Essaouira Travel Answers

Excuse me for saying so IP, but that is rubbish. Thousands of people walk about in Marrakech every day without a guide (official or otherwise), and don't get lost either.

Hello, If your flight arrives on time it will be 8pm before you get to central Agadir, It is too late to take the bus, and as the driver will have to stop to break his fast the journey will take much longer. My advice would be to stay overnight in Agadir, The Hotel El Bahia is economical, friendly and in a central location. You will find the number in my Agadir recommendations.(Book in advance) From there you can take a petite taxi to the bus station for the bus to Essaouira, Get there in good time to buy your tickets. Essaouira is a great choice for your first week, You will be eased gently into Moroccan friendliness and way of life. The guides in Marrakech can be a bit full on, if you say NO thank you (La Shukran)and keep walking it is unlikly they will follow you. You only need a guide book and you will be able to find your way around. If you are lost, just ask anyone for help, As a side trip from Marrakech, Ourika valley is only a couple of hours away. Enjoy your holiday

Hello, If your flight arrives on time it will be 8pm before you get to central Agadir, It is too late to take the bus, and as the driver will have to stop to break his fast the journey will take much longer. My advice would be to stay overnight in Agadir, The Hotel El Bahia is economical, friendly and in a central location. You will find the number in my Agadir recommendations.(Book in advance) From there you can take a petite taxi to the bus station for the bus to Essaouira, Get there in good time to buy your tickets. Essaouira is a great choice for your first week, You will be eased gently into Moroccan friendliness and way of life. The guides in Marrakech can be a bit full on, if you say NO thank you (La Shukran)and keep walking it is unlikly they will follow you. You only need a guide book and you will be able to find your way around. If you are lost, just ask anyone for help, As a side trip from Marrakech, Ourika valley is only a couple of hours away. Enjoy your holiday

You can of course explore Marrakesh without a guide, although a good guidebook with maps is always useful when visiting anywhere. You may be interested to know that it is an increasingly popular budget airline destination both from the UK and elsewhere in Europe. 4. What to do? Nothing special, simply be respectful and appreciate that customs and cultures and behaviours vary from country to country, regardless of religion. Do not expose vast amounts of flesh as you walk around towns. You will be asked to remove your shoes if you enter a mosque, and women may well be asked to cover their heads.

I agree with Windycity, best to stay in Agadir for the night and The Hotel El Bahia is a good place to stay, I spent a couple of nights there and it is very popular with travellers. If I remember rightly, across the road there are a series of small resturants, their you can get a good meal and just up the path on the main road you will find Ticket offices for CTM and Supratours buses which will have buses going to Essaouira but book soon as you get settled into your hotel, if you staying in this area of course then there is no need to go to the main bus station.

Women will definitely be asked to cover their heads; mosques usually provide it but it is nice to wear a scarf as an accessory and just have it their to slip on. Modest dress is more acceptable for both sexes. September should be nice weather, so you don't need to expose too much to feel comfortable. Loose cotton clothing is good. I agree with most of the people here; you don't need a guide. I have wandered far on my own into the depths of the Marrakech medina and found my way out again and nothing ever happened to me except the usual commercial harassment and occasional come-on, and I am an American woman. Just have an idea of where you entered and your desired gate of exit. Essaouira is small but those angled streets can be confusing; however, I always found myself eventually. Just keep your eyes open! I think that it is actually more fun to wander freely, because you come upon unexpected people and places of interest and delight. Be respectful but bargain hard! The train trip to Fes is actually quite comfortable, so you might think about breaking your rule...Have a good, safe time!

You don't need a guide for Marrakesh - just a good map. Just respect the local customs and you will be fine - dress respectfully and you will have no problems. Learn to say 'La shukran' - 'no thankyou' and with a smile you should have no problems with sellers. Most of the mosques in Morocco are not open to non-muslims. However, if you get a chance to go to Casablanca the Hassan Mosque is a must visit.

Thank you guys for help! I decided to change our trip a bit, so first we fly to FES directly from London, then we stay there for 3 nights, and travel to Marrakesh by train, stay there 3 nights and then bus to Essaouira for 6 night s and 1 night in Agadir and plane back to LONDON from there. Any tips for staying in Fes and Merrakesh (riads seems for us very interesting, because we want to really see real life) and traveling from there- very welcome ! We looking for something up to 40 Eur per night/per room for couple. We decided to book riads everywhere now, to have an easy travel later on, thank you again and have a lovely day, today is over 30 C in London, quite hot!

