Essaouira
Place Moulay Hassan & Port
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The medina's living-room square and the working fish port — cafe terraces, blue boats, the smell of grilled sardines.
Place Moulay Hassan is the connective plaza between the medina and the port — open-sided, busy, the place to sit for hours with a mint tea watching gnawa musicians, kids playing football and tour groups arriving by Supratours bus. Cafe Taros, Triskala and Cafe de France ring the square. The adjacent working fish port (busiest morning catch 06:00-10:00) is where 300+ blue trawlers unload sardines, conger eel and turbot. The line of fish-grill stalls between port and square serves the catch on the spot — pick your fish, sit at picnic tables, MAD 80-150 for a meal.
Scores
Walkability
Transit
Price
Local feel
Nightlife
Family-friendly
Centrality
What you gain
- ↑Fish-grill row: pick a fresh-caught sardine, MAD 30 grilled on the spot
- ↑Gnawa drummers and musicians performing on the square most evenings
- ↑Cafe Taros rooftop overlooking the harbour mouth and Iles Purpuraires
What you sacrifice
- ↓Persistent calèche, photo-snake and gnawa-CD touts
- ↓Fish-grill stall staff can pressure you to upgrade to lobster/scampi
- ↓Square gets noisy till 23:00 — light-sleepers should avoid front-facing rooms
Best for
Avoid if
Other Essaouira neighbourhoods
The UNESCO-listed walled town and Skala fortifications — blue-and-white alleys, riads inside the 18th-century Portuguese-Moroccan ramparts.
The northern quarter inside the ramparts — historic Jewish neighbourhood, partly derelict, now a quiet alternative within the medina walls.
East of the medina walls — the real working-class Essaouira with the daily Souk Jdid market, bus station and 1970s-era apartment blocks.
Know where to stay — now find when to go.
Best time to visit Essaouira →