Clifton

Working on an early draft of a Morocco itinerary and could use a little help.

Marrakesh and Fez are givens. A rural drive is very likely between those two, which would go to Merzouga for the dunes and through the Atlas for views and kasbahs.

Then there's those inevitable "other" places, of which you can never see them all.... in this case, possibly Chefchaouen which gets good marks for a relaxing stop. Probably not Tangier as a stop, but we'll likely pass through for a ferry - not sure which direction yet - enroute to/from Andalusia.

But the focus of this question is around finding a nice coastal view of Morocco - Essaouira is well spoken of (and looks great in photos), but isn't in the most accessible of locations. It's not on train routes, no convenient flights... 3 hours each way by bus from Marrakesh. Still sounded pleasant though.

Then I just recently stumbled upon Asilah as a possible alternative... and I'm curious if it's similar in feel at all to Essaouira? It's right on the train lines from Fez to Tangier, so if it were nice, it would fit into the trip better.

Ok to miss Essaouira? Asilah not as interesting? Thoughts?

jenmaroc

I think its perfectly fine to skip Ess in favour of Asilah. Asilah is much less touristed than Ess, but its still a very pleasant beach town. Its lacks to variety and quality of hotels that Ess offers - but thats simply because it has not been developed for tourism in the same way. The medina is small and charming and there are some nice flat beaches - and good seafood.

You also might consider Rabat as a place to spend some time. Many tourists overlook it, but its lovely - especially the Oudayas Kasbah.

samscomps

I dont know, spent a few weeks in Morocco and Essaouira was definitely one of the highlights. We liked it so much we went back twice in the same trip.

Clifton

Thanks for the thoughts. We have a while to mull this through yet, but both sound good. Still not sure which way we'll go. Maybe both even, but don't want to try to push too many places into one trip. Ess surely must have something, given all the people who like it. But I do like the idea of someplace with a little less tourism as well, and we're not really that fussy about hotels. At least not every night. Sometimes a nice place, but I still enjoyed the change of a little $5 per night place we stopped off at in Asia in January too. We can do flexible. I was actually a little concerned that one or the other were a little <i>too</i> beach-resorty with holiday'ers slipping over from Europe (which I've heard about Agadir). I like the feel, smell and sounds of the sea, but am still more a culture vulture than a beach guy.

Anyway, thanks again to you both for the advice. It won't be very soon, but will let you all know how it went.

Clifton

Oh... and Jen, I've heard good things about Rabat. Someone shared an interesting article lately. Not sure if we'll get there though with our usual vacation time frame. It's sort of a decision that we'll either have to take an arc that goes the coast or one that crosses the mountains and skirts the desert. And parts of that second route are things I'd always thought of with a first visit to Morocco, you know?