Morocco Travel Guide

(lu) #1

Casablanca 2nd/1st class Dh90/140, three hours, nine daily


Fez Dh295/195, seven hours, eight daily


Meknès Dh265/174, 6½ hours


Rabat Dh120/185, four hours, nine daily


Safi Dh62 (2nd class), three hours, one daily


Tangier Dh310/205, 10½ hours, one daily


The Tangier train travels overnight. For sleeping berths to Tangier the ticket costs Dh350 each
for a sleeping-car compartment; book at least two days in advance.


Getting Around

To/From the Airport
A petit taxi to Marrakesh from the airport (6km) should be no more than Dh70 by day or Dh100
by night, but you may have difficulty convincing the driver of this. Airport transfers to the
Palmeraie or arranged through hotels or riad guesthouses in the medina or ville nouvelle cost
Dh150-250, including luggage transport by handcart to your riad’s front door. Alternatively,
airport bus 19 runs every 20 minutes from outside the airport carpark to near the Djemaa el-
Fna (Dh20), and local bus 11 runs irregularly to Djemaa el-Fna (Dh3.50).


Bus
Local buses Offline map ( all fares Dh3.50) leave for the ville nouvelle at seemingly random


intervals from Pl Foucauld near the Djemaa el-Fna.


Key bus lines include the following:


No 1 medina-Guéliz (along Ave Mohammed V)


No 3 & 10 medina-train station


No 11 & 18 medina-Menara Gardens


No 4 & 12 Jardin Majorelle-medina


Calèches
These are the horse-drawn green carriages you’ll see at Place Foucauld next to the Djemaa el-
Fna. They’re a pleasant way to get around, if you avoid the rush hours (8am, midday and
5.30pm to 7.30pm). One-way trips on set medina routes down Rue Debachi officially cost Dh20
per person; otherwise, state-fixed rates of Dh100 per hour apply (rates are posted inside the
carriage). Expect a tour of the ramparts to take 1½ hours, and allow three hours for the
Palmeraie. In Hivernage, calèches linger outside major hotels along Ave el-Qadissia and Rue
Echouhada.


Car & Motorcycle
Your feet are the best way to get around the medina, which is mostly closed to car traffic.
Driving in Marrakesh is an extreme sport, with scooters zooming from all sides and traffic
roundabouts the meek may never escape – best to leave the driving to unfazed taxi drivers
whenever possible. Cars present an additional problem of parking, so rent them only when
strictly necessary for trips out of the city.


If  you’re  feeling brave   and/or  foolhardy,  you might   join    the fray    on  a   scooter or  motorcycle.
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