ESSAOUIRA | FROM MARRAKECH

Daily tour in Essaouira: only 170 kilometres of road separates Marrakech from Essaouira, but it is a real world apart from what you meet in this city on the Atlantic, caressed by trade winds, which has become the heart of cultural and worldly initiatives.

The pronunciation of the name of this town is a bit curious…. you don’t read the vowels, so it sounds more or less like “exuera”….

Chosen by artists, writers and musicians, Essaouira houses in its mighty ramparts white and sunny houses enlivened by doors and windows painted in turquoise, the traditional “blue mogador”.

Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, in the middle of a bay framed by long deserted beaches, surrounded by mighty walls that protect it from the wind and the sea, Essaouira is a picturesque town whose origins are lost in history. Phoenician stairway and centre of production of the purple, it was rebuilt and fortified in the 18th century with a medina, a port and a mellah. Cosmopolitanism has always attracted people from Africa and Europe: colours and perfumes, lifestyles, sounds and languages are intertwined here as the decorations of the inlays of which his craftsmen are proud. The discovery of the city is an invitation to take a stroll towards the harbour where fishing boats are still being built, the fish market, the spice market and the famous seafront ramparts called the Skala, exploring small shops and craft workshops that sometimes occupy the old ammunition deposits or grasping the architectural details of ancient arabesque arches in the heart of the old medina. Essaouira’s craftsmanship is famous for the processing of thuia briarwood, fabrics, while artistic production, sculpture and painting can be found in numerous galleries.

In the evening, return to Marrakech and the excursion ends with the drop-off in your hotel.