Casablanca (Arabic: الدار البيضاء, Dar al-Bayda) may be the cosmopolitan, industrial and economic heart of Morocco, and its largest city, but it is one of the less endearing of the country's sights. With a small, unassuming medina and a traffic-congested ville nouvelle, travellers arriving via Casablanca may be tempted to find the first train out to nearby Rabat. The awe-inspiring Hassan II Mosque and happening nightlife and architecture (mostly colonial times buildings), however, are worth at least a day of your Moroccan itinerary.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
The modern city of Casablanca was founded by Berber fishermen in the 10th century BCE, and was used by the Phoenicians, Romans, and the Merenids as a strategic port called Anfa. The Portuguese destroyed it and rebuilt it under the name Casa Branca, only to abandon it after an earthquake in 1755. The Moroccan sultan rebuilt the city as Daru l-Badya and it was given the name Casablanca by Spanish traders who established trading bases there. The French occupied the city in 1907, establishing it as a protectorate in 1912 and starting construction of the ville nouvelle. During World War II in Africa, Morocco became part of Vichy France, a non-belligerent puppet state of Germany.
A government department puts out an exhaustive map of Casablanca in book form called Carte Guide de Casablanca that you can find in bookstores or online; in all likelihood, though, it isn't necessary. Other than that, Casablanca is like any European city: the streets (mostly) have signs, and passersby are extremely helpful in French or Arabic and, more rarely, Spanish or English. The Medina can be hard to navigate, but it's so small that no matter how blindly you wander into it, you're never more than ten minutes from an exit. Casablanca is one of the two Moroccan cities with a tram. The first line opened in late 2012.
Almost all of the things to see in Casablanca are in the north of the city; very few maps even show the southern end of this sprawling metropolis. 1 King Hassan II Mosque, Blvd Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah (Half an hour walk from the closest tram stop at Place des Nations Unies, taxi from anywhere in central centre shouldn’t be more than 20 dirham), ☏ +212 5 22 48 28 86, +212 5 22 48 28 89. Tours: Sa-Th 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00; F 09:00, 10:00 and 15:00. In summer (Mar 15-Sep 15) also at 16:00. The largest mosque in Morocco and the third largest in the world. The 210 m high minaret is the tallest in the world. It opened in 1993, after six years of construction.
Hammam (Turkish baths): 1 Solidarité Féminine Association's Hammam, 4 rue Ahmed Chaouki, Palmier (Red taxi or Tramway station Wafasalaf), ☏ +212 5 22 99 23 94. Tu-Su 08:00-21:00, M 08:00-18:00. The Association "Solidarité Féminine" has implemented an applied training program to encourage the socio-economic integration of women in single mother situations edifying employment. Therefore, making them co-founders of worthy life-plans for both themselves and their children. Entrance 40 dirham. (updated Jun 2016) Football: 2 Stade Mohammed V (ملعب محمد الخامس), Rue Ahmed Lazrak, Maârif, ☏ +212 634 602690. This is multi-use but primarily for soccer.
Restaurants in Morocco are like restaurants in Spain - they don't open until around 19:00 at the earliest, and most people don't eat until much later. Be sure to call first and make sure your restaurant of choice is actually open. 1 Brasserie La Cigale, Blvd Brahim Roudani (just south of the Rampwan de L'unite Africaine). An unassuming bar close to the Park of the Arab League, with a restaurant in front that serves only basic food (sausage or kefta sandwiches, salads, and the like.) The bar in the back is more crowded and has live music most nights. Beer is served with a plate of olives or popcorn, and it's one of the few Moroccan-style bars where women can drink in peace.
Nightlife in Casablanca has mixed reviews. Women may feel uncomfortable with the mostly male crowds in many bars and nightclubs, though if you look around you'll find some excellent spots to drink, dance and people watch. The quality of venues varies considerably, so it's worth asking locals or your hotel for recommendations. If you want a drink in your hotel room, supermarkets like Acima and Marjane carry a wide variety of liquor and wine, though the beer selection is fairly stunted. The best places to drink are either European-style restaurants, which usually have a decent selection, or hotel bars, which are inevitably safer and more relaxed.
Common sense will alleviate 99% of problems; try to look as little like a tourist as possible, do not flash large quantities of cash, and so on. Faux guides are much less of a problem here than in the rest of Morocco and are limited mainly to the area around the Old Medina. It is inadvisable to walk alone in Casablanca at night. Women, as in all Moroccan cities, should dress modestly to avoid harassment (which almost always consists of lewd comments, but nothing physical.) Pickpocketing and moto-drive-by theft seem more to be a problem here—hide your valuables!
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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