Essential Essaouira

Advantages: beautiful beawch, laid back, the medina
Disadvantages: not enough there for a week,

...Marrakesch in Morocco is a wonderful place to visit but sometimes the hustle and bustle of this colourful city can just get too much. When this happens you need to escape the city and what better place to escape to than Essaouira, a lovely, peaceful town on Morocco's Atlantic coast. Essaouira, formerly known as Mogador is a fishing port with a Portuguese citadel and an 18th century Medina (old town ) which is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was a firm favourite with sixties musicians such as Janis Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix and is still a favourite with me due to its charm. . We visited it as a day trip during a weeks holiday in Marrakesh. We were captivated by its pretty whitewashed buildings and the fine golden beach leading to the blueness of the Atlantic Ocean. The easiest and probably cheapest way to make the thtee...

duskmaiden 02.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Essaouira (Morocco)

Essaouira far more enjoyable than Agadir.

Advantages: Cheap and Sunny
Disadvantages: Harasment and over charging so very comming.

...:30 it was just somewhere to get harassed and stressed. A state in which I spent a lot of time. After a day in the city we decided to head over the Essaouira , and I am so glad that we did. It is a small, medieval walled town where cars are not allowed which gives it a more relaxed atmosphere. The hotels were all clean and the French influence was very apparent in the town. The following day my friend and I were able to walk around without being overly harassed, which was a relief. We were even able to get two good meals and do a bit of surfing. This was the highlight of my time in Morocco, the town was beautiful, relaxing not overly expensive and friendly. If you go in July there is a music festival inspired by Jimmy Hendrix who lived there for a while. At the end of the day, there are a lot of good points about the country but...

jema_00 22.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Agadir (Morocco)

Essouira Morocco

Advantages: Small, chilled-out, friendly, pretty,place
Disadvantages: Not exactly the party capital of the world, if you do manage to find a bar serving alcohol, as a woman you will feel pretty uncomfortable in there.

......

helenfeane 10.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Essaouira (Morocco)

Good, solid choice, but not without its flaws

Advantages: Lovely spa and swimming pool, good beachside location
Disadvantages: Some things don't work, road between hotel and beach

......

sarah_c_d 17.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Sofitel Thalassa Mogador, Essaouira

Always something around the corner

Advantages: Lots to see and do
Disadvantages: Food can be a bit suspect

...In '98, I went on what was billed a Morocco mystery tour which was organised by Escape from Samsara, a club in Brixton. The name was certainly apt as you did not know what was around the corner. From the Andalucian like medina of Chefchaouen, to the ramparts of Essaouira, to the desert sands of Zagora it was mysterious and a bit magical. The people were friendly and welcoming to varying degrees, often helping us out with any difficulties. We camped under the stars in the desert, the Rif mountains and in the pure clear airs of the Atlas. To be honest trying to do Morocco in 2 and a half weeks was slightly foolhardy, you could only get a glimpse. But I know that being in the middle of the High Atlas after our Ford Transit van broke down (we tried a short cut and it didn't work!), you just felt a million miles away from Britain. The air...

blinderben 15.01.2001 · Read review
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Review of General: Morocco

Two weeks in Central Morocco

Advantages: It's cheap, fascinating, beautiful and not even that far.
Disadvantages: The hassle.....

...gallery. The El Badi Palace is the best of the palaces on offer. It is the largest of the palces and in a state of ruin but worth a trip in my opinion just to see the birds. Huge herons have built nests around the edges of the palace and the adjioning old city walls. The birds are unbelievably close and incredibly elegent. There are also a number of great places to take day trips to out of the city. Our favourite was our trip to the cascades d'Ouzoud (see picture). At 65km north east of Marrakech this is a good 3-31/2 hour drive as the roads (and the drivers) aren't going to win any prizes. The falls are the largest in Morocco and really are worth the trip. The scenery is amazing; olive trees, open restaurants, swimming in the pools; and there are some great walks to be had in the area. Essaouira...

nickyturnill 06.03.2007 · Read review
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Review of General: Morocco

A Reminder That Life Is Too Short....

