My young man and I spent 9 days in Morocco. During this time we traveled halfway across the country and visited six cities. We walked along narrow streets, haggled in noisy bazaars, looked at ancient mosques and fortresses.
I will tell you how to organize such a trip and how much it costs.
1. What you need to know about Morocco
Morocco is located in the northwest of Africa. The country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea to the north.
Tourists travel to Morocco all year round. In summer it is +28 °C in the north and +40 °C in the south. In winter +10 °C in the north and +5 °C in the south. It is most comfortable to come in spring or fall: there is no exhausting heat or cold winter wind from the sea. The water temperature during the hot months averages +25 °C.
In summer, there is no one on the streets during the day: locals do not leave their homes because of the heat. Cities only come alive when the sun goes down, around 9pm. The streets and cafes become crowded and the markets close towards midnight.
Itinerary. We traveled halfway across the country in nine days. In Fez we haggled in the Arab bazaar. In Chefchaouen we wandered through the blue streets of the medina, the old part of the city. In Tangier, everyone eats fish. Rabat will appeal to those who love museums.
We went to Tetouan and Rabat to swim. From Tetouan to the Mediterranean Sea – 10 km. Rabat is on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, there are many beaches right in the city. Some vacationers go surfing.
In my opinion, it is better to swim in the sea: the water is warmer there. However, the beaches in Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier on the Atlantic are also crowded.
Nine days was hardly enough for our itinerary. We had to travel from city to city almost every day to catch up with everything. We were tired, we didn’t have enough energy and time for a lot of things. For a trip like ours, I recommend that you allow at least two weeks.
We flew into Casablanca, so we had to see it too. Casablanca is the business center of Morocco, old buildings here are next to modern glass business centers. In general, the city is dirty, there are a lot of cars and people in the city
2. Languages
The official languages of Morocco are Arabic and Berber. Until 1956, different parts of the country were Spanish and French colonies. Therefore, there are two other languages spoken in Morocco besides the official ones. In Casablanca, Rabat and Fez we were spoken to in French. In Tetouan and Tangier there was more Spanish, and French was barely understood. In Chefchaouen, both languages were spoken.
English is not well known in Morocco. There were no problems with the language only in restaurants and hotels. Cab drivers, street vendors and waiters in street cafes did not understand our English.
I didn’t know French, so I hired a private teacher before the trip. In five lessons we learned simple phrases, numbers and dishes. They helped a lot: we communicated with the locals mostly in French. I could bargain, navigate menus, buy water and ice cream from stalls.
We found ourselves in a situation where the person only spoke Spanish once. It was a vendor in Tetuan from whom we were trying to buy water. After a few pantomimes, he understood what we wanted.
For tourists who don’t speak French, I recommend downloading the Google Translator app to your phone in advance. They are free and work without an internet connection.
3. Mentality and traditions
Morocco is a poor country. Locals often try to make money from tourists. Cab drivers and shopkeepers charge high prices, and passers-by offer to show you the city or take you to a landmark. It looks like a desire to help, but at the end of the journey, the “guide” is sure to ask for money. Therefore, it is better to ask for directions from vendors: they usually do not ask for payment.
Once in Rabat, we asked for directions from a woman on the street. She invited us inside, offered us tea, showed us a terrace overlooking the city, and then asked for money for it. We gave her 20 MAD. She refused to take coins, and there is no smaller denomination paper money in Morocco.
If a Moroccan man quotes a price right away, it is most likely an official guide with a tour guide’s license. His rates are higher than those of ordinary passers-by.
We encountered Arab hospitality once. In Chefchaouen we met women drinking tea on the street. They offered to take something from their table. It turned out to be a tradition. If a Moroccan has something to offer a passer-by, he should do it. In such a situation, it is not customary to refuse a treat or to offer money to the hosts.
Sometimes local traditions influence the habits of tourists. Once we were refused an order in a restaurant: it was prayer time and all the cooks had left. Muslims pray five times a day, you can check the hours on the Prayer Time website. If you come to a restaurant or cafe at this time, you may have to wait for the cooks and waiters. Usually it is not more than 30 minutes.
