Marrakesh + Agadir: a medina, the Atlas and the Atlantic
Three hours of mountain road separate the noise of the souk from an ocean coast where the water is cold, the wind is constant and the surf works all year.
How they fit together
Marrakesh drains you: heat, crowds, the constant attention of sellers. Agadir is the opposite — a wide beach, a promenade, no historic centre at all (the city was rebuilt after the 1960 earthquake) and a calm rhythm. The first half of the trip gives impressions, the second brings you round.
Marrakesh: four days
Jemaa el-Fnaa in the evening: snake charmers, food stalls, smoke, drums — worth watching from a café roof first and then going down to eat. The Ben Youssef madrasa with carving in cedar and plaster. The Majorelle garden, which Yves Saint Laurent saved, and the museum beside it. The Bahia palace and the souk, where half a day disappears easily. Outside the city: the Atlas — the Ourika valley for half a day, the Ouzoud waterfalls for a full one, and with three days to spare, the Merzouga desert with a night in tents among the dunes.
Agadir and the coast: five days
Agadir itself is a beach, a promenade and a kasbah on the hill above the bay. What surrounds it is more interesting: Taghazout half an hour away, a surfers' village with a steady wave and schools for beginners; Paradise Valley, a canyon with stone pools in the hills; Essaouira three hours north, a fortified port with a citadel, gulls and the wind that brings kitesurfers rather than sunbathers.
About the ocean
The Atlantic here is colder than people expect from Africa: around twenty degrees even in summer, because of the cold Canary current. People do swim, but briefly; a wetsuit is more comfortable. In exchange the swell is steady and surfing works all year — larger waves from November to March, gentler in summer and better for learning. The current along the shore is strong, and swimming far out is unwise even for confident swimmers: beaches with flags and lifeguards exist, but far from everywhere.
When to go
Agadir is a rare place you can visit almost any time: more than three hundred sunny days a year and no extreme heat thanks to the ocean. Marrakesh, though, bakes in summer, so the pair works best in March–May and October–November. In winter the coast sits around twenty by day — not a beach season, but ideal for walking and surfing.
Essaouira
Three hours from Marrakesh and three from Agadir stands Essaouira, a port town with ramparts, blue boats and a constant wind. There is none of the pressure of the Marrakesh medina here: the streets are straight, laid out by a French architect in the eighteenth century. In the port fish is cleaned and grilled on the spot. The wind keeps most people out of the water and makes this the capital of kite and windsurfing. Many arrive for a day and stay for two.
The Atlas in a day
From Marrakesh it is about ninety minutes to the foot of the mountains. The Ourika valley has a river, Berber villages and the seven waterfalls of Setti Fatma, reached over rocks in about an hour. Imlil is the starting point for climbing Toubkal (4,167 m), but even the walk to the village of Aroumd with a view of the summit is worth the trip. The Ouzoud waterfalls are further, three hours one way, but there the cascades are a hundred metres high with wild Barbary macaques around. Do not take more than one valley in a day.
Practical matters
No visa, up to 90 days. Comfortable buses run between Marrakesh and Agadir in about three hours; there is no railway to Agadir. Agadir is the most European city in Morocco in its habits, so alcohol and clothing are simpler here than inland — though outside the resort strip it is still worth dressing modestly. Shared taxis to Paradise Valley and Taghazout leave when full, without a timetable, and cost very little.
Moscow → Marrakesh → Agadir
Route and nights go into the form — adjust the date and passengers.