Asilah Day Trip — Morocco's Whitewashed Art Town

Forty minutes south of Tangier, Asilah is what happens when a Portuguese fortress town spends five centuries by the Atlantic and then, in 1978, invites the world's muralists to paint it. The result: blinding white walls, sea-blue trim, and fresh street art repainted every summer during the arts festival. This private day covers the ramparts walk above the crashing Atlantic, the medina's gallery lanes, the Raissouni Palace, and a seafood lunch metres from the boats that caught it. It's the calmest, most photogenic day trip on the northern coast — and almost no one outside Morocco knows it. Summer festival murals change each year while older works stay on the walls — either way the white medina photographs cleanly. We recommend a port seafood lunch but leave the bill to you so you choose the catch. Optional Paradise Beach fits when tides and daylight allow; say if you prefer more rampart time instead.