Advantages: Good Coffee Table book; fun to browse through
Disadvantages: I'm never going to visit all these places without a large lottery win

...into account the hemisphere the city is in rather than the UK spring) 'Don't Miss' places to visit and 'You Should Know' trivia. For example if you were to go to Ohrid in Macedonia (no, I had never heard of it either) you should not miss the Church of St Sophia or the Roman Theatre. It also tells you why these particular attractions are worth visiting too. The You Should Know fact is sometimes tenuous, and ranges from something fairly obvious to something a bit different e.g. Essaouira in Morocco was chosen as the backdrop to Orson Welles' film version of Othello. The main body of the text varies in size depending on the photo, so you won't read so much on Kaohsiung in Taiwan, but you will have a lovely photo of Wuli Pagoda on Lotus Lake to admire. Alternatively Djenne in Mali shows only a small market scene photo with more text...

Essexgirl2006 23.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of 501 Must Visit Cities - Bounty Books

A great Italian restaurant in Marrakech

Advantages: good pizzas, housemade pasta, seafood, clean, WiFi
Disadvantages: no alcohol at the moment

..., maccheroni, lasagne, cannelloni, gnocchi (I loved gnocchi alla Sorrentina). They have a very good house made pastas. No pasta. They can cook for you meat....or.....you can choose in their selection of fresh fish and sea food, becuase it arrives fresh from Agadir and Essaouira every day. My boyfriend had a pesce al sale/ a fish covered with salt and cooked in the oven. Delicious. They have a nice dessert list with tiramisù, nugat glacè and more. If you want a fruit salad, you have to wait, because it's fresh made, but I prefere waiting for eat somethings fresh. This resataurant has 2 menù for the little guests, because they are very welcome. The bathrooms are clean and without bad smell. My boyfriend enjoy read the article of his football team on his owen computer at the restaurent because it has the wifi.....and he had the bad...

yplon 04.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Portofino Restaurant, Marrakech

Any port in a (desert) storm

Advantages: Lovely hotel, fun and quiet, great beach
Disadvantages: Not really worth 5 stars, bit isolated, not family friendly

...**Introduction** Up-and-coming Agadir is a coastal holiday town which reflects much of the best Morocco has to offer tourists and is also a convenient jumping off place to other locations like the ancient city of Marrakesh or the World Heritage site at Essaouira, with its charming and fascinating Portuguese remains. Last in a row of premium hotels, the striking 5-star Sofitel Agadir on Baie des Palmiers is a large, purpose built property which was designed to impress and does. Agadir has a royal palace nearby, HM the King having chosen to be nearby when he is visiting: But the Sofitel Agadir has the direct beachfront access! This is stylised Arabic/North African architecture (it looks from the outside like a cross between an ancient Egyptian temple, a desert fort and a fortified town) but it is a mix that works...

andyk910 17.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Sofitel Agadir, Agadir

The New Moroccan Role

Advantages: "Colored cottons hang in the air?"
Disadvantages: "?Charming cobras in the square." (Crosby, Stills and Nash)

...roundabout routes. Base price for tourists tends to be 20 dirhams (£1.60) anywhere around the old town, so quite affordable. For a change, we took a horse-drawn calèche out to the Majorelle Gardens, negotiating the initial asking price of 100 down to 60 dirhams (£5); a petit taxi would have been half the price but less of an experience. We didn?t have time for any of the main day-trips available out of Marrakech ? up to the High Atlas passes or down to the coast at Essaouira. Buses for these routes are by all accounts cheap, but very crowded. Alternatively ?grand taxis? can be hired, often on a shared basis, at reportedly very reasonable rates. Getting there Well, obviously, Eurostar to Paris, TGV through France to Barcelona, AVE through Spain to Algeciras, ferry to Tangiers and then the Marrakech Express via Casablanca...

torr 06.03.2009 (20.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Marrakech (Morocco)