Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city, population 5 million, it is a place of business and not a tourist destination. Public transport is rudimentary, there is one tram line cost 7 dirham per ride. The most common way to get around the city is in a red taxi and you share the ride, they have meters and are very cheap, 10 dirham per ride average, which is equal to 1 euro.

I rode from Chefchaouen to Casablanca, the first bit was through the mountains, fun ride though slow going with many small villages and towns then onto the plain and finally the freeway. The freeway is a toll road but not expensive and it is as good as any of the freeways in Europe, total cost 30 dirham or 3 euro. The freeway between Rabat and Casablanca is 3 lanes each way and busy. The traffic in Casablanca is chaotic whereas in the the country areas people are not so aggressive.

I bought a Maroc Telecom SIM card for my phone in Chefchaouen, you have to show your passport. Cost 20 dirham or 2 euro, valid for 1 month, 1.5 hours talk, 1000 SMS and 1 GB 3G data. It takes upto 24 hours to become active and then you have to make a call, you will get a recorded message in French and Arabic and you have to respond by pressing the appropriate numbers when prompted. As I do not speak either of these languages I got someone to help me and the phone started working, data speeds are fast and Maroc Telecom has the best coverage in Morocco.

Grande Mosquée Hassan II

It is the largest mosque in Africa and the 7th largest in the world. Entry 120 dirham.

The Old Medina, quite a large area of narrow alleyways clogged with anything and everything you can think of from people cleaning and selling fish on the street to fake designer labels.

Notre Dame de Lourdes

Catholic Church with walls made of stained glass. My first visit was on Sunday when a service was in progress and I noticed that the congregation and priest were all African.

Casablanca Walkabout