A first-timer's map of Morocco's biggest city
The Best Things to Do in Casablanca
Casablanca isn't a maze of medinas like Marrakech or Fez — it's Morocco's modern, ocean-facing metropolis, with one world-class mosque and a surprising amount around it. Here's the whole spread.
Check dates and availability ↗Start with the mosque that anchors the city
Casablanca's unmissable sight, and for many the reason to stop at all, is the Hassan II Mosque on the northern seafront. It's one of the largest mosques in the world, built partly out over the Atlantic, with a minaret of roughly 210 metres among the tallest religious structures anywhere. Crucially, it's one of the very few mosques in Morocco that non-Muslims can enter — but only on an organised guided tour at set times, never on your own, so a guided entry tour is genuinely the way inside rather than just a queue-skip. Give it a proper morning: an hour inside with a guide, then time on the free esplanade around it, which is one of the best places in the city to watch the waves and, later, the sunset behind the minaret.
Walk the Corniche and the seafront
Casablanca faces the Atlantic, and its relationship with the ocean is a big part of the city's character. The Corniche, the seafront boulevard running along the Ain Diab district west of the mosque, is where the city comes to stroll, eat and swim — a long ribbon of cafés, ice-cream stands, beach clubs and restaurants that fills up in the late afternoon and stays lively into the evening. It's an easy, unstructured few hours: walk off a big lunch, watch the surf, and settle in somewhere for a mint tea or a seafood dinner as the light drops. Pair it naturally with the mosque, which sits at the eastern end of the same seafront, and you've got a full, low-effort day built entirely around the water.
The old medina and the Habous quarter
For the traditional Morocco of narrow lanes and craft stalls, Casablanca has two distinct quarters worth an afternoon. The old medina, near the port, is smaller and rougher-edged than the famous medinas elsewhere in the country, but it's authentically lived-in and good for a wander. More rewarding for most visitors is the Habous quarter (the "new medina"), built in the early twentieth century, where tidy arcaded streets are lined with shops selling olives, spices, ceramics, leather and Morocco's famous pastries. A guided walk through either brings out the stories and the workshops you'd walk straight past alone, and it's an easy, sociable way to shop and eat your way through a couple of hours without getting lost.
Art Deco Casablanca and the city centre
Casablanca grew fast in the early twentieth century, and it left the city one of the world's great concentrations of Art Deco and Mauresque architecture — a whole downtown of curved balconies, wrought iron and faded grandeur that architecture lovers find genuinely special. The heart of it is around Mohammed V Square and the surrounding boulevards, where grand civic buildings and old cinemas sit alongside the daily bustle. It rewards slow walking with your eyes up, and a guided architecture walk pays off here more than almost anywhere, because so much of the interest is in the detail and the history rather than a single headline building. Combine it with the Habous quarter and you've covered the city's built character in one satisfying day on foot.
Rick's Café and a night out
Casablanca the movie was never filmed here, but the city has leaned gamely into the association, and Rick's Café — a restaurant and bar recreating the film's setting, complete with a piano — is a genuinely fun evening for anyone with a soft spot for the classic. It's touristy and knows it, but the atmosphere is warm and the recreation is done with real affection. Beyond it, the city has a lively contemporary dining and nightlife scene, particularly out along the Corniche, where beach clubs and restaurants run late. Book a table at Rick's ahead if the film is the draw, and treat it as one charming stop in a bigger Casablanca evening rather than the whole plan.
Eat your way through the city
Casablanca eats well, blending Moroccan classics with a cosmopolitan, coastal streak. This is a city of fresh Atlantic seafood, of tagines and grilled fish, of French-influenced patisserie and street snacks, and of the ceremony of mint tea taken slowly. Because the good food is scattered across neighbourhoods rather than concentrated in one tourist strip, a small-group food tour is one of the most efficient and sociable ways to eat widely — someone who knows the city walks you between the stalls, bakeries and family restaurants you'd never find alone, and explains what you're eating. Whether you graze the Habous quarter's pastry shops or sit down to seafood on the Corniche, plan at least one meal as an event rather than refuelling.
Using Casablanca as a base
One of Casablanca's quiet strengths is location. It's Morocco's transport hub, with the country's busiest airport and fast, frequent trains, so it works well as a first or last stop that also opens up the region. The capital, Rabat, is a short train ride up the coast and makes an easy day trip, as does the old Portuguese port town of El Jadida to the south. Marrakech is a comfortable train journey away for onward travel. So even if the mosque and the seafront fill a day or two on their own, don't think of Casablanca as a dead end — it's a springboard, and building a day trip or an onward Morocco tour around it turns a short stop into a proper base for the wider country.