Essaouira day trip

الصويرة

White medina, blue boats, fish grilled straight off the market

⚠ 3 hours each way; very windy

Tickets

Supratours bus 100 MAD one way; CTM 80 MAD. Small fee for the Skala ramparts (check on site)

Address

Pinned at the port and the Skala ramparts; buses stop near Bab Doukkala on the east side of the medina

Three hours from Marrakech's red earth you reach a seaside town of white walls and blue shutters. An 18th-century fortified town laid out by a French engineer, its whole medina is UNESCO-listed. The port is jammed with blue fishing boats and screaming gulls, and the Atlantic wind blows all day. Lunch here means buying fish and crab at the market and having the stall next door grill it. If you want sunset between the cannons on the ramparts, stay a night.