Lets shift the scene a little bit and move from Marrakesh to Essaouira. Its a seaside town about 3 hours from Marrakesh and beautiful – which you will see for yourself. We stayed in Essaouira for 2 days and I loved it.
Its definitely got a different vibe than Marrakesh. Its not so hurried and frantic and not as crowded and touristy. Its quite laid back and easy going – atleast compared to Marrakesh – which seems to be the way of sea side towns and cities. I mentioned its a walled city – I mean it. Most of the main part of the city is within a wall. This is definitely the main tourist area with shops and lovely cafes and restaurants all around.
On one side of the wall is the sea. Its a lovely place – we must have walked around this area at least 4 or 5 times during our stay. Now honestly, there isn’t a lot to do in Essaoiura but combined with Marrakesh its the perfect trip. We spent out days walking around and eating about every 2 hours! Its really interesting to see such a different part of the country.
Outfit details: African print cotton midi dress from African Origins (store in the Johannesburg Airport), bucket bag, straw hat, blue aviators, green stole (similar) and brown camel leather shoes from Jodhpur.
Practical information: There are very frequent buses going to Essaoira from Marrakesh. Please don’t even think of driving or taking a cab to Essaouira – its a 3 hour drive in a super comfortable bus. While going we went in the fancier bus which was fantastic and while coming back we came in the economy bus which was almost just as comfortable. You will get bus tickets from the bus stations but will need to buy your return tickets in the Essaouira bus station. The buses are quite frequent and there are atleast 5 daily.
Stay: I already showed you where we stayed. We booked our accommodation in advance. Now I don’t know how you roll but I would recommend booking in advance especially for Essaouira and especially if you are there over a holiday period. Its quite a small place especially if you want to stay within the walled city so I am not sure how many other choices you will have if you just land up there.
Weather: This is the most important point. Essaouira is known as the windy city. Its so windy that its well know for its surfing and many surfing contests are held there. It is a bit of a random one and now what you usually expect but this makes the weather windy most of the time. Its a bit odd since you will have really strong sunshine but wind coming in as well. Take along a jacket for the evenings – we were really glad to have our jackets with us. We had actually just worn these jackets when leaving London and hadn’t expected to be wearing them in Morocco but ended up using them so much!
I have another post of Essaouira coming up where I’ll cover what we ate (so good!) and of course, the shopping! And I have some more posts for Marrakesh once we go back. In the meantime read about the YSL museum and the riads in Marrakesh. For our other travel stories, you know where to go (if not, its here)! Also Coachella anyone?
Took a quick nap before lunch in the sun!
I have been loving Instagram lately – please make sure you check us out. We have been neglecting Facebook lately – but we will get to it soon! Thank you for reading.
And thanks to DJ for the photos!
– Anisha
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