Safi Pottery Tour

►After breakfast you will head out to the quiet Moroccan town of located in Western Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean.  A journey to Safi guarantees a serene escape from Marrakech and a relaxing day by the sea.

►A large town with a population of over 300,000, Safi is the perfect place to get a feel of a modern Moroccan industrial center at work. Explore the major sardine processing port which has been functioning since the 16th century and see the phosphate exports which contribute to the growth of the fishing industry.

►Visit the old medina in the center of the town. Here traces of history from when the Portuguese occupied Safi can still be found. The industrial-artisan area is shaped like a triangle, with its widest side facing the coast.

►Browse through a whole quarter of pottery shops on Rue du Souk. Enter through Bab Chaaba or the Gate of the Valley and be overwhelmed with the area’s heavily glazed green palace and mosque rooftops.

►Next door explore the Portuguese citadel or Kechla, originally a cathedral built by the Portuguese in 1519. Nearby is a mosque, 18th century garden and a national museum that houses traditional and modern ceramics from Safi, Fes,Meknes and pieces by Boujmaa Lamali.  

►Enjoy a seafood lunch at one of the delicious restaurants at Place de I’ Independence. Try the famous crayfish.

►After lunch visit Safi favorites such as the Dar el Bahar, a small fortress overlooking the sea and then the Colline des Potiers, the famous potters quarter where you can find the best priced and most beautiful pottery in Safi. Other points of interest include the Jewish synagogue on Avenue Zerktouni and if you are Muslim you can enter two important Sufi shrines, the Marabout Sidi Bou Dheb and the Zaouia of Hamidouch.

►On the return to Marrakesh enjoy a quick stop at the Kasbah Hamidouch, part of the system of fortified outposts built by Moulay Ismail.

► Visit the mosque, stroll by charming ruined buildings and visit the village shops, houses and an old chapel. Drive back passing through the Chaidma region, the land inhabited by the holy Regara Berbers, descendants of the seven apostles of Islam.