Things To Do In Casablanca

So You're Going To Casablanca

Casablanca doesn't do touristy in the way people expect. It's a working city, messy and loud and mostly indifferent to your itinerary. But if you know where to look and when to be somewhere, it's actually worth your time. The trick is not treating it like Marrakech. They're completely different animals. I spent three days there last spring trying to piece together a reasonable route between the mosque, the medina, and the old French quarter without spending half my trips stuck in traffic. That's the first thing you need to understand: Casablanca's traffic is not something you plan around. It's something you survive. The tram exists and it's decent, but it only covers a narrow corridor. Most of your movement will be by taxi or walking, and both come with their own negotiations.

Things To Do In Casablanca That Aren't Injured Getting There

The Hassan II Mosque is the obvious start. It's the only mosque in Morocco open to non-Muslims and honestly it's worth it, even if you're not religious. The construction alone is staggering. Built partly over the Atlantic, the floor heats, there's stained glass from Fes, and the minaret is 210 meters tall. Arrive right at opening around 9 AM if you can. The guided tour runs in French and English, lasts about 45 minutes, and costs 120 dirhams for foreigners as of my last trip. Cash only. You'll need to remove your shoes and socks, and women should cover their hair and wear long sleeves and pants. They hand out robes at the door if you're underdressed, but they're thin and smell vaguely of damp concrete. After the mosque, walk toward the Corniche. It's a 15-minute stroll along the waterfront. People jog, kids play football on the sand, and the old fishing port sits to your left. There's a small plaza with a couple of coffee stands where you can sit and watch the boats come in. It's not glamorous. It's good. The medina is separate from the old French quarter, which confused me on my first visit because everything on maps looks connected. It's not. The medina is the old walled city near the port. The Medina Gate is the main entrance and it's busy. Inside, the streets narrow dramatically and taxis do not enter. You walk. The main market street sells everything from plastic sandals to brass lanterns, and the vendors will approach you within three steps. The trick is to keep walking with purpose. Don't make eye contact. If someone grabs your arm, just keep moving and say la, shukran repeatedly. It sounds rude but it works better than being polite.

I learned the hard way that the medina closes early. I wandered in around 5 PM thinking I had time and ended up trapped behind a street being cleared for evening prayers. Vendors were packing up, the alleys got dark fast, and I spent 40 minutes trying to find my way back to the tram stop. If you go, go in the morning between 10 and noon when the light is good and the market is active but not yet chaotic. Bring water. The heat in there is ridiculous and there's nowhere to buy a bottle.

The Old Quarter And What Actually Exists There

The Quartier Habous, sometimes called the New Medina, is the one place I'd actually recommend for food. It was built in the 1930s as a model neighborhood and it shows. Wide streets, clean, and lined with small restaurants and bakeries. Sidi Moumen is the main street. Try the lamb pastilla at Al Jawda or the msemen at any of the stand-up counters. Prices are cheap, maybe 20 to 40 dirhams for a solid meal. The problem is that it gets packed between 12:30 and 2 PM on weekdays. Come at 11 or after 3 and you'll get a table without waiting. The French Quarter, or Ville Moderne, is where most hotels are and where you'll find the Mall of Casablanca, the Opera House, and Boulevard Mohammed V. It's pleasant to walk, has decent cafes, and feels like a small European city. Place des Nations Unies is the main square. There's a statue of the US ambassador who negotiated the Moroccan independence deal, and several restaurants with terraces facing it. Café Glacier sits right there. It's been around since 1940. The ice cream is fine, the people watching is excellent, and it's a reasonable place to rest your feet between neighborhoods. For nightlife, the Corniche strip has a handful of places that stay open late. Le Deringue is a bar in the French Quarter that plays jazz and draws a mixed crowd of expats and locals. It's not fancy. The walls are peeling. The drinks are priced in dollars essentially. It's good. Further down the coast near Ain Diab, there are beach clubs that open around 4 PM and stay until midnight. They charge cover fees ranging from 200 to 500 dirhams and the music is typically Afrobeat or house. If that's your thing, it's acceptable. If you're looking for something authentic, you won't find it here.

