Essaouira Travel Guide

Essaouira Beach is a broad sandy beach outside Essaouira's medina on Morocco's Atlantic coast. Known for strong steady winds, golden sand and picturesque fishing boats, it is one of Morocco's most popular kitesurfing and surfing spots. Essaouira is called the "City of Wind" — Atlantic breezes blow year-round, ideal for kitesurfing and windsurfing. The wide flat golden beach is backed by the medina's white ramparts and blue fishing port. Several kitesurfing schools line the beach for all levels. Sunset — boats returning, winds softening — is the most beautiful moment. Visiting Essaouira Beach for surfing or strolling golden sand in the "City of Wind" is a relaxed, vibrant Moroccan seaside experience.

The Sqala de la Kasbah is the sea-facing side of Essaouira's 18th-century fortress, a row of Atlantic-pointing cannons and arched niches. Woodcarving workshops and wheeling seabirds fill the scene — the classic spot to overlook the fishing port, recall sea defence and frame a postcard. Musicians and painters often fill the square below — where Essaouira's art and sea wind meet.

The Port of Essaouira (Port d'Essaouira) is a still-working fishing port in Essaouira, a historic seaside town on Morocco's Atlantic coast. Its basin is crowded with bright blue fishing boats, and each morning the day's catch is brought ashore and auctioned at the dock. The port is ringed by the Portuguese defensive ramparts (Skala du Port), and open-air grill stalls at the harbour entrance let you pick fresh fish and have it charcoal-grilled on the spot - an ideal place to experience the most authentic seafood and the fishing-port atmosphere of Essaouira.

The Essaouira Medina is a fortified Atlantic town designed by a sultan in the 18th century, its grid streets and white-and-blue doors set against sea wind. Ramparts, fishing harbour and UNESCO heritage weave together — Morocco's most relaxed, windiest coastal old town. Offshore islands and Cape Spartel dot the Atlantic; the wind makes it a paradise for surfing and kitesurfing.

Ben Youssef Mosque in the north of the Marrakech medina is traditionally believed to date back to the 12th century and is one of the oldest mosques in the city. Its prayer hall is normally closed to non-Muslims, but the adjacent Ben Youssef Madrasa - one of Morocco's most important Quranic schools and now a hugely popular attraction open to visitors - wraps some 130 student cells around its courtyard and is famed for its fine mosaics and cedar-wood decoration, making it a showcase of the architecture and craft of traditional Islamic education.