Casablanca

Understand

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. Casablanca became a haven for spies, as well as well-off Europeans who wanted to escape the war, with a prospect to flee to the New World. The 1942 film Casablanca presented the intrigues of the city in a romanticized manner.

Morocco gained independence in 1956, and Casablanca is now Morocco's largest city with a population of almost 4 million. It has the world's largest artificial port, but no ferry service of any kind. Casablanca is also the most liberal and progressive of Morocco's cities. Young men flirt brazenly with scantily-clad women, designer labels are the norm in the chic, beachfront neighbourhood of 'Ain Diab and many young Moroccans speak to each other in a mix of Arabic and French.

But not everyone is living the Casablancan dream. Tens of thousands of rural Moroccans who fled the drought-r…

Get around

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.

See

thumb|Casablanca Old Medina at night thumb|Entrance to medina (Bab el-Kebir) thumb|Sidi Abderrahman island 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.

Art galleries (commercial - they live off earnings they make by selling art, and you can usually enter for free):

Do

Hammam (Turkish baths): Football:

Buy

Casablanca is one of the least interesting places to shop in Morocco. Around the old Medina it's easy to find places selling traditional Moroccan goods, such as tagines, pottery, leather goods, hookahs and a whole spectrum of knicknacks. The Maarif neighbourhood (near the twin centre, around Boulevard al Massira al Khadra) has many name-brand European and American fashion chains, such as Zara. Designer glasses, leather shoes, and "genuine" belts, bags, and shirts can be had at bargain prices. The Derb Ghalef neighbourhood has a huge souq that is not for the faint of heart. A cluster of small shanties, each one is loaded with "genuine" mobile phones, "genuine" watches and "genuine" "brand name" clothing. The shops are separated by alleys no more than three feet wide, some of which double as drainage ditches. There are numerous fruit smoothie stands in the centre, which make a good spot for regrouping and planning your excursion. The stall owners are, of course, kings of negotiating, and without a good grasp on Arabic and a strong backbone, you're likely to pay well over the going rate for anything. People interested in art find a decent amount of art galleries (the renowned galleries can be found in the "See" section).

Eat

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.

Drink

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. Many western-style nightclubs exist in the Maarif and Gironde neighborhoods. Pubs will cost around 100 dirham per head, it will be half if visited in the happy hours from 19:00-23:00. Pubs to visit Tiger House, La Notte.

Connect

Unsurprisingly, all three Moroccan mobile operators (Inwi, Orange, and Maroc Telecom) are available in Casablanca.

Internet

Internet access is available in cyber cafes around the city. Service is usually around per hour. Many hotels and cafes have wifi. Mobile monthly plans usually start from 50 dirham, which includes 5GB.

Stay safe

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!

Go next

Marrakech – 3 hr away by train which leave regularly (about 90 dirham).