Getting Around Without Losing Your Mind

Taxis in Casablanca come in two colors. Petit taxis are smaller and city-wide, painted green or white depending on the zone. Grand taxis are larger sedans that do intercity routes or shared rides. Within the city, you'll use petit taxis. The meter is supposed to be used. It rarely is. Your fare should be 20 to 50 dirhams for most trips inside the main areas. If the driver insists on a fixed price that's double or triple that, get out. Walk to the next corner and flag another one. This isn't a negotiation tactic that works. They see through it immediately. The tram opened in 2012 and runs from Hay Hassani in the south to Lycée Marne in the north, passing near the medina and the French Quarter. A single ticket is 8 dirhams. You buy a card at the station, load it with credit, and tap in. It's clean, air-conditioned, and underutilized because most people don't know it exists. Use it if your trip aligns with the line. It beats fighting a taxi in the middle of downtown. Walking is viable in the French Quarter and along the Corniche. Don't walk in the medina after dark unless you're with someone who knows the area. Not because it's dangerous in a violent sense, but because it's easy to get turned around and the alleys don't have lighting. I got locked out of a courtyard at midnight once because a gate closed behind me and I couldn't find the main street. Took me 35 minutes to backtrack to a tram stop. Just don't do that.

Food And What Actually Tastes Good

Casablanca's food scene is understated compared to Marrakech or Fes, but it's honest. The best meals I had weren't in tourist restaurants. They were at standing-room-only spots where the menu was handwritten and nobody spoke English. The tagine places near the port serve a fish tagine that's legitimately good and costs about 60 dirhams. The brochettes at the stand outside the Habous market are cheap and smoky. Zaouia, a small place on Rue Allal Ben Abdellah, does a lamb shoulder that's worth the detour from the French Quarter. Reservations aren't a thing there. You walk in and wait. Avoid the restaurants with picture menus facing Boulevard Mohammed V. Those are price traps. A chicken tagine in those places runs 120 to 180 dirhams and tastes like canned soup. The same meal at a local spot is 50 and tastes like actual food. This applies everywhere in Morocco, not just Casablanca.

What Nobody Tells You

Casablanca has almost no green space except the Corniche and a couple of small parks. If you're visiting during summer, which runs from June through September, the humidity makes everything feel heavier than it should. Temperatures hit 30 to 35 Celsius daily with high moisture. The AC in malls and hotels becomes your refuge. Plan outdoor activities for early morning or late afternoon. The midday hours are genuinely unpleasant. The currency is dirhams and you can't buy them outside Morocco. Exchange what you need at the airport on arrival or at a bureau de change in the French Quarter. ATMs are everywhere and most accept international cards. I'd advise carrying small bills. Many places, especially in the medina, won't have change for a 200 dirham note. A vendor might refuse your purchase rather than break a large bill. Walk away and get change at a bakery or pharmacy instead. Photography is fine in public spaces. Don't photograph the mosque interior without permission, and don't photograph people in the medina without asking. Some will say yes for a tip. Some will say no and mean it. Respect it. The police don't enforce photography rules strictly but locals get annoyed and that's worse than any fine.

The city has a real estate boom going on. New developments are popping up along the coast and in the eastern districts. It's changing the skyline but also pushing some older neighborhoods toward gentrification. The old cinema districts near Place Mohammed V are affected. Several historic theaters have been converted or abandoned. If you're interested in that side of the city, go soon before it's too late. I also noticed that English is more common in hotels and upscale restaurants than I expected, but outside those circles, French is still the lingua franca. Learning five phrases in French gets you further than any English fluency. Bonjour, s'il vous plaît, merci, combien, and non are enough to get you through most interactions. Locals appreciate the effort even if your pronunciation is terrible. Two days is enough for the highlights. Three gives you breathing room. Four is excessive unless you have specific reasons to stay longer. The airport is 30 minutes from downtown by car, or 45 minutes by tram plus a taxi if you're budgeting. Budget airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet serve Casablanca from Europe, and the flights are often cheaper than train alternatives from Tangier or Fes. If you're connecting through Rabat, the bus takes about 90 minutes and costs around 60 dirhams. The train exists too but the schedule is limited and the stations aren't well connected to the city center.

Bottom line: Casablanca isn't charming. It isn't romantic. It's loud, dense, and indifferent. But it's also real in a way that many Moroccan cities have polished into something else. The Hassan II Mosque will stop you mid-stride. The Habous will feed you well. The Corniche at sunset is not Instagram material but it's the kind of moment you remember. Go with low expectations and you'll probably leave surprised.