Essaouira day trip from Marrakech: the Supratours coach, the tours compared and staying the night

💡 The Short Version: Essaouira is on the Atlantic coast, about 175 km and about 3 hours each way from Marrakech. Supratours coaches leave the terminal beside the railway station about every 2 to 3 hours for about 90 to 110 MAD (£7 to £8.50). Group tours run 10 to 12 hours, with 4 to 5 hours in the town, from £10.60 for GetYourGuide’s coastal day tourad (4.9 stars from 12,920 reviews, list £14.09). The guide in Essaouira and lunch are not in the base price of the main tours. Take the coach to stay the evening or a night, and a tour for one day with no planning. Prices vary by option and date; the checkout shows the total (GetYourGuide).

Coach or tour

The tours

Essaouira coastal day tour with lunch

4.9 stars from 12,920 reviews · 11.5 hours · from £10.60 (list £14.09)

A van with air conditioning from your hotel or riad from 07:15, a breakfast stop about an hour and a half out, a women’s argan oil cooperative, and 5 hours in Essaouira, with the return between 19:00 and 20:00 depending on traffic. The tourad lists the cooperative visit, insurance and fuel as included, and the official guide in Essaouira and lunch as not included. The operator contacts you at about 20:30 the evening before with the pick-up details. If you decide to stay in Essaouira, tell the operator in advance and it arranges a minibus for your luggage.

Day trip to Essaouira, beach, medina and ramparts

4.7 stars from 10,566 reviews · 12 hours · from £11.47 (list £16.86) · Click Excursions

An air-conditioned minibus with Wi-Fi, a driver and an accompanist, the women’s cooperative, and about 5 hours free in the town. The tourad includes lunch’s main dish only if you select the option, and does not include a guide, so the time in Essaouira is yours. A reviewer says lunch could be anything on the menu up to 100 MAD, with the guest paying any excess.

Fishing boats moored below the Skala du Port, Essaouira. Photo: Alina Chan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Small groups and the short tours

The small-group tourad (4.6 stars from 180 reviews, 11 hours, from £14.17) gives 4 hours in town. The small group with optional activitiesad (4.7 stars from 3,361 reviews, 10 hours, from £7.36) is the shortest and cheapest, with about 3 hours of driving each way, 4.5 hours in Essaouira, and food and drinks outside the price. For a private car one way, GetYourGuide’s Marrakech to Essaouira transferad and Essaouira to Marrakech transferad are each £97.75 for a group of up to three, and are the practical way to stay a night and return by car.

By coach

Supratours · terminal beside the railway station · about 3 hours

Supratours, the coach arm of the national railway, runs the Marrakech to Essaouira coaches from a terminal next to Marrakech railway station, roughly every 2 to 3 hours and in about 3 hours. The fare is about 90 to 110 MAD each way, and luggage is checked in at around 5 MAD a bag (seat61; timetable on oncf-voyages.ma). CTM coaches use the bus station at Bab Doukkala. A coach lets you choose how long the day is.

What to see

Essaouira’s medina is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The tours allow 4 to 5 hours in town, enough for the port, the walls and the medina.

• The port. Blue wooden fishing boats along the quays, boatbuilders at work, and seafood restaurants near the harbour, where the tours put lunch.
• The ramparts and the Skala. The seafront fortification with bronze cannons facing the Atlantic, and the walls above the port with views over the boats.
• The medina. Whitewashed lanes with blue shutters, galleries, and thuya woodwork, the local speciality, in small workshops.
• The beach. Long and sandy, a short walk from the medina.
• The argan cooperative on the way. A women’s cooperative where the oil is made by hand; it is also a shop. It takes 25 to 30 minutes on the tours.

The cannons on the seafront rampart of the Skala de la Ville, Essaouira. Photo: Jerzy Strzelecki, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Practical information

• Seats. A reviewer on one tour found only the front seats left on the way out; arrive at the pick-up on time.
• Cash. Bring dirhams for lunch, tips and the guide.
• The one thing that ruins the day. Booking a tour for the guide: on the two largest tours the guide in Essaouira is an extra.

For the other trips from the city, see day trips from Marrakech. A day on the coast fits a 3 days in Marrakech plan around the Majorelle slot and the ministry monuments; the Ourika Valley and the Agafay Desert are the shorter alternatives. Where to stay in Marrakech covers the nights either side, and Marrakech airport to the medina covers the way in. What to book before you go to Marrakech has the tickets that sell out.