Car Hire Agadir

Agadir Mini Guide

A Modern City in an Ancient Country
Despite the country of Morocco giving the impression of being an ancient traditional country, Agadir is a thriving modern city, this is in part due to an earthquake in February 1960 which killed thousands and completely buried the city, making it necessary to re-build almost from scratch. There is an excellent new road network including a recently completed Casablanca/Marrakesh expressway running via the city making the area a very easy place to get around.

When to go
Agadir is primarily a winter sun destination, it's temperate climate offers warm days with temperatures rarely falling lower than 20 degrees Celsius, although the nights can be cold, so don't forget to take a jacket.  The summer months are extremely dry and reach a daily high of around 26 degrees Celsius.  As you may expect in a country famed for it's desert landscape there is a very low rainfall of around 29cm a year.

Discover Agadir

• The Amazigh Heritage Museum: A new museum only opened in 2000 is dedicated to the Berber culture of Morocco, it shows an especially good collection of silver jewellery including finely crafted rings and necklaces.
• The Old Kasbah: This was almost completely destroyed in the earthquake of 1960 but it's ancient stone ramparts still remain, offering a wonderful view of the city and port.
• The El Had Souk: This is an absolute must when visiting Agadir – big enough to be exciting but not big enough to need a guide.  This is where the locals shop and is around 20 minutes walk from the centre – if it's hot and you get a taxi ask for the souk by name as many taxi drivers like to take you to their brother/uncle/cousin's shop instead. Have fun exploring and don't forget to barter!
• The Harbour: Around the port entrance you can see the daily fish auction taking place from 8.00am until noon, you can watch all the goings on from a specially built balcony.  If you get there early enough in the morning you may be lucky enough to see giant tuna, grouper and hammerhead sharks being unloaded.

Further afield
How about a day trip to Taroudant? This ancient city is around 76km due east from Agadir and easily reached by hire car. It's city walls are 7.5km long with 130 towers – a nice walk if you're feeling energetic, but remember to drink plenty of water.  If the weather is too hot to walk then you can take a horse drawn tour around the city.

Agadir at a glance

Agadir is primarily a holiday resort, sometimes too hot in summer but perfect for winter sun holidays. Sadly, most people spend their time on the beach or at the westernised bars and clubs in the town.

There’s not much left of the old city there but a visit to the Municipal Museum is interesting with its exhibits on the Berbers who used to live and work in this region. Examples of the change in their homes, tools and habits are documented there as well as an archive of photographs taken by a range of colonial photographers.

See a full list of car hire locations in Morocco here.