Atlantic & Agafay: Casablanca to Essaouira, Privately

On a Sunday night in Essaouira, when most good kitchens in town are closed, your table is set at the one that stays open. You did not find it that morning. It was chosen weeks before, because someone checked which doors would be open that evening.

This journey runs from the Atlantic to the desert at the door of Marrakech and back to the ocean: Casablanca, Marrakech, a night in the Agafay stone desert, three nights in Essaouira, and the coast road north by the Oualidia lagoon. It is built around the table. Over ten nights there are some twenty lunches and dinners, each chosen for a reason (the cooking, the view, the evening it suits), and every one of them is booked in your name and settled before you arrive.

It suits couples who travel for the table as much as for the road, including guests flying in from West Africa. The reference journey ran ten nights in late August.

The tables, stage by stage

Casablanca, three nights. A first lunch in a garden behind the walls of an old sea bastion. Dinner in a white courtyard house built on the memory of a film, a pianist in the corner. Fish and shellfish on a terrace above the surf of the Corniche. And, for the day when nothing Moroccan appeals, a quiet Italian table.

Marrakech, two nights. Lunch at a golf club-house after a morning of shopping. An Asian dinner in a dim, theatrical room in the Hivernage. The next day, a couple’s afternoon at the spa, then a grand Moroccan dinner with live jazz, booked well ahead because it fills.

The Agafay, one night. A light lunch before leaving the city. A camel at dusk or a quad across the stone, then dinner at the camp as the light goes, and a tent with its own pool.

Essaouira, three nights. A first lunch at your hotel inside the medina walls. A fusion dinner with live music. A Moroccan lunch in the old town, tagines on the Monday at a small house that opens that day, the town’s gastronomic table on the Sunday night, and a tasting menu that moves between the land and the sea.

The coast road, one night. Lunch on the Oualidia lagoon, known for its oyster beds, then a last dinner in Casablanca before the flight home.

Tell us at the brief what you do not eat: raw fish, marinated dishes, meat, alcohol at the table. Every kitchen receives it in writing before you sit down.

At a glance

• 10 nights: Casablanca 3, Marrakech 2, the Agafay 1, Essaouira 3, Casablanca 1
• Private chauffeur and one vehicle for the whole journey; fast track at Casablanca airport on arrival
• A five-star hotel in Casablanca, a hotel with a spa in Marrakech, a tented camp with a private pool in the Agafay, a hotel inside the Essaouira medina
• Every lunch and dinner booked in your name and settled in advance
• A private guide for a full day in Casablanca and in Marrakech, half a day in Essaouira; entry to the Hassan II Mosque, the Majorelle garden, the YSL museum and the Bahia palace
• A couple’s spa afternoon in Marrakech; at the camp, dinner, a camel at dusk and a quad ride
• No drive longer than about three hours, never in the heat of the afternoon; your driver on the road 20 minutes before every pickup
• A day-by-day briefing with Google Maps links, and one contact on WhatsApp seven days a week
• $9,300 for two · Not included: international flights, drinks, personal expenses

How booking works

Reserve with your arrival date. Within 48 hours we confirm each house and each table in writing, and send the day-by-day briefing before you fly. The route is a starting point: if you would rather add a night, change the order or travel in another season, ask for it tailored and we compose around your dates.

Cancellation

Full refund up to 45 days before departure, less any non-recoverable costs already committed with the houses. Fifty percent between 45 and 21 days. Non-refundable within 21 days of departure. One change of dates without fees, where the houses accept it.