€95 per vehicle
Route details checked in July 2026 by Ahlam Giyat, travel editor at Taxi Maroc Aéroport.
A private car from Marrakech to Essaouira costs €95 per vehicle, not per person, and takes about two and a half hours to cover the 175 km on the N8. There is no train on this route. Your realistic choices are a Supratours or CTM coach, a shared taxi, or a private car — and below we compare them without pretending the bus is bad, because it isn't.
The N8 runs west out of Marrakech across flat, dry plain, then climbs gently into argan country. This is one of the few places on earth where the tree grows, and where you will pass the women's cooperatives that press the oil. Roughly two and a half hours of easy driving, no motorway tolls, and the light in the last half hour before the Atlantic is genuinely beautiful.
Essaouira itself is a walled eighteenth-century port with a working fishing harbour, ramparts you can walk, and wind that made it a windsurfing capital. It is about fifteen degrees cooler than Marrakech in August, which is why half our summer bookings on this road are people escaping the heat.
Supratours is genuinely good on this route and we will say so. Here is the comparison.
| Option | Cost | Door-to-door time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supratours coach | ~140 MAD + taxi in Marrakech | 3h + transfer | Solo travellers — stops at the medina wall |
| CTM coach | ~140 MAD + taxis both ends | 3h + transfers | Similar price, station further out |
| Shared grand taxi | Negotiated | ~2h30 | Confident negotiators, no luggage |
| Private transfer (us) | €95 per vehicle | ~2h30, door to door | Families, groups, luggage, surfboards |
Supratours stops right outside the medina wall at Bab Marrakech, a two-minute walk from the old town. CTM's station is roughly a twenty-minute walk further out, which is fine with a backpack and much less fine with two suitcases in the sun.
Supratours runs around seven departures a day from its office on Avenue Hassan II, next to Marrakech train station — convenient if you are arriving by rail from Casablanca, awkward if you are staying deep in the medina. CTM runs far fewer services on this route. Tickets are roughly 140 MAD per person, and they sell out: travellers are regularly turned away at the counter in high season. Book ahead.
There is also a small luggage fee, and you must have your bags labelled before boarding. None of this is a reason to avoid the bus — it is a reason to know about it before you are standing at the counter.
Many people do Essaouira as a day trip. If that is you, our Essaouira day tour is the right product: the driver waits and brings you back the same evening.
This page is for the one-way transfer — you are moving to Essaouira for a few nights, or coming back to Marrakech to fly home. Different job, different price.
Like Marrakech, the old town inside the ramparts is closed to cars. We drop you at the nearest gate — usually Bab Doukkala or Bab Marrakech depending on your address — and the walk is short and flat, unlike the Marrakech medina. Give us the riad name and we take you to the right one.
Carrying on down the coast? We also drive Marrakech to Agadir and the surf coast.
About 175 km on the N8, roughly two and a half hours of driving.
No. There is no railway to Essaouira; the options are coach, shared taxi or private car.
Around 140 MAD per person, with about seven departures a day. It stops right by the medina wall at Bab Marrakech.
€95 per vehicle for up to 3 passengers, with larger vehicles available. Fixed at booking, no deposit.
Yes, at no extra charge. Tell us when you book so we send a vehicle with the space.
Yes, one stop is included on request. It is the most interesting thing on this road.
