Essaouira - Day Trip From Marrakech

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001 and swept by the trade winds, about 175 km west of Marrakech, lies the small fortified white and blue port city of Essaouira, "the ex-Mogador", with its Vauban ramparts and its medina “Mecca of Hippies during the 1970s”... Famous for its historic past as a former trading post and, a real source of inspiration, it attracts artists from around the world, lovers of authenticity, culture and refinement, including painters, writers, filmmakers (Orson Welles for "Othello" ) ... and many musicians, especially during its exciting Gnaoua music festival in June ... Essaouira also stands out for the marquetry of thuja, precious woods whose subtle scent hangs in the alleys of the medina and the mellah, the Jewish quarter, with its vaulted shops where harmony and lightness reign ... for the pleasure of bargain hunting, the 5 senses on the alert ...