# Casablanca: map, what to do and when to go

Casablanca is Morocco's Atlantic port and economic capital, and the draws are the Hassan II Mosque, the art deco center and the street-facing cafés. It has Africa's densest art deco center, an 18th-century medina and a 210 m minaret over the sea.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Casablanca: Is Rick's Café historic?** No.
- **Casablanca: How do I get from Mohammed V Airport to downtown?** Go by train: the station is right under the terminal, and the Al Bidaoui line gets to Casa Voyageurs in about 35 to 40 minutes, hourly between 6am and 10pm, for around 45 MAD in 2nd class.
- **Casablanca: How do I get to Rabat?** Rabat is 90 km to the northeast, with TNR trains every 30 minutes (about 1 hour, around 40 MAD in 2nd class) and the Al Boraq in about 50 minutes.

## The mosque, the medina and the art deco
Take the guided tour of the Hassan II Mosque in the first morning slot, around 9am, arriving twenty minutes early; it lasts about an hour and covers the prayer hall, the ablutions hall and the underground hammam.
- Hassan II Mosque
- Old medina and the Sqala battery
- Place Mohammed V
- Boulevard Mohammed V and the art deco
- Marché Central

## Habous, the Slaoui Museum and the old slaughterhouses
Start before 10am with bissara and msemen at a no-frills spot in the medina or Derb Sultan, with mint tea.
- Quartier Habous and the Mahkama du Pacha
- Abderrahman Slaoui Museum
- Casablanca's old slaughterhouses

## The sea, Anfa and late afternoon
Visit the Museum of Moroccan Judaism, in the Oasis neighborhood, and call ahead to book the visit.
- Museum of Moroccan Judaism

## Hassan II Mosque
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-mesquita-hassan-ii
Achbarou
Designed by Michel Pinseau, built between 1986 and 1993 on a platform partly jutting into the Atlantic and funded by public subscription. The 210 m minaret was the world's tallest until 2019, when the Great Mosque of Algiers reached 265 m, and it's now the second tallest. The prayer hall's roof opens in about five minutes, and it holds 25,000 people inside and 80,000 on the esplanade. It's the only mosque in Morocco open to non-Muslims, and only on a guided visit: about four time slots a day, about 140 MAD for foreigners and about 70 MAD for Moroccans (2026); there has also been a fee to enter the esplanade since late 2024.
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## Old medina and the Sqala battery
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-medina-antiga
Casablanca (prefeitura) · Up to half an hour
A late-18th-century fortification on the western wall, with cannons facing the Atlantic and a view over the port. From it you enter the medina rebuilt by Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah: the zawiya of Sidi Belyout, the city's patron saint, the fabric market and the Bab Marrakech and Bab El Kébir gates.
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## Place Mohammed V
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-place-mohammed-v
Casablanca
An administrative square designed by Henri Prost and ringed by five neo-Moorish buildings from 1918-1930: the Wilaya with a clock tower about 50 m tall, the Palace of Justice, the Post Office with a zellige-lined atrium, Bank Al-Maghrib and the former French consulate. The central fountain runs with music at dusk, and pigeons have been part of the scene since the 1930s.
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## Boulevard Mohammed V and the art deco
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-boulevard-mohammed-v
Casablanca · Up to half an hour
The protectorate's commercial axis, holding the highest concentration of art deco façades in Africa: 1930s shopping arcades, the Rialto cinema (1930, still operating, where Josephine Baker and Édith Piaf once performed) and the Immeuble Liberté, by the Swiss architect Léonard Morandi (1951, 17 stories and 78 m). Look up from the second floor: that's where the reliefs, curved balconies and wrought iron live.
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## Marché Central
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-marche-central
Casablanca · Up to half an hour
A municipal market opened in 1917 on Boulevard Mohammed V, with a central courtyard and stalls of fish, flowers, olives and spices.
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## Quartier Habous and the Mahkama du Pacha
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-quartier-habous
Casablanca
The 1920s “new medina” and its most elaborate building: the Mahkama, built between 1948 and 1952 by Auguste Cadet, with 64 rooms, carved cedar, stucco and zellige, used as a courthouse and official reception hall. Indoor visits depend on the day and the building's use; check ahead before counting on it.
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## Abderrahman Slaoui Museum
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-museu-abderrahman-slaoui
Casablanca · Up to half an hour
A private museum opened in 2012 in a 1940s villa on Rue du Parc, with the collection of the collector it's named after: 1920s-40s art deco travel posters, Fez jewelry, crystal flasks and orientalist miniatures. Small, calm, with a café terrace. It takes about an hour.
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## Villa des Arts
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-villa-des-arts
Casablanca · Up to half an hour
A 1934 art deco villa restored and turned into a gallery by the Fondation ONA, today the Fondation Al Mada, with exhibitions of modern and contemporary Moroccan art and free admission. It's at 30, Boulevard Brahim Roudani, next to the Arab League Park, and is worth it for the building as much as for what's hanging inside.
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## Museum of Moroccan Judaism
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-museu-do-judaismo-marroquino
Casablanca
In the Oasis neighborhood, opened in 1997, it's the only museum dedicated to Judaism in the Arab world. It documents a community that once reached about 250,000 people in the country and some 75,000 in Casablanca in the late 1940s, and today numbers a few thousand: most of them still in the city. Worth calling ahead to arrange a visit.
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## Casablanca's old slaughterhouses
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/casablanca/#g-lugar-antigos-matadouros-de-casablanca
Casablanca
An industrial complex from 1922, designed by Georges-Ernest Desmarest in Hay Mohammadi, with brick halls over five hectares. Decommissioned in 2002 and occupied since 2009 by the Casamémoire association and cultural collectives, it functions as a space for shows, circus and exhibitions; outside of programming it's usually closed, so check before going.
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**Casablanca: Is Rick's Café historic?**
No. The bar named after the 1942 film was opened in 2004 by a former American diplomat, in a 1930s riad on Boulevard Sour Jdid, and it works as a decent restaurant.

**Casablanca: How do I get from Mohammed V Airport to downtown?**
Go by train: the station is right under the terminal, and the Al Bidaoui line gets to Casa Voyageurs in about 35 to 40 minutes, hourly between 6am and 10pm, for around 45 MAD in 2nd class.

**Casablanca: How do I get to Rabat?**
Rabat is 90 km to the northeast, with TNR trains every 30 minutes (about 1 hour, around 40 MAD in 2nd class) and the Al Boraq in about 50 minutes.

**Casablanca: What's the currency, and how much cash can I bring?**
The currency is the Moroccan dirham (MAD) and it's closed, which catches out anyone who finds out on the way home: you can only bring in or take out up to 2,000 MAD, and outside Morocco the exchange rate is poor or nonexistent.

**Casablanca: What's the climate like?**
Mild year-round, thanks to the Atlantic's influence: summer stays between 25 and 28 °C, with fog until nearly 11am, and winter ranges from 8 to 18 °C, with rain concentrated between November and March; bring a jacket even in summer.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 2 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/casablanca/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/casablanca/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/casablanca.md