Casablanca

We live in Casablanca. Tarla is based here, our families are here, and this is the city we know block by block. When you land at Mohammed V Airport, you are not arriving in a postcard. You are arriving in the economic engine of the country, where 3.7 million people get on with their lives [CHECK: confirm population figure, 2024 estimate].

Hassan II Mosque is one of the few mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims for an interior tour. You can walk under a retractable roof, stand on a glass floor above the Atlantic, and see a prayer hall built for 25,000 people. It is worth the half day it takes.

Beyond the mosque, Casablanca is a city of layers. The Old Medina is small and working. The Habous quarter, the French-built "new medina" from the 1930s, has arcaded streets and a quieter pace. Downtown is an open-air museum of Art Deco facades that tourists walk past every day without noticing. We point them out.

And the food is real. The Central Market is where the city shops, not where it performs, and an afternoon of grilled sardines, olives, fresh cheese, and mint tea in the Habous costs less than a mediocre lunch in the medinas.

Casablanca is comfortable almost year round thanks to the Atlantic. Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the sweet spots, with sun and breeze and temperatures in the low 20s Celsius. Summer is hot in the afternoons but the coast keeps it bearable, and winter is mild, with some rain and occasional storms off the ocean.

Most visitors arrive at Mohammed V International Airport, 30 minutes south of the city by train or taxi. If you are coming from Marrakech, the ONCF train takes about 3 hours and runs all day. From Casablanca onward, Rabat is 1 hour up the coastal motorway, Marrakech is 3 hours south, and Fes is 3.5 hours east via Meknes. Chefchaouen is 4 hours north through the Rif foothills.