Things to do in Casablanca

Casablanca is the biggest Moroccan city and the least touristic. The port carries the country's trade and the airport most of its arrivals. Nobody comes for the medina.

The mosque on the water

The Hassan II Mosque is the reason to stop. Michel Pinseau designed it, and it opened in 1993. Part of it stands on a platform out over the Atlantic.

• The minaret — 210 m, and second in the world only to the one in Algiers.
• Capacity — twenty-five thousand inside, eighty thousand more on the courtyard.
• The roof — 1,100 tonnes of it, and it opens in five minutes.
• Getting in — non-Muslims may, rare in Morocco, but only on a timed guided tour.

A city built in the 1920s and 1930s

The rest is architecture rather than monuments, and it wants someone to read it.

• Downtown — Art Deco and Mauresque blocks along Boulevard Mohammed V, thrown up under the protectorate.
• Place Mohammed V — the administrative set piece: courthouse, clock tower, fountain, pigeons.
• Habous — a new medina of the 1930s built to look old, good for books and pastries.
• Mahkama du Pacha — carved cedar and zellij in Habous, open when official business allows.
• Ain Diab — the corniche, the sea pools, where the city spends its evening.
• Rick's Café — a real bar built to match the film, which was shot in California.

What leaves from here

Casablanca works better as a hinge than a stay.

Rabat is under an hour by train. Chellah alone repays the fare: a Roman town, a Marinid necropolis, storks everywhere.

Marrakesh is about three hours by rail and Fes about four. Both are sold from here as long private day trips. Chefchaouen goes overnight.

Practical

• From the airport. Mohammed V is 30 km out, and a train runs from under the terminal to the city stations in forty minutes. Cheaper than a taxi and usually quicker.
• Trams. The network reached four lines in 2024, all on one flat fare, and it beats the traffic. Petit taxis are red here, and the meter needs asking for.
• Mosque visits. Tours run at set hours and stop around Friday prayers. Shoes come off, shoulders and knees stay covered, and the ticket desk is outside the gate.
• Weather. The Atlantic keeps the city mild and damp. Summer rarely passes the high twenties, winter mornings come with fog, and the sea wind is colder than the number suggests.
• Dress. A business city: more formal on the street than resort Morocco, less watchful than the old medinas.
• Eating. Lunch runs long from one and dinner starts around eight. The stalls at the Marché Central cook whatever you point at.