Casablanca, Morocco 3 Day Itinerary

Casablanca, Morocco: 3-Day Itinerary

Most first-time visitors land at Mohammed V airport expecting an atmospheric medina city and find instead a sprawling, working port town built on Art Deco bones. That is Casablanca’s actual appeal: fewer tour buses, real prices, and a coastline that earns its reputation once you know where to point yourself.

Day 1: The Mosque and the Medina

Morning:

  1. Skip the taxi line at the airport and take the Al Bidaoui train instead. It runs roughly hourly between 6am and 10pm, costs about 50 MAD in second class to Casa Voyageurs, and takes 30 to 45 minutes, far more predictable than a highway taxi at rush hour.
  2. Check in somewhere central like Gauthier or the area around Boulevard Mohammed V rather than out toward the airport; it puts the mosque, the medina, and the corniche all within a short cab ride.
  3. Visit Hassan II Mosque, the largest functioning mosque in Africa and one of the few in the country that admits non-Muslim visitors, but only on a scheduled guided tour, not a walk-in. Tours run at fixed times through the day, Saturday to Thursday, with reduced Friday slots since the interior closes to tourists that morning. Foreign adults pay 140 MAD; arrive 30 to 45 minutes early to buy tickets at the onsite office, and dress with shoulders and knees covered or you will be turned away at the door.
  4. Walk the Corniche d’Ain Diab afterward for Atlantic views and a coffee; the water here is Atlantic-cold year round, so treat any swimming as optional and brief.

Afternoon:

  1. Lunch at Rick’s Café, the recreated set from the 1940s film, downtown near the old medina walls. It is unapologetically built for tourists, reservations matter even at lunch, but the Moroccan-international menu is genuinely well executed rather than a novelty trap.
  2. Walk the Old Medina, smaller and less polished than Fez or Marrakech but real: working tailors, spice stalls, and none of the aggressive touting of the bigger tourist cities.
  3. My opinion: do not bother hunting for a big souk here the way you would in Marrakech. Casablanca’s medina rewards a slow wander more than a shopping list.

Evening:

  1. Dinner at a seafood grill along the corniche, order the day’s catch rather than a set menu; Casablanca’s port supplies genuinely fresh sole and sardines most nights.
  2. For a drink afterward, the rooftop bars around Twin Center or Sofitel offer skyline and Atlantic views, a good way to close a long first day.

Day 2: Habous Quarter and Art Deco Casablanca

Morning:

  1. Head to Quartier Habous, built by the French in the 1920s as a planned “new medina,” which makes it cleaner and calmer than the old town while still selling genuine leather goods, ceramics, and spices.
  2. Stop at Salon de Thé Bennis, a pastry counter operating since 1930, for gazelle horns and chebakia; locals queue for it and it is worth the wait.
  3. From Habous, walk or cab to the Royal Palace exterior nearby, no public entry but worth a look at the gates and guard.

Afternoon:

  1. Lunch at a small Moroccan kitchen in or near Habous rather than a hotel restaurant; Dar Beida and similar home-style spots do tagines and couscous properly and cheaply.
  2. Spend the afternoon in downtown Casablanca’s Art Deco core along Boulevard Mohammed V, one of the largest concentrations of 1920s to 1950s French colonial architecture anywhere in Africa, largely unrestored and easy to miss if you do not go looking.
  3. Notre-Dame de Lourdes church, a mid-century Catholic basilica known for its modernist stained glass by Gabriel Loire, is a quiet, air-conditioned stop most tourists skip entirely.

Evening:

  1. Dinner in the Gauthier or Racine district, where a newer wave of Moroccan-fusion restaurants has opened over the past few years, generally better value than the tourist-zone options near the mosque.
  2. If you want nightlife, Casablanca has a livelier bar and lounge scene than Marrakech, concentrated around Racine and the Twin Center towers.

Gotcha to know

Shops and many small restaurants slow down or close during Friday midday prayers, and Ramadan changes hours across the whole city dramatically, with mosque tours cut back and restaurants closed during daylight. Check the calendar before you plan meals around either.

Day 3: Day Trip to El Jadida

Morning:

  1. Trains from Casa Voyageurs to El Jadida run roughly every two hours, take about 75 to 90 minutes, and cost the equivalent of 6 to 10 USD, a far easier trip than trying to drive it yourself in rental traffic.
  2. In El Jadida, head straight for the Cité Portugaise, the walled 16th-century Portuguese old town, not to be confused with any Casablanca kasbah since this fortress exists only here. Walk the ramparts for Atlantic views and drop into the Portuguese Cistern, an underground water reservoir whose reflecting pool has made it a minor film location over the decades.
  3. The beach just outside the old town walls is a good stretch for a walk, less commercialized than Ain Diab.

Afternoon:

  1. Lunch at a small restaurant inside or near the Cité Portugaise walls; grilled fish is the safe, reliably good order in a Portuguese-founded port town.
  2. Wander the newer part of El Jadida for an hour if you have time; it is unremarkable but gives a sense of a genuine mid-size Moroccan coastal town without any tourist infrastructure.

Evening:

  1. Return train to Casablanca in the late afternoon; do not plan the last train of the day as your buffer since El Jadida service thins out after early evening.
  2. Have a final dinner back in Casablanca, ideally somewhere you did not already try, before an early departure the next morning.

Things to Know

  1. Casablanca has a Mediterranean-Atlantic climate: mild, damp winters and warm, rarely brutal summers. A light jacket covers most evenings year round.
  2. Friday midday and Ramadan both compress restaurant and shop hours significantly; plan meals with a buffer during those periods.
  3. Haggling is expected in Habous and the old medina but far less aggressive here than in Marrakech or Fez; a firm, friendly counteroffer usually settles it fast.
  4. Petit taxis (red, metered) are the norm within the city; agree on the meter being used before you get in, since some drivers will claim it is broken to negotiate a flat, inflated fare.
  5. French and Darija Arabic dominate daily life; English is common in hotels and tourist restaurants but thin elsewhere, so a few Darija greetings go a long way.
  6. Dress modestly at religious sites and generally around the city; Casablanca is more cosmopolitan than rural Morocco but still values covered shoulders and knees in public.
  7. Confirm the bill at restaurants before paying. Occasional added charges for bread or a service fee show up unannounced, and it is standard practice to ask for a breakdown rather than assume the total is correct.