Lonely Planet Netflix Film in Essaouira, Morocco: where are the filming locations?

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Morocco takes a starring role in the Netflix movie Lonely Planet, with scenes filmed in Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains and Chefchaouen providing stunning backdrops, but it’s Essaouira that steals the show.

Over the years, Essaouira has served as the backdrop for many films and TV shows, ranging from Orson Welles’ Othello, through to Game of Thrones. The latest film to take advantage of its unique setting is Netflix’s Lonely Planet, starring Liam Hemsworth and Laura Dern. The storyline is based around a writer’s retreat but the real star of the film is the country of Morocco, with Essaouira playing a minor but (in our opinion), scene-stealing role.

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What is Lonely Planet movie about?

[Warning, this section contains minor spoilers]

Lonely Planet is set around a writer’s retreat in Morocco where a famous writer (played by Laura Dern) is looking for some peace and solitude to complete her book. At the same time, the boyfriend (Liam Hemsworth) of one of the other writers is distracted by his high-powered finance job and feels out of place amongst the academics and intellectuals. Both of these outsiders end up taking a day trip to Chefchaouen, where a tentative friendship and romance starts to form.

Here’s the Lonely Planet trailer:

Where in Essaouira is Lonely Planet filmed?

Although only fifteen minutes of the film take place in Essaouira, Lonely Planet manages to pack in many of the sights that make the city so special, including the medina, fishing port and beach. We’ve highlighted when each scene happens in the film running order, so you can pause and check it out yourself. You might want to include some of the stops as an addition to our Essaouira walking tour.

1:08:25 – As they approach Essaouira on a motorbike, the road dropping down towards the Atlantic Ocean looks very much like the approach to Sidi Kaouki. You can experience it for yourself if you take one of the fantastic tours with Lou’s Rides.

1:09:01 – Our first view of the beautiful Essaouira beach, fishing port and Sqala du Port, plus the quintessential Essaouira scene of people enjoying wind and kite surfing.

1:09:05 – Mogador Island is visible on the near horizon, part of the history of Essaouira.

1:09:22 – The couple walk through a backstreet after dark, where they’d be very safe although it’d be unusual and fairly disrespectful for PDAs to happen like this in a conservative country like Morocco. It’s difficult to know exactly which street this is, but it looks like one of the many side streets between Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah and the ramparts.

1:14:48 – Enjoying a meal in one of the many restaurants in Essaouira.

1:16:34 – Views from the ramparts looking north towards Assafi Beach.

1:16:37 – The couple are sat overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at Place Moulay Hassan on a long wall that has since been repainted, but is still a lovely place to sit and watch the sunset.

1:17:51 – We understand that seemingly all films need a chase sequence but it was still sad to see a bag-snatching scene, which isn’t at all representative of life in Essaouira. It’s a safe city where the people are almost universally kind and friendly towards tourists. In any case, it allows us to watch Liam Hemsworth in full-flight as he gives chase along the wall towards Bab El Marsa and the fishing port. After they escape on the moped, you can clearly see Sqala Du Port (1:18:17) in the background.

1:18:52 – A panoramic shot of an Essaouira sunset over the city, perhaps taken from a rooftop bar.

1:19:00 – Another sunset shot across the city, this one shows a view looking northwards over Place Moulay Hassan, with Mama Souiri Hotel, one of the many hotels in Essaouira, visible in the centre-left of the screen.

1:22:24 – Liam takes a reflective walk along the beach, it looks like the area near our Diabat to Essaouira walk but it’s difficult to say for certain.

Where else in Morocco is Lonely Planet filmed?

In the first few minutes, we see Laura Dern’s character landing at Marrakech’s Menara Airport before jumping into a taxi towards the retreat (which in real life is the Kasbah Bab Ourika in the Atlas Mountains).

Another small criticism at this point: the film has a few minutes of fairly stereotypical ‘Moroccan’ scenes to signal to an international audience that this is a poor nomadic country (shepherds herding goats across the road, camels at the side of the road, donkeys pulling a cart, etc). These scenes do still happen in Morocco of course, but it’s only one side of this vibrant and modern country.

At the 16:56 mark, the couple arrive in Chefchaouen (actually an eight hour drive from the Atlas Mountains) for a day trip. The blue walls of Chefchaouen are instantly recognisable here, although the crew did well to avoid filming the hordes of tourists who are usually here. Their car stops at the end of Avenue Sidi Abdelhamid near to Bab Souk and, at 17:24, you see Liam Hemsworth walk though Bab Souk itself (Bab is the Arabic word for ‘gate’).

At 17:56, the couple meet for lunch in Place El Haouta, a beautiful square with a fountain as its centrepiece. It’s often one of the quieter tourist spots in the city, and it looks like they’re eating at the real-life cafe in the northeast corner of the square.

At 54:38, the couple take part in one of the most popular tourist pastimes in Morocco: shopping for souvenirs. The location looks a lot like one of the streets or souks in Marrakech, most likely Derb Dabachi.

At 56:00, the couple have moved to a small cafe that is just off Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakech. The building with a green façade opposite is Café Amornakoch, and it looks like they’re sat outside one of our favourite cafes in Marrakech, Café Kessabine. Sorry to be a killjoy again, but it’d be unusual and disrespectful to be sat drinking alcohol outdoors in the medina.

Final thoughts on Netflix’s Lonely Planet

The script itself might not be the most ambitious, but Lonely Planet really captures the beauty of Morocco, and of Essaouira in particular. Many of the scenes are in well-known locations that are open to the public, so it’s easy to sit on the same wall as Laura Dern, or stroll along the same stretch of beach as Liam Hemsworth.

Lonely Planet is a fun and easy movie to watch but, if you’re anything like us, your abiding memories are more likely to be of the stunning locations rather than the characters.