What is the Marrakech-Essaouira-Agadir coastal route like?

This is the route I send people on when the desert and the medinas have left them craving sea air. From Marrakech the road west to Essaouira is easy and scenic — about three hours across the Haouz plain into argan forest, where you will pass the famous (and now rather staged) goats-in-the-trees and roadside cooperatives where women press argan oil by hand. It is a gentle, pretty drive with none of the mountain switchbacks of the desert routes.

Essaouira itself is the highlight and worth at least two nights. The walled medina is whitewashed and blue, salt-scrubbed by the trade winds, and far more relaxed than Marrakech — no mopeds tearing through the lanes, no real hassle. The fishing harbour still lands the day's catch under wheeling gulls, the ramparts where Game of Thrones filmed look straight out to the Atlantic, and the long beach draws kitesurfers because the wind here almost never stops. Eat grilled sardines at the port, browse the thuya-wood workshops, slow right down.

South from Essaouira the coastal road to Agadir runs about 175 kilometres and three hours, threading small fishing villages, more argan groves and the surf mecca of Taghazout, where the right-hand point breaks pull surfers from all over. I like to stop at Taghazout or nearby Tamraght for a long lunch above the waves; this stretch is one of Morocco's great undersung drives, all cliff, cove and ocean haze.

Agadir at the end is a different animal — rebuilt modern after the 1960 earthquake, geared to beach resorts and a wide sweep of sheltered sand. It is not historic, but it is sunny almost year-round and makes a comfortable soft landing or a family base. Many guests fly home from Agadir, which makes this coastal route a natural one-way finish: cities and desert first, then unwind by the sea before the flight.