Essaouira -- Where Gnawa Music Meets the Atlantic

The social and commercial heart of the medina, this broad square connects the port, the souks, and the ramparts. Lined with cafe terraces and flanked by the clock tower, it transforms after dark into an open-air gathering space where musicians, food vendors, and strolling locals create an effortless evening spectacle.

The fortified sea bastion guarding the harbour entrance bristles with 18th-century Portuguese bronze cannons still aimed defiantly at the Atlantic. The elevated walkway offers unobstructed ocean views and a front-row seat to the drama of incoming fishing boats navigating the harbour mouth. Film fans will recognise the location from Game of Thrones (Astapor scenes).

The longer city-side fortification stretches along the northern medina wall, its cannon-studded battlements offering panoramic views of the ocean, offshore Mogador Island, and the medina rooftops. At sunset the warm light on the golden stone is extraordinary.

Essaouira's working port is the town's pulsing artery. Blue wooden trawlers unload sardines, sea bream, and shellfish each morning while seagulls wheel overhead. Inside the port gates, a row of open-air grill stalls serve the freshest seafood in Morocco -- choose your fish from the ice displays, negotiate a price, and watch it sizzle over charcoal.

A vast underground water-storage chamber dating from Portuguese-era Mogador, occasionally used as an atmospheric art exhibition space. The arched stone ceiling and reflecting water create a haunting, cathedral-like space.

Housed in a former riad, this modest museum displays regional musical instruments (especially Gnawa sintar and qraqeb), Berber jewellery, traditional costumes, and weapons. A good introduction to the cultural currents that shaped the city.

A vast crescent of golden sand stretching south from the medina walls, battered by the constant alizee trade winds that make it a pilgrimage site for windsurfers and kitesurfers but too windy for comfortable sunbathing most days. Camel rides, horse rides, and football games animate the shoreline.

A quieter alternative to the main beach, Sidi Kaouki is a laid-back surfing village with consistent waves, beachfront cafes, and a fraction of the crowds. Accommodation ranges from simple guesthouses to boutique eco-lodges.

Gnawa music, rooted in sub-Saharan African spiritual traditions and recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, is Essaouira's defining soundtrack. The Zaouia of Sidi Bilal hosts trance rituals, while the annual Gnaoua World Music Festival (June) draws hundreds of thousands. Throughout the year, Gnawa musicians play in the streets and riads.

Essaouira is the centre of thuya-wood marquetry, a craft that produces exquisite boxes, chess sets, and furniture inlaid with lemonwood, mother-of-pearl, and silver. Watch master artisans at their lathes in small workshops along Rue Skala and purchase directly -- significantly cheaper than Marrakech souks.