particular hotels.
Bus
The local bus system has been revamped, but unless you’re travelling alone and on a very
limited budget a petit taxi is generally much easier. Buses cost Dh4 and stop at designated bus
stops. The following bus routes are useful, but numbers and routes may change in the
restructure for the tramway.
Bus 2 Blvd Mohammed V to Casa Voyageurs train station.
Bus 4 Along Blvd de Paris and down Ave Lalla Yacout to Nouvelle Medina.
Bus 9 From Blvd d’Anfa to Aïn Diab and the beaches.
Bus 10 From Place de la Concorde, along Blvd Mohammed V to Gare Routière Ouled Ziane.
Bus 11 From Ave des FAR to Gare Routière.
Bus 15 Northbound from Pl Oued al- Makhazine to the Hassan II Mosque.
Taxi
Casa’s red petits taxis are excellent value and can generally get you to your destination far
faster than any bus. You can hail one anywhere, or there’s a petit-taxi stand on Ave des FAR.
The minimum fare is Dh7, but expect to pay Dh15 in or near the city centre. Most drivers use
the meter without question, but if they refuse to, just get out of the cab. Prices rise by 50%
after 8pm. Have plenty of small coins to hand, and check your change.
Tram
Casablanca’s tramway system should be operational by the end of 2012.
RABAT
POP 2.5 MILLION
While Rabat, Morocco’s political and administrative capital since independence in 1956, has not
established itself as a tourist destination, visitors who do go find a gem of a city. The colonial
architecture is stunning, the palm-lined boulevards are well kept and relatively free of traffic,
and the atmosphere is as cosmopolitan as its economic big brother down the coast. All in all,
life here is pleasant and civilised. Casablancais say that, with all the bureaucrats, Rabat is dull,
and they have a point. Yet the city is more laid-back, pleasant and more provincial than
Casablanca, and far less grimy and frantic.
The quiet medina has an authentic feel to it, some good shops and fascinating architecture.
You’ll be blissfully ignored on the streets and souqs, so it’s easy to discover the city’s
monuments and hidden corners at your own pace. The picturesque kasbah, with its narrow
alleys, art galleries and magnificent ocean views, is also worth exploring.
Rabat has a long and rich history, and plenty of monuments to show for it from the
Phoenician, Roman, Almohad and Merenid times. The power shifted at times between Rabat
and Salé, the whitewashed town across the Bou Regreg river, where time appears to have
stood still.
Rabat is also a good place to eat; there are plenty of wonderful restaurants around town.
The nightlife is not what it is in Casablanca, but an early afternoon stroll along the main avenues
of the happening suburb of Agdal, where local hipsters flaunt their skinny jeans, is entertaining