Casablanca is Morocco’s economic engine and largest city at 3.7 million people, often skipped by tourists rushing to Marrakech or Fes. Those who stop find Africa’s largest mosque, one of the world’s best collections of French colonial Art Deco architecture, a lively oceanfront Corniche and a working-class Medina unlike the tourist bazaars elsewhere. Here are the top things to do in Casablanca.
Best Things to Do in Casablanca
Hassan II Mosque
The largest mosque in Africa and the third-largest in the world, completed in 1993 on a platform built partly over the Atlantic Ocean. Its 210-metre minaret is Morocco’s tallest structure, visible from across the city. The prayer hall fits 25,000 worshippers with a retractable roof that opens to the sky in 3 minutes. Non-Muslims can enter only on guided tours, which run daily at 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 and 14:00 (Saturday-Thursday) and 09:00, 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 (Friday). Tours last 45 minutes and cost 130 MAD (€12) for adults, 65 MAD for children. Buy tickets at the mosque entrance 15 minutes before tour time; tours sell out in peak season so arrive early. Dress code: shoulders and knees covered for both men and women. Located at Boulevard Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, reachable by taxi from the city centre (20-30 MAD).
La Corniche (Ain Diab)
Casablanca’s 3km oceanfront boulevard running southwest from the Hassan II Mosque towards the Ain Diab beach clubs. The promenade has restaurants, cafes and the city’s most expensive real estate. The beach clubs (Tahiti Beach Club, Miami Plage) charge 100-300 MAD (€9-27) for day access with a pool and lounger. The public beach is free but the Atlantic is rough, cold (17-23°C) and has strong currents; swimming flags indicate safe zones. The Corniche is best walked at sunset when locals gather to watch the waves crash against the rocks. Reach by taxi from the centre (30-40 MAD) or the Casa Tramway T1 line to Ain Diab terminus, then walk 10 minutes. Visit in May or September to avoid the morning marin fog that blankets the Corniche from June to August as detailed in our best time to visit Casablanca guide.
Old Medina of Casablanca
Unlike the tourist-oriented medinas of Marrakech and Fes, Casablanca’s 19th-century walled Old Medina is a working neighbourhood north of the port where Casablancais live, shop and trade. There are few souvenir stalls and almost no tourist restaurants, which is precisely its appeal: you see Moroccan urban life unfiltered. The 18th-century Sqala fortress at the Medina’s northwest corner houses a cafe-restaurant in a restored bastion with ocean views. Enter through the Bab Marrakech gate near Place des Nations Unies. Best visited in the morning (09:00-12:00) when the markets are busiest. Women travellers may attract some stares; dressing conservatively (long sleeves, trousers or long skirt) reduces attention.
Art Deco Architecture in the City Centre
Casablanca has one of the world’s largest concentrations of Art Deco and Mauresque (Moorish-influenced Art Deco) buildings, constructed during the French Protectorate from 1912-1956. The area between Place Mohammed V and Boulevard Mohammed V contains hundreds of examples with curved balconies, zellige tilework and wrought-iron details. Key buildings: the Wilaya building (1928, neo-Mauresque), the Cinema Rialto (1929, still operating), the Central Post Office (1920), and the Palais de Justice (1925). Walk a self-guided loop starting at Place Mohammed V, heading north along Boulevard Hassan II and east through the streets around the Marche Central. Allow 2 hours. The buildings photograph best in late afternoon light (16:00-18:00) when the facades facing west glow.
Morocco Mall
Africa’s largest shopping mall with 250,000 square metres of retail space on the Corniche at Ain Diab. Anchored by Galeries Lafayette and a massive IMAX cinema, the mall has 600 shops, an indoor aquarium (Aquadream, 100 MAD entry with a 9-metre-deep cylindrical tank where divers hand-feed fish at 14:00 daily), an indoor ice rink, and a food court with international chains. Open daily 10:00-22:00 (shops), restaurants until midnight. Free entry to the mall. Reach by Casa Tramway T1 to the terminus, then walk 5 minutes. Useful as a climate-controlled activity on rainy winter days (see the Casablanca weather by month page for rainfall patterns).
Habous Quarter (Nouvelle Medina)
Built by the French in the 1930s as a planned “new medina,” the Habous Quarter mimics traditional Moroccan architecture with narrow lanes, arches and courtyards but with modern infrastructure. It houses the Royal Palace (exterior view only, not open to public), the Moulay Youssef Mosque, and streets of artisan workshops selling leather goods, ceramics, spices and traditional Moroccan pastries. The Habous neighborhood guide has more detail. The olive market (Souk el Kelb) and carpet souks are the main draw. Prices are 20-30% lower than Marrakech for comparable goods. Open daily roughly 09:00-19:00, Fridays many stalls close 11:00-14:00 for prayers.
Mahkama du Pacha
A functioning court building in the Habous Quarter built 1941-1952, accessible to visitors when court is not in session. The interior contains a spectacular courtyard with 60 rooms decorated in carved cedar wood, stucco and zellige tilework by 1,200 Moroccan craftsmen. Entry is free but hours are unpredictable (typically Monday-Friday 08:00-14:00). Bring your passport for security. No photos inside the courtrooms. Located on Rue Moulay Ismail in Habous. Ask permission at the gate; the guards are accustomed to tourists.
Marche Central
Casablanca’s central market, a 1917 building near Place Mohammed V with a fish market (busiest 08:00-11:00), fruit and vegetable stalls, and several seafood restaurants where you choose your fish from the ice display and they grill it for 80-120 MAD (€7-11) per person including sides. The most famous stall is Restaurant du Port de Peche on the mezzanine. Open daily 08:00-20:00 except Monday when many fish stalls close. Go for an early lunch (11:30-12:30) before the lunch rush fills tables.
