Essaouira
An eighteenth-century port drawn by a French engineer for a Moroccan sultan, its ramparts facing the Atlantic and the trade wind that fills the kites on the beach.
- Arrival
- Essaouira-Mogador · ESU
- To the town
- About 20 minutes to the medina by car
- Private jets
- Airport of entry at ESU; slots required
- Best time
- May to November
The city
Mogador, by design.
Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah had Essaouira built in the 1760s, to plans by the French engineer Théodore Cornut, as a fortified port on the open Atlantic. Known as Mogador until the 1960s, it was once the busiest port in Morocco; the old town has been a World Heritage Site since 2001.
The Atlantic keeps the climate mild all year, from about 18 °C in winter to 23 °C in late summer, and the sea never rises much above 20 °C. A steady wind blows in from the ocean, which suits sailboards and kites more than lying on the sand, and the Gnaoua music festival fills the town in late June.
Arriving
Twenty minutes from the walls.
Essaouira-Mogador is a small airport about twenty minutes south of the medina by car, with a 2,600-metre runway. Marrakech Menara, about two and a half hours inland by road, has far more flights.
- Marrakech 35 min
- Lisbon 1 h 25
- Nice 2 h 55
- Beirut 5 h 45
- Mumbai 10 h 55 long-range jet
When to go
May to November.
An Atlantic town that never gets hot: afternoons hover between 18 and 23 °C through the year. From May to November it is warm enough and almost dry, but the summer trade wind is strong and the sea stays cool, around 19 to 20 °C.
- 18° J 45 17°
- 18° F 38 16°
- 19° M 35 16°
- 19° A 29 17°
- 20° M 9 17°
- 21° J 2 19°
- 23° J 0 19°
- 23° A 1 20°
- 23° S 4 20°
- 22° O 24 20°
- 20° N 52 18°
- 19° D 55 17°
What to see and do
Days in and around Essaouira.
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Landmark
The Skala
Two sea bastions, by the port and the kasbah, lined with old cannon and used as a location in Game of Thrones.
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Landmark
The fishing harbour
Blue boats, nets and the morning catch below the walls, with the island of Mogador across the bay.
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Landmark
The Purple Isles
Islets off the bay where the Mauretanian king Juba II had shellfish crushed for Tyrian purple.
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Golf
Golf de Mogador
Two courses designed by Gary Player give 36 holes across 300 hectares of dunes and coastal scrub just south of the town.
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Food & wine
Domaine du Val d'Argan
At Ounagha, this estate grows Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Viognier for Rhône-style blends and receives visitors for cellar tours and tastings.
Official site -
Culture
Bayt Dakira
Opened in 2020 in the old Mellah, the House of Memory tells of Jews and Muslims in the town and keeps the Simon Attias Synagogue.
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Opera & music
Festival Gnaoua et Musiques du Monde
For three days each June, Gnaoua master musicians share the stages of the town with artists from around the world; 2026 saw the 27th edition.
Official site
Where to stay
Inside the walls, on the beach, and up the valley.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Heure Bleue Palais A Relais & Châteaux house of thirty-three rooms set into the medina walls, with a MICHELIN Key and a heated pool on the roof.
- Le Médina Essaouira Thalassa Sea & Spa, MGallery On the sand two minutes from the old town, with a new spa and hammam in place of the former thalassotherapy centre.
- Le Jardin des Douars Rooms, suites and seven private villas in a garden in the hills above the Ksob river, holding one MICHELIN Key for a second year.
Where to dine
Where to book in and around town.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Essaouira. These are the restaurants of two of the town’s best hotels, as the hotels describe them.
- Salon Anglais Signature restaurant, Heure Bleue Palais Moroccan Heure Bleue Palais, medina
- Le Jardin des Douars Signature restaurant, Le Jardin des Douars French and Moroccan Ksob valley, outside Essaouira
Elsewhere in Morocco
More reasons to come.
Flying to Essaouira?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.