Casablanca Travel Guide
Travel guide to Casablanca, Morocco with comprehensive information about events, shopping, and major Casablanca sporting events to help you enjoy your visit more.
Casablanca Overview
The old image of Casablanca, as the last outpost of civilisation on the edge of the endless anarchic wastelands of the Sahara is pretty much gone. Because of how cosmopolitan this evocative port city has become, you're more likely to hear a mobile phone as you walk around than the sound of the Muezzin calling people to prayer. Despite its seedy reputation, Casablanca has developed a real veneer of respectability that is hard to penetrate is hard to get behind.
If you persevere, and search for the reality of Casablanca, the fleeting glimpses of traditional Moroccan life that you eventually coalesce, and show you the world behind the image. Beyond the main streets you can explore an ancient city of mosques and medinas, of aromatic souks where you can haggle over the price of a genuine Persian carpet and smoke a shisha pipe as you make a deal over a cup of strong Arabic coffee.
You can get cheap flights to Casablanca all year round, and because there is such a low cost of living, a visit to Casablanca, whether a short break, or a long holiday on the nearby beaches will provide good value and good memories in equal amounts.
Top Casablanca Attractions
The main allure of Casablanca is in its charming streets and bustle, with some stunning Moorish buildings and markets to explore. The traditions of the region are upheld, and the skyline is marked with mosques and minarets.
Shopping in Casablanca
Famous for having a number of lovely souks and bazaars to explore, it is easy to spend a day or more hunting for bargains and bartering in the back streets. Good buys include the traditional carpets, and trinkets in typical Islamic style that are immediately recognisable.
Prices are always negotiable, and you can make decent savings if you are willing to haggle, although it should be treated as a bit of fun, and a social event rather than being a contest.
Casablanca Sporting Events
On the Atlantic beaches close to Casablanca, there is plenty of opportunity to indulge a passion for water sports. With strong waves, and wide beaches, the surfing is excellent, while further offshore, deep sea fishing and scuba diving are both available depending on whether you like your fish cooked or swimming.
Inland from Casablanca, you can ride camels on the fringes of the Sahara desert, and further affield, you can even ski and rock climb in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