Sounds like a good plan - Go first class on the train, it is just a few pounds more, and your trip will be tranquil - Riads are really nice (I hope you can find nice ones for 40, look online, there are a lot) but you are more likely to meet a lot of French tourists in them, rather than Moroccans! The local life is elsewhere, but the places are beautiful and typical, so why not? In Fes stay in a riad in the medina/old town, and the real life will be right outside your front door (and you might be happy to escape it into the beauty and calm of your riad!) - The same for Marrakesh, although there are other locations that also have their value - In your planning, think about moving around the city - In Fes the taxis are a fixed price, or were, hope that is still true, so there is no hassle, but in Marrakesh you can really run into the classic universal try-to-cheat the tourist taxi driver. Hopefully your hosts can help you with that, but it is big city spread out over a big space, so whereever you stay you would eventually need to take a taxi somewhere. The first time I was there I found an apartment for your price through an agent, who just happened to be down the street from my meeting place with one of those ever-enterprising young Moroccan men, and it was really pleasant, although a bit out of the way. Essaouira has (or, again, had) a fixed price for taxis. There are apartments to rent everywhere, some inside riad type buildings. If you feel like splurging check out Jack's Apartments, they are really beautiful and some are sea front. There are buses to Essaouira but also collective taxis, which are a nice option - more comfortable and they can be fun, although you have to wait a bit for them to fill. The seats are not expensive so sometimes people just buy the extra seat to get it moving. Well, I think that you will have a good time, just read up and do your research and then enjoy, you have a good start already! travel well, Jean

Two months ago I stayed at the Riad Al Fath in Essaouira. Well placed just inside the ramparts, if you get the right room you have a view of the sea, Mogador island and the gorgeous sunsets. Cost was 50 euros b'fast inc. but negotiated down to 45. In Marrakech we stayed at the Riad Celia, just 300 metres from the place Djemaa El Fnaa. Rooms are a bit small but for 39 euros, once again b'fast inc. Both these riads are on the net. Enjoy your trip.

Try the Hotel Batha in Fes. It is just outside the medina and not expensive.

Excellent. I have to be honest Agadir was one of my least favoites places in Morocco, it's nothing more than a concrete jungle for package tourist. Essaouira is a hundred times more better. If are travelling by bus to Essaouira from Marrakech you will find Supratours bus ticket office near the Train Station but if you are using CTM buses they have a new bus terminal of there own so you don't need to go to the chaotic Main bus station. You can find the new bus terminal address on my transport tips in Marrakech, last I here lonely planet have not yet updated their Morocco books. Just a rough guide, head for Supratours ticket office then continue on much further or take a taxi, it is a bit of a walk.

Yeah, you might want to skip Agadir...???

We go to Agadir only for 1 night, and this is because we don't want to miss our plane. Plane is 19.05, so we have to be at least at 5.00 pm at airplane. There's a risk if bus from Essaoira will be delayed or sth, we miss our plain, and it will be a big problem.... I was thinking about trip from E. to Agadir by grande taxi, but again it's a risk we can't find something just on time... So we think to stay one nigth over Agadir, just for logistics's reason If somebody is getting on that train fro Ess., then maybe it will be easier ? I think that normal taxi is out of range though...

Ok, that makes sense, it is certainly better to be careful about catching planes - I don't understand the question about the train - there is no train in Essaouira - that is how I discovered the collective taxi - I went to the train station in Marrakech and found that out! I was in a hurry to meet a friend and find a place to stay for the festival (not so easy!) - and there were these taxis waiting at the train station - Well I waited and waited and then a Moroccan lady came along and we worked out a deal to share the taxi - It was quite luxurious, I had the whole back seat to myself (and if it had been exorbitant I would not have done it) - What is more, she was a smart lady and connected me with a guy that had all these apartments to rent! (in the new town, the old town was totally booked) - My French friend had this insane idea to camp with some camel guy in the woods somewhere, but we quickly realized that that was rather uncomfortable and there was no place to keep our luggage, bathe, etc - So it was very good indeed that I found comfortable affordable quick transportation with a great housing connection included in the deal! If you go the day before to Agadir you won't be in a rush and can figure out how to get there without stressing - I like the collective taxis because they are much more comfortable and convenient than the bus, not much more expensive or about the same price, plus you meet the people in the car - The peaceful apartment I enjoyed in Marrakesh my first time there (the second time I was a guest of a French friend) was also found with the help of a guy I met in a collective taxi - So they are quite useful, and more convivial than buses, Well,sounds like you are working it all out, do have fun! Jean

Thanks for all your advice so far, really helpful. We (almost) decided not to go to Agadir at all, and just stay in Essaouira until the last day (Sat 25/09). Our plane leaves at 7pm so we figure we need to be at the airport at around 4-5pm. From what we can see, buses leave at 3am and 2pm only, so it would seem that the first one is way too early, and the second one is too late. Do you guys know how much a taxi to the airport would be? We saw somewhere that the price is around MAD700, is that about right? Any other transport suggestions? Also, is there somewhere to eat at the airport?