lunch break on Friday afternoon. During Ramadan the rhythm of the country changes and office
hours shift to around 10am to 3pm or 4pm.
Hours often vary between medinas and villes nouvelles (new towns): most businesses close
on Sundays in villes nouvelles, whereas those in medinas usually open continuously from about
9am to 7pm except on Fridays.
Medina souqs and produce markets in the villes nouvelles of the bigger cities tend to wind
down on Thursday afternoon and are usually empty on Friday.
Souqs in small villages start early and generally wind down before the onset of the afternoon
heat.
In cities, pharmacies open all night on a rotating basis. All pharmacies should have a list in
their window of that week’s night pharmacies.
In the main tourist cities, bureaux de change (foreign-exchange bureaus) often open until
8pm and over the weekend.
Téléboutique s (private telephone offices) and internet cafes often stay open late into the
night, especially in cities.
Listings in this book do not specify opening hours unless they differ markedly from those in
the table below – apart from reviews of sights, which always give opening hours.
Banks 8.30am-6.30pm Mon-Fri
Post offices 8.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri
Government offices 8.30am-6.30pm Mon-Fri
Restaurants noon-3pm & 7-10pm
Bars 4pm-late
Shops 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-8pm Mon-Sat (often closed longer at midday for prayer)
Tourist offices 8.30am-noon & 2.30-6.30pm Mon-Thu, 8.30am-11.30am & 3-6.30pm Fri
Customs Regulations
» » Importing or exporting dirham is forbidden.
» » Duty-free allowances are:
Up to 200 cigarettes, or 25 cigars, or 250g of tobacco
1L of alcoholic drink
150ml of perfume
Presents or souvenirs worth up to Dh2000.
» » Forbidden items include ‘any immoral items liable to cause a breach of the peace’, such as
‘books, printed matter, audio and video cassettes’.