4. Money
The currency of Morocco is the Moroccan dirham, 1 MAD.
The largest banknote in Morocco is 200 dirhams. There are also bills of 100, 50 and 20 dirhams and coins: 10, 5, 2, 1 and 0.5 dirhams. In our experience, large bills are accepted everywhere. You will find change even at the vegetable market.
Most places only accept cash. You will need it to buy bus tickets, pay for cabs, buy fruit and eat in cafes. We didn’t bring cash with us, but just withdrew money from ATMs. There are a lot of them in every city – we had no problems finding one. We saw money exchangers at the airport and in bank branches in the city. During the whole trip we paid with a card about ten times.
5. Housing
We stayed in hotels in Fez, Tangier and Casablanca. In general, Moroccan hotels are clean and the staff speak English. Everything is very similar to Europe.
A dar is a traditional Moroccan house. It usually has three floors, several bedrooms, a kitchen and a roof terrace. You can book a room with a shared bathroom and breakfast. It’s basically a hostel. We lived in a dar in Chefchaouen.
Our gift had three living rooms, including ours, a shared bathroom, two toilets, a kitchen and a roof terrace. The room was very small: only a bed fit in it. Breakfast was not included – we went to eat in the central square. For 50 MAD the host could do laundry.
A riad is the same gift but much larger in size. We stayed in a riad in Tetouan. A room with private bath and breakfast cost 40€ for two people per night. Breakfast was served on the terrace – Moroccan tea and scones with honey and jam.
6. Communication
To avoid wasting traffic, I recommend installing Maps me offline maps in advance and marking all bus stations, train stations and attractions. This way you can save money on a sim card or time searching for free internet. In my opinion, Maps me maps work better in Morocco than Google Maps. For example, it is better not to use the latter to navigate in the Old City: you can get lost.
There is network coverage everywhere in the cities and the internet speed is good. During the trip we spent 10 € on the connection. We only went online to check the price of a cab or to find an ATM.
There was wifi in all the places we stayed: hotels, private houses, cafes and restaurants. Often you have to ask the waiter for the password.
7. Transportation
There are two types of cabs in Morocco: Grand Taxi and Petit Taxi. They can be identified by a sign on the roof. The Grand Taxi drives between cities, within cities and to airports, while the Petit Taxi drives only within the city.
Grand Taxi is caught at the airport or train station. You can leave at any time of the day: the cab leaves as soon as the car is full. We usually waited no more than 15 minutes.
We used Grand Taxi several times. For example, we went from Casablanca airport to the city and back. We also took a Grand Taxi from Chefchaouen to Tetouan. In 2018, it cost 70 MAD for two people. There are also buses from Chefchaouen to Tetouan, but we didn’t want to wait for them.
Grand Taxi prices are fixed. For example, a cab from Casablanca airport to the center costs 250-300 MAD.
The price does not change with the number of passengers in the car. We didn’t know this, and on our first day in Morocco, the driver tried to cheat us. We were traveling from the airport with three of us. At the end of the trip, the cab driver started demanding 200 MAD each, even though the whole trip cost 250-300 MAD. We got out of the car in front of the hotel and paid the supposed 100 MAD. The cab driver did not object.
It is better to negotiate the fare before you get into the car. Drivers often start overcharging when they see tourists. In this case, we turned around and left. This tactic worked: the driver caught up with us and reduced the price.
Grand Taxi also travels between cities. In this case, the maximum number of people can fit in the car. Four passengers can sit on the back seat of a sedan instead of the usual two. If you go without traveling companions, the price will be high.
“Petit Taxi” only goes around cities. They catch it anywhere on the street. We like to walk, so we only took it when we were tired or if it was very hot.
Every car has a meter. We asked to turn it on, but in ten trips the driver agreed to do it only once. In that case we had to negotiate the price of the trip in advance. The cab drivers speak French and Arabic, and their English is poor. Several times we showed the price on our fingers.
If the driver does not agree to lower the price, there will probably be another one. For example, in Fez, at the exit of the Old City, there are always cabs that charge twice as much as the same cab on the other side of the street.
