DAY TRIP TO ESSAOUIRA FROM MARRAKECH

Definitely recommend this service if you’re looking for a quick day trip from Marrakech Tom Essaouira. The driver was kind enough to contact us via WhatsApp to set up our meet-up location. Because we were staying in the middle of the Médina and our Riad is difficult to find, we opted on meeting at a local cafe in the center of the market. However they do provide hotel pick up and drop off. The highlight for me was the stop at the Argan tree where you see the goats perched on the branches, and they also make a stop at an Argan oil making store. Overall, good day as I don’t think there is much to do in Essaouira as there is in Marrakech so a day trip is just right.

On the whole I would say this trip was poorly organised. From the start the communication with the tour company was non-existent. The instructions asked for name of our Riad and our contact number but there was nowhere to input this information. I had to contact customer services to pass this on. This seemed pointless as there was no contact made by the local your operator and I had to ask the guy in our Riad to call them to find out what time we were getting picked up. On the morning of the trip the driver was late and still hadn't confirmed if we were being collected from the Riad or up the road. Once we were in the car we had to make 2 other pickups and didn't end up leaving Marrakech until 9.30am. The driver didn't provide the bottled water either so we had to make a stop to buy our own for the journey. We chose this trip because it didn't specify any stops on the way like other tours did, but the driver stopped off to see some goats in a tree which were clearly staged. A baby goat was put in my arms then we weren't allowed to leave until we had paid the boy for holding it! Again the driver stopped at the Argan oil place, we tried to say no but he insisted at least 5 minutes (probably on commission). Some of us waited in the car but the girls who went inside were there for 25 minutes so further delay to our journey! We didn't arrive in Essaouira until 1:30 and the driver wanted to pick us up again at 4! We told him no, we would be leaving at 5 which he agreed to so we got a bit longer in the town. Further disappointment was due to Eid and most of the souk and museum being closed so the journey was a waste of time. This should have been in the details before booking and they shouldn't have offered that day as the only weekday option. I wouldn't recommend this tour due to the information being misleading and the whole trip a disappointment.

Essaouira was one of the best trips we did - beautiful coastal town - felt very European in style and great to see some Game of Thrones locations. Town was much more relaxed and if you are after some ceramics, they did seem cheaper here. As for the tour - it is less of a tour and more of a transport service. The mini bus is small - so if you are over 6ft you may want to book one of the bigger coaches as this is no frills. However, for the price we actually thought this was great. Interesting stops to the goat trees although I did feel sorry for the goats and the Argun Oil factory visit was really interesting.