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Travel guide
Essaouira
3 days · 5 things to do
Best time to go: May to October
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Welcome
Essaouira, in a few days
Essaouira means wind-battered ramparts, a blue fishing port crowded with boats and a relaxed medina where Gnawa music drifts through the lanes. It is the laid-back seaside town of Morocco, popular with kitesurfers.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 1 thing
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The walled medina free · about 2 hAn 18th-century fortified town laid out on a grid and listed by UNESCO, with whitewashed houses, blue shutters and thuya-wood craft workshops.
- Afternoon · The fishing port free · about 1 hBlue wooden boats, nets and gulls, with the day's catch sold on the quay and grilled at stalls nearby.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Riad Al Madina ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€85 a night
D2
Day 2
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Kitesurfing spots free · half a dayStrong, steady trade winds make the long beach south of town one of Morocco's best-known spots for kitesurfing and windsurfing, with schools and gear hire.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Riad Al Madina ↗€85 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Skala ramparts free · about 30 minThe seaward bastion lined with old bronze cannons, looking out over the rocks and the Atlantic breakers.
- Evening · Gnaoua World Music Festival free · an eveningEach summer, concerts on the squares and the beach bring Gnawa master musicians together with jazz and world music artists.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Tagine: slow-cooked in the clay pot it is named after (chicken and lemon, lamb and prunes).
- Couscous: traditionally a Friday dish.
- Pastilla: a sweet and savoury pie, chicken or pigeon, dusted with sugar.
- Mint tea: less a drink than the way hospitality is done.
- Street food: msemen, harira and skewers on Jemaa el-Fna.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Turn down the unofficial guides who attach themselves to you in the medina. Politely, and firmly.
- Haggle. Starting at a third of the asking price is normal, not rude.
- Ask before photographing people, and before photographing the tanneries.
- Do not drink the tap water. Bottled, with the seal unbroken.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Arabic
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| Hello | مرحبا (marhaba) |
| Thank you | شكرا (choukran) |
| Please | من فضلك (min fadlik) |
| Yes | نعم (na'am) |
| No | لا (la) |
| Excuse me | عفوا (afwan) |
| Goodbye | مع السلامة (ma'a salama) |
| Do you speak English? | هل تتكلم الإنجليزية؟ (tatakallam injliziya?) |
| I don't understand | لا أفهم (la afham) |
| How much is it? | بكم هذا؟ (bikam hadha?) |
| Where are the toilets? | أين الحمام؟ (ayna al-hammam?) |
| The bill, please | الحساب من فضلك (al-hisab min fadlik) |
| Help! | النجدة! (an-najda!) |
| Cheers! | في صحتك! (fi sahtak!) |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyMoroccan dirham (MAD)
BudgetAbout €55 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to October
PlugC/E · 220V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAppreciated, around 10%
Emergency19 (police) / 15 (ambulance)
Entry90 days visa-free with a passport for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. No malaria. The heat is the real risk: drink more than you think and cover up.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/essaouira
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.