Casablanca
Morocco's working capital on the Atlantic, a city of three million built largely in the last century, where a 210-metre minaret rises from a platform over the sea.
- Arrival
- Mohammed V · CMN
- To the city
- About 30 km to the centre by road
- Private jets
- Jetex FBO at CMN, open 24 hours
- Best time
- April to November
The city
Art Deco on the Atlantic.
Under the protectorate the French called Casablanca a laboratory of urbanism, and the experiment shows in the centre: white façades in Art Deco and Neo-Mauresque styles, laid out around one of the largest man-made ports in Africa. Today it is the country's commercial heart, home to its stock exchange and to some 3.2 million people, with four tram lines threading the boulevards.
The ocean keeps the climate even. From April to November afternoons run from 20 to 27 °C and the summer months are almost rainless; winter stays near 18 °C, and December is the wettest month, at about 79 mm.
Arriving
Thirty kilometres south, by motorway or train.
Mohammed V lies at Nouaceur, about thirty kilometres south of the centre, reached by the A3 motorway or by the Al Bidaoui train, which runs hourly from four in the morning to eleven at night to Casa-Port and Casa-Voyageurs. Its main runway is more than 3,700 metres long, and a new terminal is planned for 2029.
- Madrid 1 h 25
- Barcelona 1 h 55
- Nice 2 h 35
- Cairo 5 h 05
- San Francisco 12 h 40 long-range jet
When to go
April to November.
An Atlantic climate, mild all year. April to November is warm and mostly dry, with highs of 20 to 27 °C and a sea at 21 to 22 °C from June to October. December to March is cooler, at 18 to 19 °C, with most of the year's rain.
- 18° J 62 17°
- 18° F 59 16°
- 19° M 50 17°
- 20° A 40 17°
- 22° M 18 19°
- 24° J 5 21°
- 27° J 0 22°
- 27° A 0 22°
- 27° S 4 22°
- 24° O 31 21°
- 21° N 69 19°
- 18° D 79 18°
What to see and do
Days in and around Casablanca.
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Landmark
Hassan II Mosque
Completed in 1993 to designs by Michel Pinseau, part of it standing over the Atlantic, with room for 105,000 worshippers inside and around it.
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Landmark
The old medina
A mosque, a synagogue and a church within a few lanes of one another, inside the walls above the port.
-
Landmark
Rick's Café
A bar and restaurant opened in 2004 in homage to the film that made the city's name famous.
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Culture
Museum of Moroccan Judaism
Housed since 1997 in a 1948 Jewish orphanage in Oasis, it shows Torah scrolls, costumes, jewellery and the bimah of the Beni Issakhar Synagogue.
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Culture
Villa des Arts de Casablanca
Fondation ONA runs this 1930s Art Deco villa as a gallery of Moroccan modern art, with works by Ahmed Cherkaoui, Jilali Gharbaoui and Farid Belkahia.
-
Culture
Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum
Since 2012 the museum has shown the Slaoui collection of gold jewellery, paintings by Mohammed Ben Ali Rbati and Orientalist travel posters, Majorelle's among them.
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Food & wine
Marché Central
Pierre Bousquet's market hall of 1917 sells Atlantic fish, flowers and spices, and its stalls shuck oysters to order.
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Golf
Royal Golf Anfa Mohammedia
Founded in 1925, the club plays an eighteen-hole course on Boulevard des Zenatas, a few kilometres from central Mohammedia.
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Food & wine
Domaine des Ouled Thaleb
More than a century old, the Benslimane estate runs truck tours through 570 acres of vines, followed by tasting and lunch at Le Ryad des Vignes.
Where to stay
Two towers in the white city.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Sofitel Casablanca Tour Blanche A tower in the business district between the medina and the Hassan II Mosque, with 141 rooms, 30 suites and a heated indoor pool.
- Royal Mansour Casablanca A 1950s building by Emile Duhon, reopened with 149 rooms and suites, an aquarium in the lobby and two MICHELIN Keys; Forbes Four-Star.
Where to dine
The best tables in town.
No MICHELIN guide covers Morocco. Three tables are recognised by the first Gault&Millau Maroc, 2026; La Brasserie is the French restaurant of the Royal Mansour, under the chef Eric Frechon.
- La Table III Gault&Millau, 3 toques Fayçal Bettioui, Cook of the Year 2026 Casablanca
- La Grande Table Marocaine Gault&Millau, 13.9/20 Traditional Moroccan Royal Mansour Casablanca, 23rd floor
- L'ART, Oriental Fine Dining Gault&Millau, 11.2/20 Franco-Moroccan Art Palace Suites & Spa
- La Brasserie Signature restaurant, Royal Mansour Casablanca French, by Eric Frechon Royal Mansour Casablanca
Elsewhere in Morocco
More reasons to come.
Flying to Casablanca?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.