We traveled by bus once from Fez to Chefchaouen. There are many bus companies in Morocco, the two biggest being CTM and Supratours. They have modern comfortable buses with air conditioning. CTM has more departure stations and more flights, so we chose them.
Bus tickets are cheaper than Grand Taxi. Cards issued outside Morocco do not always work when paying on websites. But tickets can be bought at bus stations for cash. As a rule, each of these two companies has its own station, so it is better to specify the address in advance. You can buy tickets from any city at any bus station.
We bought tickets from Fez to Chefchaouen on the day we arrived in Morocco. It was August – peak vacation time. We got seats at the back of the bus even though the departure was the next day. I don’t recommend planning to buy tickets on the day of your trip.
Trains in Morocco are comfortable. You can buy tickets in advance on the website of Moroccan railroads ONCF or directly at the station. Only cash is accepted.
There are several types of trains. The main ones are Al Boraq, Al Atlas and shuttles, commuter trains. Al Boraq is a modern high-speed train connecting Casablanca and Tangier, the distance of 320 km it covers in two hours. Al Atlas is a simpler and slower train, but it is also quite comfortable to travel on.
All types of trains have first and second class cars with guaranteed seats – you sit in the seat you paid for. The exception is second class in shuttles, where you can sit on any seat. In the experience of the author of T-J, who lived in Morocco from July – September 2023, the trains adhere strictly to the schedule. Only one of the six trains the author used left ten minutes late.
Car. We didn’t rent a car. In 2023, booking a car in Morocco through an international rental company like Hertz will probably not work: they require the driver to have a credit card, not a debit card, to make a deposit. You can try to rent a car in local rentals, for example Sovoycars.
In my opinion, you should rent a car for traveling around the country. Within one city, it is more comfortable to travel by cab: it is cheaper and quieter. The roads in Morocco are good, but the locals drive without regard for traffic rules. Moroccans like to honk without reason, do not recognize crosswalks and often pass on red at small intersections. Parking is paid. You can pay through parking meters.
Streetcar. In Casablanca and Rabat, you can get around the city by streetcar. We took the streetcar only in Casablanca. We looked up the location of the stops on Maps me.
A streetcar ride in Casablanca costs 8 MAD. If you buy a two-trip ticket, you will save money: it costs 14 MAD. You can buy tickets at terminals at the stations for cash.
8. Food
Traditional dishes. Moroccan cuisine is delicious and inexpensive. In 2018, we paid an average of 200 MAD for lunch for two people. The fish and seafood in the seaside towns is delicious. For example, in Casablanca we had salmon and octopus. I also recommend trying Moroccan tea and sweets, couscous and tagine.
Tagine is a dish made of meat and vegetables. It is cooked in a deep dish with a cone-shaped lid, also called a tagine. The lid keeps the steam inside, so the dish is very tender. Tagine is available in almost all restaurants.
Couscous is served only on Fridays – that is the custom. It comes with a huge plate of meat or chicken, stewed vegetables, nuts and spices. We were also served a glass of a milk drink that tasted like ayran, and caramelized onions with walnuts and raisins for dessert.
For dessert we tried Moroccan sweets. The menu will say moroccan sweets or baklava in English. Some of them look like baklava. There are also pastries with marzipan.
The influence of French culture can be felt in Morocco. For example, in cafes you can order flan, a cake with creamy caramel flavor. Right on the street, locals eat escargot – boiled snails.
Our favorite place in Fez is Clock Cafe, in Tangier we liked the Rif Kebdani restaurant.
The locals, in my opinion, hardly eat fruits and vegetables, especially fresh ones. Their diet is mostly beef, lamb and bread. When we asked for vegetable salad in restaurants, they brought us boiled beans, carrots and fried mushrooms.
Cafes. There are many street cafes in Morocco. It’s cheaper there, but the food comes with dirty forks, wasps and cats that climb on the table. Payment in cash.
Sometimes we had lunch where there are a lot of locals, not tourists. Usually these places have simple interiors, no brightly colored signage, and are tastier and cheaper. For example, Chez Aziz café in Chefchaouen looks like a diner. But it turned out to be tasty and inexpensive.
