Visit Essaouira – Page 2
Essaouira comes in four blocks. The medina inside its walls, half a day. The port, an hour in the morning. The beach, at low tide. The villages and beaches around, a full day. One monument is on the ministry’s ticketing site: the Skala du Port, 60 MAD. Museums and galleries wait for the windy hours.
Sub-sections
- Landmarks & historic sitesEssaouira’s landmarks are one 18th-century fortified enceinte, and half a day walks all of it. Only the Skala du Port charges: 60 MAD for a foreign adult, 30 MAD for a Moroccan adult or resident. The ramparts, the gates and the kasbah are free. Here is the order to walk them in.
- BeachesFive beaches, one deciding factor: the wind. The bay is for walking rather than sunbathing, Sidi Kaouki for surfing, Moulay Bouzerktoune for experienced riders. Cap Sim and Tafedna are emptiness at the end of a track. The water averages 17 to 19 °C by month, and the afternoons blow from April to September.
- Museums & galleriesEssaouira’s only public museum is closed, with no reopening date published as of 16 October 2026. None of the open venues publishes an entry fee: Bayt Dakira, Dar Souiri, the Institut français and the galleries of a painting born here in the 1980s. This section gives the status of every venue, open or closed, with its source.
- ItinerariesTwo days is enough. Day one on foot: medina, skalas and port. Day two outside the walls, at Diabat (5 km) or Sidi Kaouki (26 km by road). One day if you stay in town, three with a booked activity or the Had Draa souk. Plus a fallback plan for rain and windy days.
- Must-seeThree things first: the Skala de la Ville ramparts, the port in the morning, the medina crossed without a map. Half a day on foot, no ticket. Day two goes outside the walls, and we say plainly what is famous in Essaouira and not worth the detour.
- Crafts & shoppingEssaouira really makes five things: thuya marquetry, argan oil, raffia, silver and painting. How to tell solid wood from veneer and a registered cooperative from a roadside stall, how to haggle, and what the law forbids you to take out of the country.
Pages in this section
Landmark
Bab Doukkala
Bab Doukkala, the medina’s north-east gate, is where grand taxis leave for Sidi Kaouki, Had Draa and Marrakech. The bus station is 725 m away, a 10-minute walk, but CTM and Supratours coaches stop elsewhere. Free to walk through: allow five to ten minutes.
Medina
Landmark
Domaine du Val d’Argan
Domaine du Val d’Argan, a vineyard planted in 1994 some 28 km from Essaouira on the Marrakech road, no longer publishes hours or prices. Its website expired in August 2023, and on 16 October 2026 the domain name was up for sale. Tastings, lunch and guest rooms were on offer in 2023: phone before you drive out.
Ounagha & Val d’Argan