Casablanca
A city without the thing people come for — and one mosque that makes it worth it
- When to go
- September 22° · 2 rainy days
- Per day
- €€price 2 of 5
- How many days
- 1days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 25 km Casablanca · 95 km Rabat
- Right now
Casablanca has no medina of the kind travellers expect from Morocco, and it does not have the film it is famous for — that was shot in Hollywood. It has the country's largest airport and one mosque, the only one in Morocco open to non-Muslims, and that is worth a day.
The Hassan II Mosque was built in 1993, partly over the sea, with a 210-metre minaret. Non-Muslims enter only on a guided tour, at fixed times, and it is the only such case in the country. Admission stood at about 140 dirhams in September 2026 — check the foundation's site before you go; the outer plaza and the sea wall are free and worth it on their own.
The other reason the city makes sense is the architecture. Between 1912 and 1956 Morocco was a French protectorate, and Casablanca was built to a plan in those years, in a style that fuses art deco with Moroccan motifs — whole blocks in the centre, around Place Mohammed V, look like Marseille with arabesques. Most of it is run down, which is exactly why it feels like a city not performing for visitors.
Practically: this is where you land and where you leave from. The train to Marrakesh takes about three hours, to Rabat about forty-five minutes on the fast train, with departures every half hour, and to Fez about four. If your flight is in the evening, a day in Casablanca beats another day in Marrakesh — because everything is close from here.
What to see in Casablanca
The Hassan II Mosque
The only mosque in Morocco open to non-Muslims, and only on a guided tour at a fixed time. The sea-front plaza is free.
The art deco centre
Blocks from the protectorate years around Place Mohammed V. Run down, and honest for it.
The old medina
Smaller and younger than those in Fez and Marrakesh, and mostly working for locals. If you have seen Fez, there is nothing new here.
Habous
The new medina, built in the 1930s to a French plan in Moroccan style. Orderly, and where you buy books and sweets.
The Corniche
The Atlantic promenade west of the mosque, with cafés and pools. This is where the city goes in the evening.
The train to Rabat
Forty minutes, departures every half hour. The easiest trip out and the best way to see the difference.
Two things you probably did not know
The film Casablanca was shot in Hollywood and not a single frame was filmed in the city. Rick's Cafe, which does business in Casablanca today, opened in 2004 modelled on the film set.
The Hassan II mosque stands partly over the sea, and its minaret is 210 metres tall, among the highest anywhere. Part of the prayer hall has a glass floor with the water visible below it.
Ready for Casablanca?
Within reach from here
Places sorted by straight-line distance from Casablanca — day trips or weekends.
Morocco
→The north by train, the south by road, and in July you leave Marrakech for the coast
Portugal
→A country that spent centuries looking at the ocean instead of the Europe behind it
Turkey
→Istanbul, then one direction: Cappadocia by plane, Ephesus and Pamukkale by train, or the Lycian coast by bus
All 277 places we write about sit on one page — narrow them down by continent, country, price or what you are travelling for.
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