Essaouira in January

Essaouira in January shows off its greatest trick: it barely changes. Daytime highs sit around 18°C and nights stay mild near 11°C, so while inland Morocco shivers, the coast feels gentle — cool, fresh and bright between the wetter spells. This is the town's quietest, cheapest season: the planned blue-and-white medina is calm, the Skala ramparts almost empty, and the working fishing port goes about its business of grilled sardines and blue boats without the crowds.

The trade winds are at their gentlest now, so January is the year's best window for the simple pleasures the summer wind makes harder: a long beach walk that isn't sandblasted, an unhurried morning along the harbour, a sit-down lunch on a sheltered terrace. It is too cool and unsettled for serious water sports — this is not the kitesurfing season — but for medina wandering, thuya-wood and art-gallery browsing, fresh seafood and bracing coastal air, it is a peaceful, atmospheric month.

January suits travellers who want a mild, low-key seaside escape over beach heat, and who appreciate the lowest prices and smallest crowds of the year. A windbreaker still earns its place — the Atlantic is never still — and a rain layer covers the wetter days. Pair Essaouira with Marrakech, two and a half hours inland, and you can swap the Red City's cold, dry winter for the coast's mild, breezy calm in a single afternoon's drive.