There are cafes where you can only drink coffee or tea for 5-10 MAD. There is no food in such places. But you can come there with your own cake bought from the pastry shop across the street.
One day we had lunch on the highway between Fez and Chefchaouen. The bus stopped midway so that the passengers could eat and go to the toilet.
In addition to a gas station and a toilet, the parking lot had a store, a butcher store, and a roaster. You could buy a portion of raw lamb or beef from the butcher and take it to the roaster across the street. There the meat was grilled, sprinkled with spices and given with a basket of bread.
You should not drink tap water or water fountains: you can get poisoned. We bought bottled water. There are usually price tags only in supermarkets.
9. Markets
For fruit and vegetables we went to the markets in the Old Town. Everything there is fresh and tasty. There are no price tags anywhere. The price, in my opinion, depends on the ability to bargain. More fruit is sold in carts on the street. There are a lot of them in the city, every time we came across them by chance.
No matter how beautiful the ready-made food at the market looks, you should not buy it. A local resident said that sanitary conditions are not observed there. Cooks do not wear gloves and may sell food with expired shelf life.
10. Safety
Morocco cares about tourists and tries to protect them. Plainclothes policemen keep order in the city, especially in places where tourists congregate. Still, it is better not to walk around the city at night. You should also keep an eye on your belongings in crowded places.
In Morocco, single girls get too much attention from the locals. Moroccans may persistently try to get acquainted or even walk them to the hotel. To avoid such unpleasant situations, it is better to travel to Morocco in a company or with a man. I traveled with a young man, so I felt safe.
I also do not recommend girls to wear short skirts and shorts. Dresses, skirts below the knee, pants and tunics with long sleeves are suitable. If it is very hot, you can wear a tank top, but in this case you should be prepared for judgmental looks. On the beach is allowed to swim in a separate swimsuit. But it is better to sunbathe on the terrace in the place where you are staying. It is more comfortable: no one will look at you.
11. What to bring
If you plan to travel around the country a lot, it is better to take a backpack rather than a suitcase. You can leave it free of charge at the hotel or riad after checkout.
In Fez, we bought sunscreen for 160 MAD.
Just in case, I recommend taking tablets for intestinal infections and painkillers in Morocco: they cannot be bought without a prescription. Those who get motion sickness in transportation should take tablets against motion sickness. The drivers drive fast.
12. Attractions
Rabat. The main attraction of Rabat is Kasbah Udaya. It is an ancient fortress on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Inside it there is a museum and Andalusian gardens. Entrance to the fortress and garden is free, in the museum – paid. It makes sense to visit the museums if you have a lot of time.
Fez is famous for its leather workshops. It is where leather is hand-sewn, dried, treated with chemicals and dyed to make bags, slippers, wallets and bracelets.
There is no charge to attend. You may have to give something to the “guide” if he or she takes you around the workshops. They usually meet tourists at the entrance or inside. We got off with 10 MAD, no more cash. Some guides speak English, but not well. The process of leather dressing was never explained to us. They charge money for physical assistance: help climbing up the dye tanks or the ladder to the terrace overlooking the workshops.
In Tangier you can wander around the Old Town, check out the large bazaar and go to the Kasbah. It is an ancient fortress in the center of the city, overlooking Gibraltar. The visit is free of charge. I recommend not to accept the services of “guides”.
The fortress houses the royal palace of Dar al-Mahzeh, which functions as a museum. There is a fee to enter. The museum exhibits many ancient archaeological finds from the Neolithic period.
We liked it – I recommend you to visit it if you have time.
Memorize
- To save on traffic, it is better to download offline maps in advance and mark sights, train stations and bus stations on them.
- French and Spanish are spoken in Morocco. It is worth taking a phrasebook with you or downloading offline translators at home.
- You can travel between cities by buses, trains and cabs. Trains and buses are comfortable and adhere to timetables.
- Friendliness in Morocco is not always free. If a tourist is shown the way, they may be trying to make money.
- Locals like to inflate the price for newcomers. It is worth asking the price before agreeing to a service.
- If you buy ready-made food at the market, you can get poisoned. Just in case, it is better to take tablets for intestinal infections with you.
