Essaouira · Nightlife

The wide square where the medina meets the port fills up once the wind drops, with mint-tea cafés, food stalls and street musicians rather than bars. It costs nothing to sit out, and it is the default evening for most visitors; things thin out well before midnight.

Beachfront restaurant and watersports base on Boulevard Mohamed V, the stretch of sand south of the medina. It is licensed, so it works as a sundowner spot after the kitesurfers come in; the same building rents boards and runs lessons during the day.

Relais & Châteaux hotel at 2 rue Ibn Battouta inside the medina, with a rooftop pool and terrace looking over the old town, and dining served until 23:00. The most expensive drink in Essaouira and the easiest place to get one at a table with a view.

Three days of gnaoua, jazz and world music staged across the town in June, with ticketing handled through the festival's own site. Accommodation in Essaouira sells out months ahead for it, so book before you plan the trip rather than after.

Alcohol is served in licensed hotels and a few restaurants, not in ordinary medina cafés, and most places stop well before 01:00. During Ramadan much of the licensed trade pauses and the evening moves to cafés after sunset, so check before you build a night around a bar.