"Agadir and Touradant" Agadir by Cruiseone2003

All I can say is as an American coming to Morocco it's very different but that's what I was looking for and am very happy I made the trip. I arrived by ship and was scheduled to be in port for just the day. I had met a young man by the name of Abdou through VT who is from Touradant, just one hour from Agadir. He was our driver and tour leader for the day. Let me say, Abdou was a true professional for putting up with us. To make a long story short, one of my friends became dehydrated from the extreme heat which took up a good amount of time and we almost missed our ship. Passports were on the ship which meant an 8 hour bus ride to Casablanca to the U.S. Embassy to get replacements.............fortunately, that didn't happen and we sailed away with our ship.
Agadir, is a modern city for Morocco because the original was destroyed in an earthquake in the60's. Touradant however is very special, it's claim to fame is the entire city is still contained behind its wall. There are old cities in the world that still have walls but they have outgrown them, Touradant has not. It's one of those cities where as soon as you enter you feel as if you have gone back in time.
You must experience the markets or "Souks", and if you can get a local to escort you through the maze otherwise you will get lost. If you do get lost, ask any child to help you, they are used to lost tourists. Some of the things I really liked at the souk were the slippers, all hand made and excellent quality. Perfume, but not in a liquid form, more like a chalk that you touch to your skin and my favorite were the spices, mounds of colorful and aromatic spices that overwhelm your senses. Abdou speaks English fluently, is very kind and patient. If you want to see Morocco as a local, he's the guy you want!
Here is Abdou's personal email, feel free to contact him directly: khattabi_fr@yahoo.fr , he can arrange private tours of the surrounding area for you and his prices are reasonable. Abdou now has a website, http://www.sousstours.c.la/ which is now listed under "Transportation" for Agadir.

Here's a good pic of one section of the wall that surrounds Touradant.

A glimpse into a Moroccan Souk