Casablanca in 3 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)

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Casablanca in 3 Days on a Budget

Three days covers Casablanca’s own core in two, then adds the best budget day trip from the city: Rabat, about 57 minutes away on the Al Boraq high-speed train. Budget roughly 1,100-1,300 MAD (~$118-140) total per person for the three days, figures are estimates so verify current MAD rates before you go. For the free-and-cheap breakdown behind these costs, see our Casablanca budget guide . If two days is all you have, see the 2-day itinerary ; adding a fourth day, see the 4-day itinerary .

Plan ahead:

  • Hassan II Mosque guided tour: check today’s tour times before you land, tours run shorter on Fridays and pause for the five daily prayers.
  • Al Boraq train tickets for the Rabat day trip, book a day or two ahead in peak season.

Day 1: Hassan II Mosque, Old Medina, and the Corniche

Morning. Start at the Hassan II Mosque, about 140 MAD (~$14-15, verify) for the guided tour, the only way non-Muslims can go inside. It’s the largest mosque in Africa, built out partly over the Atlantic, with one of the tallest minarets anywhere (it lost the “world’s tallest” title to a mosque in Algeria in February 2024). Bring socks, cover shoulders and knees, and check the mosque isn’t closed for Eid before you plan around it.

Midday. Walk or taxi to the Old Medina for an honest look at Casablanca’s old town. It’s smaller and less atmospheric than Marrakech’s or Fes’s medinas, worth an hour or two rather than a full day.

Afternoon. Head to the Corniche at Ain Diab for a free seafront walk. A beach club day pass runs 200-300 MAD (~$21-32) in summer if you want a lounger; the stroll alone costs nothing.

Evening. Dinner at a Corniche seafood grill, budget 100-150 MAD (~$11-16) for a casual sit-down meal.

Day 1 running cost (per person): mosque tour 140 MAD (~$15) + local transport 30 MAD ($3) + meals 150 MAD ($16) = 320 MAD ($34)

Tip: Insist on the meter (“compteur”) in any red petit taxi. A driver claiming it’s broken is the most common overcharge in the city.

Day 2: Art Deco Downtown, Habous Quarter, and Rick’s Cafe

Morning. Walk the Art Deco downtown core around Mohammed V Square, known locally as “Pigeons’ Square,” free and always open, ringed by the grand civic buildings the French Protectorate era left behind.

Midday. Lunch at Marche Central, the covered downtown market where you pick your own fish or shrimp and the stalls grill it on the spot, budget 80-120 MAD (~$9-13).

Afternoon. Head to the Habous Quarter, a 1920s-30s planned quarter that’s the best spot for souvenir shopping (babouches, argan oil, ceramics) at calmer, more tourist-friendly prices than the Old Medina.

Evening. Rick’s Cafe is a real restaurant opened in 2004 as an homage to the 1942 film, which was actually filmed entirely on a Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, not in Casablanca or anywhere in Morocco. It’s a splurge, not a bargain: budget 300-450 MAD (~$32-48) for dinner, with a strict smart-casual dress code, worth treating as your one nicer meal of the trip.

Day 2 running cost (per person): lunch 100 MAD ($11) + dinner at Rick’s Cafe 375 MAD ($40) + local transport 30 MAD ($3) = 505 MAD ($54), before Habous souvenirs

Tip: The tramway’s 4 lines run a flat fare of about 6 MAD, the cheapest way to cover ground between downtown and the Corniche if you’re not walking.

Day 3: Day Trip to Rabat

Morning. Take the Al Boraq high-speed train to Rabat, Morocco’s actual political capital, about 57 minutes each way, roughly 90-120 MAD (~$10-13) round trip depending on class, verify current fares. Start at Hassan Tower, the unfinished 12th-century minaret and mausoleum complex.

Midday. Walk the Kasbah des Oudayas, the fortified old quarter overlooking the river mouth, free to wander its blue-and-white lanes.

Afternoon. Visit Chellah, the walled Roman and medieval necropolis, and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V next to Hassan Tower. Lunch in Rabat, budget 60-100 MAD (~$6-11).

Evening. Train back to Casablanca, dinner near your hotel.

Day 3 running cost (per person): train round trip 100 MAD ($11) + lunch 80 MAD ($9) + dinner 120 MAD ($13) + local transport in Rabat 30 MAD ($3) = 330 MAD ($35)

Tip: Rabat’s sights are free or low-cost and close together, so this day trip is one of the best value additions to a Casablanca base.

Three-Day Total

Roughly 1,155 MAD (~$124) per person across the three days on this plan, before souvenirs and lodging. Skip Rick’s Cafe on Day 2 for a simpler dinner and it drops closer to shoestring. Don’t try to stretch this pattern into a Marrakech day trip: even the fastest current train is a conventional 2h40-3h20 run, since the high-speed extension there is still under construction and not due until around 2029. For more days built on this same spine, see the 4-day itinerary , and for the full cheap-and-free rundown, see our Casablanca budget guide .