Travelling Inside Morocco

Traveling around when you are in Morocco is relatively easy. The roads are not too bad and outside some of the bigger cities traffic is relatively light.

One option is to hire a car. This is relatively easy but also relatively expensive. The advantages are in being able to visit remote areas and to travel as you wish. The disadvantages is that sometimes the road are not always that wonderful, local overtaking techniques can be inventive and in rural areas it is not uncommon to find animals in the road. Finally, the speed limits are often strictly enforced.

If you opt for public transport there are three main options.

In the north of the country, there is a reasonable train network that links Tangiers, Marrakesh, Fez and the other major cities. They are cheap and usually on time. You can also take overnight trains from Tangiers in the north to Marrakesh.

Beyond this network, you will probably need to take buses. This takes a little bit of organizing (in bigger towns there may be more than one bus station either serving different locations or for different bus companies). Some buses are modern and only stop at set points. Other companies are privately run and will stop at almost any point on their journey (so they take longer but do serve a wider range of locations).

As an alternative to taking inter-city buses you can use the "Grand Taxi" network that covers a wide range of locations. As with buses, these leave from designated locations and in some towns there may be more than one taxi rank (if in doubt ask).

The taxis tend to be old Mercedes and carry 6 passengers (in addition to the driver). Each taxi runs a fixed route between local towns (some do longer distances skipping intermediate destinations) and will only leave once it is full. As westerners you may be asked if you wish to buy the vacant seats so you end up with more space or leaving quicker than waiting till it fills up.

Within towns you will need to take what are called "Petit Taxis" that can be flagged down anywhere within the city.

In remote areas, especially in the Atlas, you may be able to hitch lifts (but you will be expected to pay) on the lorries that travel on the dirt roads. Called "Cammions", you will end up the open back of the lorry. Fun, uncomfortable and probably the only way to reach some destinations.

You can also hire taxis and this can be an effective way to cover long distances (this can either be a normal taxi or a "Grand Taxi" that you have paid for all 6 places).

In general, travelling by public transport in Morocco is easy but can be slow. In part this is because local transport is orientated to local travel patterns (such as markets or timed to run at the end of the working day).