Casablanca Travel Guide 2026: Hassan II Mosque, Art Deco and Tips

Built between 1986 and 1993 for King Hassan II, partly over the ocean, with room for 25,000 people inside and 80,000 on the esplanade. Its minaret, about 210 m high, is one of the tallest in the world, with a laser at the top pointing toward Mecca. Thousands of Moroccan craftsmen worked on the carved cedar ceilings, zellige tiles and marble; the roof can open, and part of the floor is glass over the sea. It's one of the very few mosques in Morocco that non-Muslims can enter.

Price: MAD 140 for foreign adults, guided tour included · Hours: tours Saturday to Thursday at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 15:00 and 16:00; on Friday only 9:00, 10:00, 15:00 and 16:00 · Time needed: 2 hours · Tip: tickets are only sold on site, so arrive 30 to 45 minutes before; cover shoulders and knees.

The area around Boulevard Mohammed V, Place Mohammed V and the Central Market is full of buildings from the 1920s and 1930s with geometric details, ironwork and Moroccan motifs. Look for the Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur (1930), now a cultural space, and the Villa des Arts.

Price: free · Time needed: 2 hours · Tip: the Casamémoire association runs heritage walks, some free during its yearly heritage days.

A medina built by the French in the 1930s, cleaner and calmer than the old ones, with arcades, the Mahkama du Pacha (a court building with beautiful carved woodwork) and shops selling olives, sweets, books and crafts at fair prices.

Price: free · Tip: try the almond pastries at the famous Pâtisserie Bennis, open since 1930.

Smaller and more local than Fez or Marrakech, with the old Portuguese walls, the Sqala fortress and cannons over the port. It's not a highlight, but it's a quick walk between downtown and the mosque.

Price: free · Tip: lunch at the Sqala restaurant, inside the 18th-century fortress garden.

A restaurant and piano bar opened in 2004 by a former American diplomat, recreating the bar from the movie in an old courtyard house by the medina walls. The film plays on a loop and a pianist plays "As Time Goes By".

Price: mains about MAD 200–300 · Tip: book ahead and dress smart casual.

The seafront road with beach clubs, restaurants and the small shrine of Sidi Abderrahmane on a rock in the sea, reachable on foot at low tide.

Price: free · Tip: go at sunset, then dinner along the Corniche.