Getting Around Morocco as a Tourist

What Mode of Transportation Should You Choose in Morocco?

Exploring Morocco is possible by plane, train, automobile, bicycle, or foot, and there’s no mode of transportation that’s always going to win out over all the others. For the most part, your Moroccan travel options will depend on what you plan to do and where you want to go during your vacation.

For example, if you plan on visiting just the major cities and centers of tourism, there’s no reason to even think about renting a car (renting a car in Morocco is a dicey experience anyway). However, even if you’re thinking about venturing out into the wilderness a bit, you might not need a car even then.

For my trip to Morocco, I used flights to enter the country, trains to move from major city to major city, and a few taxis to get me from place to place while inside each city (usually the airport to my hotel or the train station to the hotel). I didn’t feel the need to rent a car, but that’s not to say you shouldn’t.

In fact, I had a conversation with a friend before I left for Morocco who told me he actually bought a car, drove it to Morocco, road tripped throughout the entire country, and then sold the car to a local resident before flying back home. If you’re thinking about staying for a few months, that’s certainly one way to do it.

But let’s discuss all your Morocco transportation options and what type of transportation you might want to choose for your particular trip. Morocco is a modern and swift country with all the options you’d expect for travel, and each may come in useful for you, depending on your international travel goals.

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Definitely Try to Fit Train Travel Into Your Moroccan Vacation

In any country I visit that has trains available, I almost always try to avail myself of the option to travel by rail. Even if the trains aren’t high speed, traveling by train is often the option that offers the least amount of stress and the lowest price.

Even if traveling by train in Morocco isn’t the lowest price, it’s usually around the same price as a puddle jumper or ultra-budget airline, and it’s a much greener and ecologically friendly way to travel versus getting on a flight for an hour. Obviously, sometimes a flight is the preferred option, but in Morocco, trains are usually a better option than flights, especially between the major cities.

If you think about it, you have to arrive at least 90 minutes before your flight, even if you’re just taking an hour flight from Marrakech to Casablanca, and the train is going to take about three hours anyway, so your transit time is going to be about the same whether you fly or travel by train.

I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to waltz up to a train car and take a seat a few minutes before departure than I do the early arrival at the airport, where I have to wait for eons to board the plane. I took the trains a few times while in Morocco, and I found them affordable, punctual, and super easy to get from one city to the next.

Is Morocco a Walkable Country?

I did a lot of walking while in Morocco, even when the weather was super hot. I traveled to the country in March, and our travel dates just happened to coincide with Ramadan. You’d think we’d have been the only ones wandering around outside, but there were still a lot of pedestrians almost everywhere we went, as well as loads of cars in the cities.

From what I can tell, a lot of people actually commute into the larger cities. I rode in a car and a bus outside Marrakech to reach a few of our activities and tours, and there were tourist buses, sure, but lots of folks commuting from growing suburbs outside the main cities.

If you’re in a major city, you can definitely get around on foot, and the cell phone coverage is sufficient that you can follow your GPS without a lot of effort. Just fire up Google maps and set your destination. It’s really easy – even in winding places like the inner areas of Fez and Marrakech – to get to your destinations.

You do need to be aware of the cars, though. Out of all the places I’ve been, the drivers in Morocco have been the least likely to stop for pedestrians – or other cars, as it turns out. The traffic is chaotic, and you really do need to watch yourself when you’re walking around as a pedestrian.

Taking Flights Between Moroccan Cities

When I was researching ways to get around Morocco, one of the options I considered was taking flights between the major cities and using other modes of transportation to get us to the smaller spots. I opted against the flights because I felt it was easier and more straight-forward to take the trains.

Overall, if you look at the size of Morocco, the length of flights between its major cities, and the fact that you need to show up early for flights, you’re looking at just as much time to fly from Casablanca to Fez as you are transiting on the train.

However, if you’re keen on racking up frequent flier miles and really prefer flying, there are loads of airlines that service Morocco – both internationally and inside the country. The airports are clean and modern, and air travel is just like you’d experience in any other nation with international airports.

I loved the opportunity to get on a train and see the Moroccan countryside, but if you prefer air travel because you’re used to it, you won’t be disappointed with Morocco’s offerings. It’s pretty affordable, just not as affordable as taking the train.

Driving a Car in Morocco

The one area where I think you have to be brave in Morocco is driving a car. The chaos of vehicles in Morocco is like nothing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been to Vietnam, where there are virtually no street lights, and it seems like there are twice as many cars, motorcycles, and mopeds as there are people.

We saw several vehicular collisions while in Morocco, which made me quite glad I decided to forgo the opportunity to rent a car and drive all over the country. I think you’d be just fine driving in the middle of nowhere, but the cities are just wild. Absolutely crazy with the crush of traffic going every which way, especially during rush hour.

Funnily enough, the acquaintance I mentioned above who told me he actually bought a car in Morocco, spent a month driving around the country exploring, and then sold the car before flying back to his home country, felt fine about doing so. He didn’t seem to have any issues driving around or indicate that the drivers were out of their minds. He thought driving in Morocco was totally safe.

I should clarify that it was mostly the drivers in Fez and Marrakech who were crazy on the roads. Casablanca drivers were a lot more sedate, comparatively, maybe because the city was so much more commercial and built up. Whatever mode of transportation you decide, however, just be aware that driving a car does require an iron stomach.

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