Essaouira, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast. The town’s name means “little picture” in Arabic, and it’s a painter’s dream location, with a vibrant blue-and-white “medina” (inner walled city), enclosed by fairy-tale, sand-colored ramparts and imposing stone gates (“Babs”). The fortresses that make up the old medina are the most noticeable feature and were built by the Portuguese around 1505.