There was a time when Essaouira was firmly established on the hippie trail. In the 1960s/70s Morocco became a popular destination and many young long-haired ‘alternative travellers’ (aka hippies by the mainstream population) arrived in Essaouira in search of whatever it is 1960s hippies were searching for (self-discovery, free love, cheap hash, that kind of thing I suppose).
Jimi Hendrix once stayed here (Cat Stevens, Frank Zappa and some of the Rolling Stones apparently too). The nearby area contains a Jimi café, and several hotels that claim to have accommodated him during his stay (estimated to have been less than two weeks so he certainly moved around if he really did stay in them all). There are also several people wandering around claiming to have been fathered by him (bear in mind these offspring are now in their mid-forties).
It has also been claimed that Hendrix wrote ‘Castles made of sand’ about his stay in the town, although the track had been released more than a year before he arrived.
Whatever the truth, certainly Essaouira is keen to exploit its hippy past, although those days are pretty much over. Now it is a little sea port town with a somewhat windy beach, a working fishing port and a little market/shopping area.
Port with little fish market in front
The shopping street is very laid back, particularly if you have arrived via Marrakesh and are used to the hard sell that goes on in the bazaars there. In Essaouira you are generally given space to look at things before the stall owner pounces ready for the hard sell. All in all this makes it a much more relaxed destination than Marrakesh.
Laid back (by Moroccan standards at least) little shopping area
It’s certainly still worth a trip. You can do it as a relatively easy day trip from Marrakech or make it your main destination in Morocco for a more laid-back kind of trip.
Categories: Morocco
Loading...
Congratulations! You have been nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Check out more about your blog award and next steps here: http://thepinthemapproject.com/2014/06/the-pin-the-map-project-very-inspiring-blogger-award-nomination/. Keep up the great work!
Well thank you! I will take a look at that over the next few days.
Beautiful pictures – Morocco is a destination I would love to go. All the colors and pattern a so beautiful. So much travel inspo <3
Morocco is a cool place to travel; there are so many other things to see there too
This place looks so quaint and cool! I didnt love Marrakesh when I was there. Maybe this little place would have been more my speed!
Marrakesh can be very ‘in your face’ and very sales pushy and this is slightly less so.
The shopping sounds fun, I do get a little a tickle out of bartering with people over prices and famous for walking away and getting the deal was looking for. wonder how i’d fair in Essaouira? I didn’t know that they thought Hendrix wrote the song about this area, interesting!
Oh it’s really just trying to exploit a somewhat tenuous link with Hendrix. He visited for such a short time
I would love shopping here! I am normally running away from any Arabic market because they are too pushy and loud for my taste. This city sounds like my cup of tea!
Yes it’s certainly more subdued than Marrakech or a lot of other cities
Looks like a great place to visit. I haven’t been to Morocco yet so I will add it to my list for when I am there. Would be nice to do some shopping without getting too much hassle 🙂
Looks beautiful. I laughed about Jimi moving around – I do wonder how many actually accommodated him! I guess maybe he did move around to prevent fans knowing where he was…but then again I don’t know how many Moroccan fans he would have had? I love your photo of the boat with the bright blue top then the rest looking a bit run down!
The cynic in me suspects he didn’t stay in any of them and it is jut a marketing ploy. He was in the city just a really short time, maybe 2 weeks.
Morocco looks incredible and is on my bucket list. I love Cat Stevens! That is some nostalgia I love too!
Cat Stevens eh? He’s the one who converted to Islam and has a Muslim name now, isn’t he? I get him confused with Donavan for some reason. Same era but he went to India
Sorry! got logged out….I think the deserts and scenery of Morocco looks so inviting. I truly would love to explore this country thoroughly 🙂
Yes the Atlas mountains and the Sahara were fascinating too
Cool history! I love how so many hotels have claimed he’s stayed there! Essaouira sounds like a good place to check out!
Well yes, nobody can prove that he didn’t stay in a particular place now, so why not put up a few photos and claim a famous ex-resident?
this was one of my favourite cities when I went Morocco. Loved all the blue in it.
Yes it has a cool laid-back vibe about it, which I liked
Interesting story about Essaouira. Morocco is in my bucket list. It looks beautiful in many ways and i wanna discover them all.
JM | Man Of Wanders
It is an interesting country