YOUR ITINERARY

• Morning departure from your hotel. Take the road to Essaouira.
• Journey to the former Portuguese fishing village of Essaouira passing roadside towns and Berber village. During the ’60s and ’70s, Essaouira was a pit stop on the hippie trek from Marrakesh.
• Visit this sea-side medieval town that boasts lovely white-washed and blue-shuttered houses, colonnades, thuya wood workshops, art galleries and mouthwatering seafood.
• Explore Essaouira, the sea-side medieval town with lovely white-washed and blue-shuttered houses is enchanting. Learn about the local tradition of thuya wood workshops, roam the art galleries, and enjoy fresh seafood. Once called Mogador by European sailors and traders, Essaouria is known for its annual Gnaoua Music Festival that attracts 300,000+ people in June. It also has an expansive beach for surfing called Plage de Safi.
• Take a stroll along the sunlit pedestrian main square, Place Prince Moulay el Hassan, and then on to Skala du Port, the fishing harbor, offers breathtaking views of the Portuguese ramparts. Explore the ramparts, the spice and jewelry souks of the medina, and the Jewish Mellah. The medina of Essaouira is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is a well-preserved example of a late-18th century fortified town.
• Have lunch at the fish grill cafes with wooden tables and benches laid out overlooking the sea.
• After lunch visit Orson Welles’ Square and memorial, designed by Samir Mustapha, one of the towns artists, which pays homage to the filming of Othello in Essouaria.
• For a side trip within Essaouira consider a visit to Ranch de Diabat, located in the small village Diabat. Ranch de Diabat arranges luxury camel or horse trekking for 2 hours or several days.
• Consider extending your stay in Essaouira to try kayaking, kite surfing, wind surfing, or relaxing on the beach.
• Return to your hotel in Marrakesh.
• Option to Visit Jewish Essaouira: Synagogue & Mellah. Jacky Kadoch is the president of Essaouira’s Jewish community. Rabbi Chaim Pinto, the synagogue of the revered Pinto is located in Essaouira’s medina within the Jewish Mellah. The building is an active synagogue, used when pilgrims or Jewish tour groups visit the city. The synagogue is on the second floor of a three-story, courtyard building inside the walls of the old city that also contained Rabbi Pinto’s home and office. The building is of whitewashed plaster over masonry. The synagogue consists of a single large room. There are two women’s sections, one across the courtyard and one on the third floor, both with windows looking into the synagogue. Visit one of the two Jewish cemeteries in Essaouira.
• For a side-excursion within Essaouira consider a visit at Ranch de Diabat, located in the small village Diabat. Ranch de Diabat arranges tours of high quality with camels or horses – and it can be for 2 hours or it can be for several days.
• Weather permitting, consider extending your stay to try kayaking, kite surfing, wind surfing, or take a walk along the beach. Essaouira is the wind capital of Africa and the world.

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WEATHER