Essaouira

Essaouira is what happens when a Portuguese fortress, a Moroccan port, a Jewish quarter and the Atlantic wind agree to share a coastline. It is breezy, low-rise, white and blue, and remarkably calm for a place so beautiful.

We send travellers here after Marrakech when they want the temperature dropped twelve degrees and the noise cut in half. Three nights is the correct answer. Eat grilled sardines off the harbour. Watch the surfers at Sidi Kaouki. Do very little else.