a griddle in the window and locals at the counter, and ask for a glass of mint tea. Say bla sukar if you'd rather have less sugar.

Return to the harbor in the morning, when the boats are in and the day's catch is spread across the quay. Essaouira is one of Morocco's major fishing ports, even if it's smaller than Agadir or Safi, and the sardine and conger eel hauls are rich because the strong trade winds stir up cold, nutrient-rich water.

It's a working place, so watch your feet: nets, ice and gulls share the space. Photographers love the blue boats and the cats.

The broad sandy beach runs south from the harbor along the whole bay, shielded a little by the Iles Purpuraires. On a sunny day it has camels, horses and quad bikes, and the wind throws sand in your hair. The Atlantic here is rough and the currents are strong, so swim only where others do and keep children close.

Honestly, the beach is for walking, watching and kites, not for baking. Walk south along the sand in the morning, when it's quiet, and you'll reach the mouth of the Oued Ksob, the way to Diabat.

The bay has a few schools along the beach front that rent gear and teach kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. The wind is the draw: it blows on most days of the year, strongest in summer, and the best-known spots are the bay itself, Sidi Kaouki and Moulay Bouzerktoun.

Here's the honest version. Essaouira tends to have either too little wind or too much, so it is not an ideal place to learn kitesurfing. If you've never kited, a windsurf or stand-up paddle lesson is a gentler way in. In winter the wind is patchy, so be flexible.

At the south end of the bay, past the river mouth, the village of Diabat sits about 5 km from town. A short walk takes you to Borj El Baroud, a ruined 18th-century watchtower half buried in the sand. Local guides call it the Portuguese castle, but it was built by Mohammed ben Abdallah, the same sultan who founded Essaouira.

The rest is rock and roll legend: locals say Jimi Hendrix spent time out here, and a café in Diabat trades on it. Treat it as a story. The beach walk, with the wind and the empty sand, is the real attraction.

Gnaoua music is Essaouira's other signature. The Gnawa descend from people brought to Morocco from West Africa, and their trance-like ceremonies use the three-stringed guembri, iron castanets called qraqeb and hypnotic chanting. UNESCO listed it as intangible cultural heritage in 2019. The Gnaoua and World Music Festival, started in 1998, fills the town for a long weekend each June with up to 500,000 visitors.

The 2026 edition ran 25-27 June, and the dates move each year, so check the festival's website. Outside June there's no festival, but ask your riad where to hear a live set in the evening and what to tip.

About 29 km north of town, a 30-minute drive, the fishing village of Moulay Bouzerktoun is a legendary windsurfing and kitesurfing spot. The wind and the waves are stronger than in the bay, which makes it a place for experienced riders. For everyone else it's a wide sandy beach with small cafés and a lot of sky.

Don't expect much beyond the beach. Come for expert riders jumping waves, a mint tea and a walk on the sand. If you're not a rider, an hour is enough.

The argan tree grows almost only in this corner of southwestern Morocco, and UNESCO has listed the know-how around it as intangible heritage since 2014. Much of the oil is made by women's cooperatives, where the fruit is cracked by hand, the kernels roasted and pressed, and the oil sold in small bottles. Several cooperatives are signposted along the road south of Essaouira and take visitors for free, with a shop at the end.

It's interesting to watch, and the buying pressure is mild. There are two kinds of oil, cosmetic and the roasted culinary one for breakfast. Real argan oil is labor-intensive, so a very cheap bottle deserves suspicion.

The famous goats in the trees are real, and also not what the photo suggests. Goats do climb argan trees to eat the fruit, but at the roadside stops they are usually put there by people who want a tip for the photo.

Treat it as a roadside oddity and tip the owner, but don't expect a wild moment. The better sight is the argan woodland itself, low, thorny and strangely beautiful.

Sidi Kaouki is a small village about 25 km south of Essaouira, strung along a long beach with a few simple restaurants and surf shops. Fish and tagines are the menu, and the setting, with the waves in front, is the point.

Order what's fresh and ask the price first. Winter weekdays can be so quiet that some places are shut.

Sidi Kaouki is a popular spot for windsurfing, kitesurfing and surfing, with beach breaks and reef breaks and a stronger wind than in town. In winter surfing is the better bet than kiting. Even without a board it's an excellent beach for a long walk, with horses and camels on the sand at the right times of day.

Sunset is around 17:40 in late autumn. Head back right after it, as shared taxis thin out after dusk.