Essaouira is a great place to visit
I have just spent two days in Essaouira, and it has been my favourite place in Morocco so far. Before coming here my hairdresser, who is from France, told me that he has spent a lot of time here over the years – it’s a popular destination for French tourists – and that I would love it here. He wasn’t wrong.
The atmosphere of the town is a unique mix of traditional Morocco, with a big helping of French influence, and this has combined to make it a really relaxing place to spend a few days.
In particular, one thing that stood out is that nobody hassled you when browsing around the old town. In Marrakech, people would harass you into buying something but in Essaouira nobody bothered you – in fact, the only time that vendors came up to me in the old town was when it looked like I needed any help. Or once, when I passed a hairdresser, and they decided that I needed a haircut.
This was a welcome change, as was the slower pace of life here. I spend a great two full days here exploring, shopping, and relaxing without being bothered by people trying to sell you things.
So, what did we do during our two full days in this lovely town?
A walking tour of Essaouira
At the start of the day yesterday we were taken on a walking tour of the old town by a local guide. He took us to loads of interesting places, including the local Jewish community centre, some traditional shops, the famous harbour, and the sea wall that you see in all of the photos from town. We also ran into his friend from Mali, who gave us a performance on some of the instruments in his music shop.
The tour was fast-paced compared to the rest of our time in Essaouira, and we were done by lunch.
Most of us went our separate ways at this point. Some people spent the afternoon shopping, some found a nice place for a drink, but after picking up a few souvenirs I spent my time exploring the town, taking some great photos, and soaking up the atmosphere before heading out of the old town to check out the beach.
An evening on my own
I didn’t stay on the beach, I mainly decided to see what it was like, but I decided that definitely wanted to spend some time here the following day.
That evening, I decided to mostly walk around town before relaxing in my room rather than joining the group for dinner. I did join them for some cocktails on a rooftop bar close to our Riad before they went to dinner, though, and the views were amazing.
It sounds like the group had a great evening, but I wanted to rest as I was almost back at 100% after my bout of food poisoning, and thought that a chilled evening would get me back to 100%.
Today was completely different, and I did something that I never usually enjoy – I spent a day at the beach.
A day at the beach
I’m the sort of person who usually likes to spend my time seeing things, doing things, experiencing new things when I travel – especially when I visit countries that I’ve never been to before. However, the beach looked amazing yesterday and I decided that I wanted to spend some time there.
It turns out that quite a few others decided the same thing and so most of us ended up down the beach today. Half a dozen of us spent the whole day there, until around 4pm, with others joining us at various points throughout the day.
Despite it being October, we are in Africa and so it was still warm. As a result, it was nice to spend a day relaxing, people watching, and soaking up some sun on the beach. I love being in the water, too, and I must have spent between 2-3 hours in the water throughout the day.
Overall, it was a great day in what is a lovely town. I’m definitely glad that the itinerary changes caused by the earthquake meant that we spent an extra day here, as it forced me to relax which is something that I’m bad at doing.
Our final evening in Essaouira
Dinner tonight was on the terrace of a place called Alma’s, which was outside of the old town. It was expensive, but the food and drinks were lovely and it was a nice way to end a few days in Essaouira.
Tomorrow we take a coach back to Marrakech, where we have one more night before the trip finishes and we head our separate ways.
A few more photos of Essaouira
I took so many photos in Essaouira, as it’s a place I have really enjoyed. I wasn’t able to fit all of my favourites above, so here are a few more photos of what has been my favourite stop of the trip so far.
