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Casablanca or Rabat?

My husband and I are going on a cruise to celebrate our 45th anniversary later this month. Casablanca is one of the stops, with the ship being in port from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. We don't like going on cruise excursions and much prefer seeing things on our own. We aren't "foodies", we enjoy interesting architecture and soaking up the local atmosphere.

I know that Casablanca isn't that exciting of a destination and that there are many more interesting places in Morocco but this is what we have (besides another stop in Tangier - yes, Tangier). There seems to be some interesting places in Casablanca, including the Hassan II Mosque, the Old Medina, the Art Deco District and just wandering around and that might be enough to keep us busy while in port. I've also thought about perhaps taking a train (about an hour away) to Rabat and exploring it as I've read that it is "better" than Casablanca in my research.

My question is if it is worth going to Rabat for such a short time or if I should just concentrate on Casablanca while in port. I figure by the time we get off the ship and have to be back on the ship, we have about eight-ish hours to work with.

Thanks for your help!

Posted by
975 posts

Rabat, beautiful city. King’s Palace area, the old town and Jewish area.

Posted by
8202 posts

We have been to both and Rabat, by far is much more interesting.

About the only thing that I remember in Casablanca was a huge new mosque. Other than that it was nothing.

Tangier, skip it, go to Fes or Marrakesh.

Posted by
501 posts

Thanks, Lesley & geovagriffith! I think we will plan on going to Rabat instead of staying in Casablanca.

Our cruise stop in Tangier is two hours shorter than in Casablanca. There simply isn’t enough time to go to Fes or Marrakesh. I am considering taking the train to Asilah (about 40 minutes by train) for a few hours and then return to Tangier.